Decorating Tips.

How Knowing A Little About Hanging Art Can Score You A Lot More Sales.

By Bill Plage, Hartford Fine Art and Framing, from their April 2011 Newsletter.

Did you know there are no rules for displaying art? Sure, there are probably pamphlets of helpful hints and cheat sheets out there, but rules for hanging artwork based on scientific study, testing, color theory and data collecting?…Nah.

This is because art itself is so subjective. Yes, there are certain rules of color, proportion and placement most artists tend to follow as they create, but how many others have purposely broken with tradition and become equally or even more successful?

Again, it comes down to the subjectivity of the subject matter within the eye of the owner. So rules, who needs them? Art can be hung from floor to ceiling, wrapped around wall corners or furniture, can be layered in front of others or stood and leaned on flat surfaces within bookcases or on a mantle. Don’t ever be afraid to try something new when displaying art. If you don’t like how it turns out, it’s easily changed.

Beautifully executed and framed pieces of art can look inconsistent, or inelegant if not hung logically in a space. Like furniture, art should coordinate and somehow relate to other items in a room for maximum visual impact. Choose a piece of art that fits the space where it will hang and don’t cover more than two-thirds to three quarters of the total space available. A visually free “breathing space” around a piece or pieces hung together is needed to establish relationships within the context of a room.

Don’t hang pieces too high on a wall but rather closer in proximity to furniture to create unison with the art. In general, art should be hung so that a viewer’s eye is level with the midpoint of the piece. For the average American, this falls around 60 - 62” from the floor. In rooms or areas of rooms where there are sitting areas, come down a bit to the lower end of the range as viewers will be sitting and looking up at the art.

Persons or families who are taller may want to hang their art in the upper part of the range or even an inch or two above as their eye level is higher.

Generally, single pieces offer lots of flexibility when decorating, but remember to consider a few guidelines when selecting single pieces for specific spaces. When hanging art over a sofa or other furniture pieces, the art should not be wider than the furniture.

As most subjective rules, this is not hard and fast and there are many exceptions. Usually larger, colorful, dramatic pieces are best viewed from a distance. Does your customer have a large enough room to properly display one of your large pieces or could they better be served by you suggesting two or more smaller pieces to break up the wall space and add more interest.

Single pieces should be displayed in areas where viewers can enjoy them from across the room and be balanced by larger or even massive furniture. Conversely, use smaller jewels over light or dainty furniture and avoid heavy frames.

Single piece photo courtesy of Larson Juhl

If a customer comes to you looking for a suggestion to visually break up a wall, balance a large tall piece of furniture or flank a mirror, tell him/her to consider using pairs. Pairs can be hung side by side, one over the other or offset. Consider your customer's wall space before having them make a decision.

Where walls tend to be long and ceilings are low, hanging pairs side by side or horizontally offset tends to elongate the visual perspective. In a two story room, rooms that have higher ceilings or on walls that are taller but narrow, hanging pairs one on top of the other can help visually downplay high ceilings and walls.

Pairs can be split and hung as the outermost pieces containing a grouping. They also do not need to be placed immediately adjacent to one another as they can balance a mirror or tall furniture piece by hanging one piece on each side.

Pairs photo courtesy of Larson Juhl

A type of art grouping where the art is of an identical size and framed the same is called a matched set. Matched sets are more hung in an organized fashion on the wall or stairway in a rigidly spaced grid. Sets can be divided and hung as pairs or can be laid out to progress up a stairwell, across a long wall or into and out of a corner in a pattern. What are your customer's needs?

Instead of one large piece, would their expectations be better met and the visual effect more interesting by creating a image or images that can be divided into a matched sets?

Matched Set photo courtesy of Larson Juhl

A display option that was highly fashionable during Victorian times, leaning or tipping art, is becoming popular again. Leaning can be done for aesthetic as well as functional reasons. Art collections can be consolidated by leaning one piece of work in front of another if you have more framed art than wall space. However, new interest and dimension can be added by displaying pieces in this fashion as well as giving the art a new look.

Suggest this to long time customers you know who have been collectors of your work. Actually display some of your pieces in this way so people get the idea and sell them additional pieces (though they may have little room for more) to display like this.

Leaning photo courtesy of Larson Juhl

In contrast to matched sets, collections are more eclectic, asymmetric and diverse. They can be as straightforward or as whimsical as one’s personality and usually hung in an unstructured way. By doing so, it makes adding to or rearranging the collection easier in the future. Many times an unstructured collection can look much more interesting by hanging original artwork within it or by having such a display anchored by art on its perimeter.

When hanging, keep in mind a balance of size, texture, color and style so one portion of the collection doesn’t overpower another. In this way, whether one favors a symmetric or asymmetric arrangement, visually it makes little difference.

Customers are always looking for creative ways to display their art and personal treasurers. Why not suggest adding one of your pieces to theirs?

Collections photo courtesy of Larson Juhl

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More Tips:

Decorating Your Home With Canvas Art Prints, by Jimmy J S Parker.

How Room Color Influences Mood.

Updated October 2011