The Art of Hanging Art

Hanging art is often an overlooked final layer to the success of your room's interior and can just as easily be the inspiration for a room suggesting a certain mood.

There really are no rules for hanging art. What really count is "the eye of the beholder." (Yours!)

Pleasing wall arrangements follow the same principles of design that you follow for placing furniture in a room.

One of those principles is balance, which refers to the distribution of the visual weight within a display.
An arrangement that lacks balance may seem too top or bottom heavy or as if the side is falling.

A symmetrical arrangement where each half is the mirror image of the other is the most straight forward and probably easiest to achieve.

To achieve balance when working with a group of pieces of different sizes and scale, imagine a grid on the wall of four quadrants making sure each area is equal visually.

Artwork and other objects that you hang on your walls can demand that certain pieces be displayed by themselves.

Anything large or over scaled will need its own space to show off.

Artwork that is dark, bright, or boldly patterned will appear heavier and bigger than an object that is small or pale.

It is best to display these weightier items next to similarly weighty elements in the room like furniture or architectural features.

It is also important to leave enough bare (negative) space around the pieces you are hanging for your pieces to breathe and for the eye to focus.

The repetition of a single object can create a dramatic display. This method is effective for an inexpensive show of ordinary items (wallpaper samples, seed packets, even pages from a magazine) of the same size and framed identically.

If the subject matter is the same, hanging art of identically framed items in a grid creates an impact and should be hung closer together than pieces of different sizes and shapes.
The unity of a display of this manner catches your attention and draws you in for a closer look.

Before actually putting the first nail in the wall, work out your arrangement on the floor.

Generally the largest item starts in the center. Working your way out, play around with the composition by seeing how each piece relates to each other. You may choose to use paper cutouts.

Balance the smaller pieces on the larger either vertically or horizontally. Place them close together, about two inches apart, so when you stand away from the arrangement it forms a whole.

Tips for Hanging Art

Incorporate other elements into an arrangement like brackets, mirrors or a collection of plates.
Plates also work well for filling in a narrow or oddly shaped space like over a doorway or on the side of a tall piece of furniture.
Hang art 60 - 66" from the floor for "eye level" to most and hang so the bottom of the artwork is 5 - 8" above a piece of furniture.
Consider color but keep in mind that your art doesn't have to match your sofa.
Frame your art for art's sake and not for the room. The proper frame will work almost anywhere you want to hang it and gives you freedom to move things around.
Place picture framing wire about a third of the way down each side.
As a rule, the mat size for prints and drawings should be 3 inches wide but do take into consideration the size of the artwork.
Use two nails to hang a piece if you don't want it to move, placed about 5 inches in from the frame's edge.
Using bumpers on the bottom corners will protect your walls.
Hang frames directly on top of the paper cutouts (if you used them) then pull out the paper.
When hanging art in a hallway only hang on one side.
Hang art on patterned wallpaper if the art is of a different scale and is visually stronger than the background, with a mat to distinguish the image from the wall.

But if you are not into hanging at all, prop a large piece against a wall or layer small over a larger piece on a mantel.

And most importantly trust your instincts!

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Is Picture Hanging An Art Form In Itself?

Good question and I would imagine that most of you would say "No. The art lies on the canvas, not how it is put on the wall." But if you gave your collection of artwork to several different people to hang in the same space, you would be amazed at the difference in the end result based on the creativeness and artistic flair of the person hanging it.

So, if you appreciate fine art, but have found yourself thus far unable to maximise on its aesthetic appeal, then maybe you might consider the possibility that picture hanging really is an art form in itself.
Don't be disheartened though, as it is definitely something that can be learned and with the right tools at hand you will be able to create in your own home, a lasting impression on all of those who have the opportunity to view your art pieces.

There are a few key areas you will need to research if you want to really master the skills of art hanging.

Curation

First and foremost is the curation of your collection.

This means, how you are going to group and place your pictures to create the maximum impact. When you see art collections in magazines or in galleries, it seems that a group of art pieces have just been thrown together and then stuck on a walls. You would be amazed however at the amount of thought and organization that has gone in to the process making the collection appear this way.

Grouping

The key things you will need to consider here are:
• Are you going to group your pictures based on the colour of the items themselves or the colour of the frames?
• What are the shapes of the pictures ie. are they square, round, rectangular?
• How well do those shapes group together.
• Are you going to group them based on content? For example, portraits, landscapes or photographs.

Placement

Once you have determined how you are going to group your artwork, you will then need to consider carefully at what height your pictures should be placed.

It is said that just above eye level is a good height, but who's eye level? And then if you have a collection, not all of them can be at eye level. Some will have to be higher and some lower. The general rule of thumb here is the key piece sits at eye level and the others radiate out from here.

Hanging System

Once you have decided on the grouping and the placement, you will need to consider by which method you wish to hang your collection. Direct fixing is where hooks or hangers are fixed directly to the wall surface behind the individual pictures. This can get messy if you have several pieces of art in the one grouping. The most popular method is using a clip rail system. A clip rail system is a slender, stream lined rail which is fixed directly to the wall on hidden brackets, just below the ceiling line. Hooks and hangers are then clipped in to the rail and slide both vertically and horizontally to allow for perfect positioning of all of your pieces without damaging your wall surfaces.

Although it may seem a little daunting, amazingly all of these things can be learnt. There is a wealth of knowledge out there which if you can tap in to it, will provide you with all the necessary information you need to create a gallery standard display in your own home. Don't recreate the wheel and do it the hard way, learn from those who have gone before you and do it in half the time.

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Picture Hanging: The Art Of Perfection

You've stumbled upon a beautiful piece of artwork that you have to have. You buy it, you frame it. Now, where on earth are you going to hang it and how?

Effective picture hanging is all about setting the right ambience in a room. But you want to achieve this while still showcasing your favourite pieces to their maximum advantage.

Various factors are crucial to create the biggest visual impact with your art work collection. Things like alignment, balance, light and the texture or covering of the wall on which you are hanging all need to be taken into consideration.

To help you achieve gallery standard results, you must keep in mind three things:

1. Whether the mood of the picture sits well with the existing décor of the room.
2. The location or placement of the picture
3. What method you will use for hanging.

Firstly, consider the overall appeal of the room.

Does the size, colour, shape and overall appearance of your picture or collection compliment the furniture, wall colour and overall décor of the room? If the picture does not sit comfortably with the overall mood of the room, then no matter how perfect your picture hanging skills are, the piece will not leave a lasting impression.

If you decide that your artwork blends well with the rest of the room, the second thing you need to consider is what would be the most appropriate placement of the picture (or pictures) on your wall. One way to approach this is to create a map on a sheet of paper first, of how you would like to arrange the pictures on the wall. Also, when doing this, it is important to take care not to overcrowd the wall.

If you don't think a sketch will enough, it's not a bad idea to seek an extra set of hands that could hold the picture for you at the desired place on the wall to allow you to stand back and judge for yourself if you are happy with the alignment and symmetry of the picture before actually hanging it.

Lighting is also an important factor to be considered.

Make sure that glares are not created from lighting sources, and that pictures are visible from all required angles.

The last thing for consideration is how you plan to physically hang the picture on the wall. There are several techniques and many different hanging systems available on the market today. Some are non-forgiving if you need to move your picture, like nails for example and inevitably there is never a firm backing in the wall in the exact location you want to hang the picture anyway. One of the most versatile and stylish ways of hanging your collection these days is with a picture hanging system. These systems allow for smooth, minute alterations to both the horizontal and vertical plane of the picture without causing any damage to the wall.

Picture hanging, although frustrating for those who have never tried before, can be a truly satisfying endeavour, especially once you have found the perfect piece. A positive end result can simply transform your room from a bare shell to an openly inviting space where both family and friends feel welcome and content to spend their time.

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