A hand-stitched heritage work changes a room in a way a print cannot. Up close, you see the individual stitches and the patience behind them. From across the room, the image resolves into a landscape, an animal in motion or a home lit from within. Living with a piece like this is less about finding an empty wall than about finding the wall where its story will be seen every day.
Every work in our heritage collections is one of one. Each is hand-stitched by artisans trained through our partner workshops, which work with women, youth, persons with disabilities and individuals in recovery. Depending on its size and detail, a single piece can take anything from a couple of weeks to several months. That time is visible in the finished work, and it is one of the reasons these pieces deserve thoughtful placement.
Choose the story first, then the wall. The collections suggest their own rooms. Heart and Hearth, with its homes and cottages, belongs where a household gathers: an entrance hall, a family room, the wall beside the dining table. The Botanical Collection's flowers and landscapes bring calm to dining rooms and reading corners. Works from The Wild Kingdom, with their themes of strength and harmony, hold their own in a study or a generously proportioned living room.
Mind the scale. A large work needs distance to be read, so give it a wall you can step back from. Above a sofa or a sideboard, a piece that spans roughly two-thirds of the furniture's width usually looks settled. A smaller work often looks better on a narrow wall of its own than squeezed between two windows, where it has to compete with the view.
Hang it at eye level. Many galleries hang work so that its centre sits about 145 to 150 centimetres from the floor. In a dining room, where the wall is mostly seen from a chair, you can bring it a little lower. Resist the urge to hang high above furniture: a gap of around 20 to 25 centimetres between the top of a sofa and the bottom of the frame keeps the two in conversation.
Light it kindly. Textiles are sensitive to sunlight, which fades thread over time. Avoid walls that catch strong direct sun, and if a work must live in a bright room, ask for glazing that filters ultraviolet light. In the evening, a warm picture light or a nearby lamp brings out the depth of the stitching, and that is when most rooms are enjoyed.
Keep it away from steam and damp. Kitchens and bathrooms expose fabric to humidity and grease, and a wall that turns damp in the long rains is better left for something else. A dry room with a steady temperature is kinder to both the textile and its frame.
Let one piece lead. Once you begin collecting, it is tempting to fill every wall. In most rooms, one strong heritage work with quieter objects around it has more presence than a crowded arrangement. If you do group works, keep the spacing even and let them share a theme or a palette.
Pair it with things made with the same care. Heritage art sits comfortably beside natural timber, woven textiles, stone and fine porcelain. Designers have given this a name for 2026, modern heritage: rooms that feel collected over time, built around pieces whose origins you can trace, rather than furnished in a single weekend. A Kenyan home has always had the materials for it.
Then live with it for a while. The best test of placement is ordinary life. Do you notice the piece as you walk in? Does it look right in morning light and at night? Does it start conversations? If you would like to see works in person before you decide, a curator can arrange a private viewing at our Upper Hill showroom.