The Art of Hanging Your Art
Hanging art is a skill that is well worth learning to create your beautiful home. If it is done half-heartedly, it is as painful as watching someone getting kicked in the shins by a mule.
Why oh why do so many people hang their art really high on the wall? Paintings should be viewed, to be admired, studied or cause a reaction, and not just to cover up a damp patch.
It is irritating on the eyes seeing a painting so high up that it cannot be viewed correctly. Sometimes it looks completely out of proportion to the rest of the room. Over at Emily Enderson’s site, I have been reading about her take on hanging art and the do’s and don’ts for your home.
She says that art hung the wrong way round is like someone in a movie wearing a really bad wig. As much as you want to ignore it, it is hard NOT to see it and you just want to go and rip it off. I can definitely agree with her there.
So ….here are the rules
Basically, it’s quite simple. Measure 57 inches from the floor and mark that on the wall. Then measure your piece of art (including the frame top to bottom) and divide by two to find the centre point. Turn your frame over and then at the back of the frame, measure the top of the frame to the hook (or wire /rope) whatever it will hold the picture. Subtract that measurement from the centre measurement and add that to the 57 inches, mark the wall. That is the point to hang your piece.
Above furniture?
Simple, you just have to place the bottom of your artwork 4-6 inches above your couch or table.
Sometimes people focus too much on the colour of the art. They want to make sure it matches the colour of the rest of the decor of the room. Perhaps it would be better to really think about where and how exactly the artwork is to be hung.
Questions You Need To Ask Yourself
If you have some art “hanging” around (excuse the pun haha) stop for a moment and have a look at it. The chances are it has not been noticed in a while by people in your home or possibly even yourself. Think for a moment if the artwork is in the right place; for example, could it be too high up and almost touching the ceiling? Or, possibly too low and starting to hide behind the couch. Is it too small a piece trying to spread over a very large wall? Would it look better placed in a smaller room perhaps? Maybe, it could be useful to place it in a different area. This way it would stand out more by contrasting to the background of the wall.
Hanging Collections Together?
Maybe having a few pieces of art hung together would look better in unity than singularly. It would be wise to consider whether a collection is better than separately around the home. See how equally they balance together on the wall – it could almost look like a picture in itself. Take this into consideration when hanging artwork.
Have you found this useful?
Please comment – I would love to know your thoughts, Joan x