Studio K Guide to Hanging Wall Art
You are finally all moved into your home; the furniture has been arranged, the boxes have been unpacked, the pantry organized, and the throw blankets placed to create a cozy feel. But there is nothing worse than a blank wall staring back at you. You can hang wall art in any room to fill the blank spaces while also adding personality to your home. In this blog post we are going to give you the inside scoop on how to hang wall art – including sizing of pieces, the correct placement of wall art, visual appeal to certain home features, and some tips for grouping of artworks. Together we’ll make hanging wall art less daunting.
Sizing of Your Wall Art
First thing’s first, we need to talk about sizing – because when it comes to wall art it really does make a difference. If you are hanging wall art over furniture you want to ensure the piece of art is not wider than the furniture. A good rule of thumb is your artwork should be about 50-70% of the furniture width. Think about the wall and it’s surroundings when you are looking to hang your wall art – smaller pieces work better on narrow walls and for big walls you will want to opt for larger canvas wall art.
Finding The Correct Placement for Your Wall Art
The most common mistake found in interior design is that the wall art gets hung too high. As you approach hanging wall art in the different rooms in your home take a step back to evaluate the heights that your art might be viewed from. Standard practice is to hang your art so that the center of the piece (not from where the nail) sits at 57 – 60” from the floor. If you have a grouping of art pieces consider the size of them and there spacing as a whole, but we will touch more on grouping of artwork later.
Some exceptions include: if you are hanging art in your dining area, we suggest hanging the art slightly lower as eyesight so that you may be able to enjoy the art while gathering around the table. If you have lower ceiling heights, divide the wall height into quarters and hang your art in the third quarter from the floor. If you are hanging art above a couch, it’s practice to hang art 6 – 8” from the top of the couch.
Adding Visual Appeal to Your Home Features with Art
Many homes have signature features that are already a focal point. We can enhance these even more by adding art. For example, if you have a fireplace you can display a painting above the mantle or if you have unique architecture features in your home you can enhance it by creating a gallery wall.
Tips for Grouping Artwork
Whether you are making a gallery or just wanting to group a few pieces together, here are some tips to follow when planning your placement. First the few rules to follow; when grouping consider the pieces as a whole size to find the center while hanging like we mentioned above, proper spacing is 3 – 4” between frames, and you should aim to be visually balanced on both sides following an imaginary vertical line. When grouping art the piece don’t have to be the same necessarily, but the should share some similar assets, such as colour scheme, subject matter, and frame style. Now to help you plan out your art grouping, some tips to arrange your art before hanging them on your wall:
- Lay a large piece of kraft paper on a flat surface so that you can trace around each piece when your arrangement is finalized.
- Begin mapping out your arrangement, keeping the largest pieces at the bottom near the middle then arranging the lighter pieces around the large piece – move them around until you have an arrangement that you like.
- Once you trace out your arrangement on your kraft paper, mark hanging points of each art piece onto the kraft paper.
- Set your art aside, tape the kraft paper to your wall then hammer in the nails.
- Remove the kraft paper, hang your artwork, and sit back to enjoy them.
Hanging wall art is like Goldilocks and The Three Bears – you don’t want your art to be too big or too small, you want it to be just right. Remember to hang the center of your pieces at eye level, create a balanced arrangement, and consider your art’s surroundings to find the appropriate size & shape. When in doubt refer to the How to Hang Wall Art graphic above. There you have it; you are now a hanging wall art expert!