Relax-N-Rave: Hang your Art Right

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Saturday, 9 April 2016

Hang your Art Right

You see many homes done up beautifully in terms of furniture and furnishings but when it comes to artwork/paintings/photographs/mirrors/murals on the wall….its all wrong!

Many folks I know of have no clue on what should go on the walls or how they should hang and hence give it a miss altogether – sticking to bare walls instead of messing it up!

Hanging the right artwork correctly can create magic and interest and transform an otherwise boring space!

Where to hang what?

You basically need to consider the following points for that:

1) Consider the entire wall along with the furniture so as to make sure that the artwork will feel part of the room, and not just hung randomly.

Contemporary Living Room

2) The artwork must gel with the style of the room. For instance a rustic mural may not go with a modern or contemporary look. A bedroom would do well with framed personal and family photos.

3) Wall art in the form of decorative mirrors can enhance the size and depth of small spaces.

Depth and perspective with mirrors

4) For a traditional look: Hang the artwork so it is central to the wall if the rest of the wall is blank.

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In fact two frames work better than a single large one!

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5) Off beat ideas like hanging artwork in unusual areas around the home also work beautifully! Try hanging art in kitchens, on pillars and projections, closets, balconies, along staircases, passages and around corners besides the usual rooms.

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Wall decals such as these look wonderful in passages.

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6) The colors in the artwork should go with the color scheme of the room. You cannot expect a painting with predominant shades of crimson and yellow ochre to go well on a rose pink wall! Yes again, I am stressing about color combinations!

Traditional Living Room by Little Rock Interior Designers & Decorators Tobi Fairley Interior Design

Color-Coordinated Wall-Art

7) Try different off-beat ideas for hanging pictures and try different types of frames/shapes/colors and sizes!

Empty frames that speak volumes of style-Image credit

Mixed styles and shapes for that eclectic wall-Image credit

Get creative with displaying children’s art-work-Image credit

8) Hang your painting nearer to some furniture than the ceiling – to visually tie the artwork to something in the room instead of letting in hang in mid-air!

9) You have to take care to avoid putting too small in a big space and vice-versa.

Lost cause Art! - Image credit

10) Art need not always hang on hooks, it may be creatively arranged on slim ledges.

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11) If you are unsure about the position you need to nail or the arrangement you want, you could cut out rough sheets of paper and paste them on the wall with wallpaint-safe adhesive tape.

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Let me share some tips on how to get a hang on hanging wall-art the right way.

Typically the center of the Art work should be in line with your line of vision.

Anything higher than 5’-5’6” is beyond the line of vision of an average adult in standing position.

So let’s consider the following cases:

i) Art above seating:

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The bottom of your frame should hang 8-10”above the back of the sofa. Any higher, it loses connection with the seating area. Ideally the pictures should not be wider than the couch so as not to overwhelm the furniture.

If you are going to hang multiple pictures, they should be spaced at 2”-5” from each other. If they are too far spaced out, it will look like you are trying to fill the space, plus the pictures will lose connection between each other.