Article:
Picture this - Hanging art on walls is an art in itself
By Shelley Anderson
The Journal Newspapers - June 2006
Properly hung wall décor can be the finishing touch of your interior design. Selecting your artwork and accessories is a very personal process, and showing them to their best advantage is key
For most people it is difficult to know where to begin.
One of the first considerations will be selecting a location for your artwork. Sometimes art has been chosen for a specific room; other times you have something that you really like or that has some special meaning for you. In selecting the wall on which to hang your art, pay attention to the size of your piece as it relates to the furnishings in the room. Family, living and bedrooms generally have larger pieces of furniture in them. If your art is large, it can usually be hung by itself on a wall over a sofa, dresser or chest. If you have small pieces, hanging them together in a group is desirable. When hanging two or more pieces together on one wall, they need to relate through subject matter such as floral, architectural, animals or time period.
In general, when hanging art over furniture, the piece should not be longer than the piece of furniture. Another consideration is how the piece of art relates to the piece of furniture over which it will sit. It should not be placed too high over the furniture. If the art is six to nine inches above the furniture, but the center of it is not at eye level, then it is probably not appropriate for the location.
Artwork should be hung so that the center of the piece or grouping is at eye level for the average person. In other words if the piece is 36” tall, the center of it is at 18” and should be at eye level. This is a general rule and may vary according to the differing heights of the home owners.
When in doubt about placement, create a template out of paper the size of your artwork and place it where you think you might want to hang your picture. This will give you sense of space, centering, distance, and height that will allow you to avoid holding up a large piece or several pieces of artwork. To secure your template to the wall, you can use artist’s masking tape or blue painter’s tape.
Another technique to remember is that a grouping of pictures should be thought of as one unit. Test an arrangement of pictures by laying them on a large table or the floor. Play with combinations until you find one that works. Laying them out on paper is even better since you’ll be able to trace around each piece, cut them out and put the template on the wall for picture hanger placement.
By applying these simple techniques to hang your artwork, you will instantly notice balance in your interior design.
Shelley Anderson has been creating interiors in the greater Seattle area since 1990.You may contact her at (206) 719-6814 or email her at
shelley.anderson@shelleyandersoninteriors.com.