After the afternoon light shifts, the living room suddenly has a pulse. The pinks lift, the deep green vase steadies the wall, and the slice of blue sea pulls the eye through the window.

The room reads gentler with this on the wall. It softens hard modern lines and adds warmth to pale, quiet schemes without taking over.

Hang at eye level above a console, sideboard or low chest of drawers. It also works above a bed where you want softness rather than a statement.

Pair with linen, pale oak, off-white walls and a few stoneware ceramics. A small lamp nearby brings the pinks forward in the evening.

Skip the busy gallery wall around it the painting wants air. The stretched canvas gives the brushwork a soft, painterly edge straight out of the box.