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The Art Of Hanging…Art
Arcadia Weekly Oct 01, 2009
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Hanging art is the final touch, the last piece of a puzzle to making a room beautiful.
And it is, well, an art form. It can also be the most difficult and frustrating part of decorating. But with a few simple pointers, and lots of daring creativity, you can feel confident to pick up that hammer and put the final touches on your room.
The biggest mistake many people make is hanging their art too high on the wall. As a guideline, make sure that the center of the piece is at the average person’s eye level. Once it’s hung properly, the art will add drama and beauty to any room.
You can also accomplish some visual trickery with art. Hanging art vertically will give the room a sense of height by drawing the eye upward, particularly if you have low ceilings. Horizontal arrangements will elongate a wall and is a great way to detract from really high ceilings – it brings the room back down to human-size, if you will.
If you have a large wall, the best way to display art is by grouping pieces together of various sizes and shapes. Think English hunting lodge! Use similar colored frames to keep the different pieces united. Be sure to keep the same spacing between each piece; this will give the display a more uniform look.
To create a gallery wall, you can make a template out of kraft paper. Trace each piece of art, cut it out and place them together on the wall. This allows you to arrange the art before you commit to hanging it. Take the largest piece of art and hang it in the center, then add smaller pieces around that. Take a step back; really look at the shapes of each piece and the way it flows on the wall. Mark the edges in pencil for a guide, and you’re ready to hang!
If you are looking for a way to create a picture wall thats even faster and easier, turn to the PerfectPicturewall® – www.thepicturewallcompany.com. They help you create an instant gallery with a set of 10 frames that come with a template you simply place on your wall as a hanging guide; there is no measuring, all you do is hammer in the hooks based on the template, then hang the art. The template lets you arrange the art in numerous ways so you can create the look you want (or attempt that tricky staircase gallery). With different finishes, the frames can accommodate a modern or traditional room. It really couldn’t be easier.
My favorite way to hang art is to group 6-8 prints in a grid. This is a striking and elegant way to display pieces. By sticking to a theme such as colorful flowers, insect prints from a book, or playful drawings, they will work together and become a large, unified piece of art. The key is to make sure they are the same size and framed identically. This uniform method of hanging art can bring a hint of formality to a room.
If you want to display your pieces of art in a loose and casual way, art shelves will add a relaxed and lighthearted touch. By layering the art and leaning it on a shelf, you have a bit more flexibility to display pieces that suit your mood at the time, and you can even swap the art out as the seasons change.
Either I’m non-committal in my own home, or I just like the laid-back look of it, but I enjoy leaning art on my fireplace mantel and living room chests. This also accomplishes a layered look, as it creates a very relaxed and untailored atmosphere to juxtapose the formal furniture and fabrics in my living room.
Whether you’re hanging just one piece of art, or a whole gallery wall, this is the step that unifies a room and adds that extra layer of drama. Hanging art should be creative and fun, reflecting why we choose certain pieces to display in the first place – because we love it. So with some basic hanging principles, you can surround yourself with your favorite art and tie your room together at the same time.
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