Leave the feature wall blank if you like cautious rooms. This is the quiet kind of artwork that earns its place by sitting still a soft graphite cat by Jean Bernard, half-asleep and entirely uninterested in the room around it.

Hang it and the room slows down a touch. The cream paper softens cooler walls; the pencil marks add just enough texture to stop a neutral scheme feeling flat. It reads as old, considered and personal never decorative.

It works above a writing desk, a bedroom chest of drawers, or stacked on a shelf with books and small ceramics. A narrow hallway suits it too the portrait shape pulls the eye along the wall.

Pair it with linen, oak, aged brass, soft cream stoneware, and books with worn spines. Lamplight helps more than overhead lighting.

The wrapped canvas softens the pencil work slightly and gives the piece a warm, hand-drawn feel up close.