A Guide to Hanging & Styling Art in Your Home
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24/06/2015 10:46 am
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
A Guide to Hanging & Styling Art in Your Home Using artwork to enhance your home is a wonderful endeavour. Art can bring style, colour and inspiration into your space, soothing a particular room or invigorating it with bright colours and captivating arrangements. But what techniques should you use to hang art? And how can you arrange your pieces to create style and flair in your home space?
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART Purchasing art for your home is an inspiring feeling, but the last thing you want is to discover that hanging art is a hassle. We show you how to hang your artworks so that they are straight and balanced, as well as safely and securely attached to the wall.
USE PICTURE HOOKS Picture hooks are much more effective than nails or screws. They are also easier to install and won’t damage your wall. Make sure you choose hooks that can handle the weight of each of your pieces to prevent faulty installations. Some of the more sturdy hooks can handle up to 45kgs.
Unless the pieces are very small, use 2-3 hooks for each artwork to ensure it remains straight/level.
GET HELP
If you plan to hang art in your home, ask someone to help you. This means you’ll be able to see the artworks in their places before you begin hammering or hanging.
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
POSITION YOUR ART AT EYE LEVEL You should position your artwork so that the centre of the piece is at eye level. If you are hanging multiple pieces in a group or series, treat them as one, large piece in order to find the centre point. Then, position this centre point at eye level. You can then hang the rest of the pieces around this central artwork.
If you are unsure where eye level is, 152cm off the ground is a good approximation.
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A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
Rubber bumpers and velcro tabs can also help protect your wall and keep your pieces secure. This will also stop your artworks from becoming unbalanced or being knocked by passing people. This is great if you are hanging art in high traffic areas, such as hallways or living rooms.
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
LEAVE SPACES BETWEEN YOUR PIECES Hanging multiple artworks also means that you need to leave at least a gap of around 5cm between the pieces (whether to the side, above or below). This will create a cohesive look for your artworks, without cramping them together or spreading them too far apart. If your pieces are small, you can reduce the spaces between your artworks to 3-4cms. Make sure each space is measured equally for balance and consistency.
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
USE FURNITURE AND OTHER MARKERS If you are hanging art over furniture or other elements (such as a fireplace), make sure it is placed centrally over the object. That is, the centre of the object (couch, fireplace) should line up vertically with the centre of the artwork. This will help create balance and symmetry. In terms of size, the artwork should not be more than 75% of the piece of furniture it is hanging over, otherwise your room will appear imbalanced. The bottom of your artwork should be approximately 10cm from the top of the furniture or object you are hanging it over (e.g. 10cm from the top of the couch). If you leave too much of a gap, the viewer’s eye will be drawn to the gap, rather than to the art.
ARRANGING YOUR ARTWORKS
Arranging your artworks into various groups can create lots of different looks and atmospheres in your home. Following are some great tips and ideas you can experiment with!
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
CONSIDER YOUR HOME When choosing and arranging your art, you should always consider the overall design and theme of your home, since the purpose of art is to enhance your home’s look and ambience. What colours will blend or clash with your space? What art styles will best suit your furniture and dÊcor? What arrangements would look best in which rooms?
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
PLAN YOUR ARRANGEMENTS
Plan your arrangements on the floor before you begin hanging your art. This will allow you to play around with different groupings and patterns.
You can also group your artworks on a large piece of paper. Once you’ve decided on an arrangement, you can trace around the outline of your artworks and place it on the wall to guide you when it comes to hanging time.
GROUPS & ARRANGEMENTS
Grouping multiple pieces together can give your home an incredibly stylish lift. Try these arrangements to see what works in your space!
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
CREATE BALANCE In addition to hanging your artworks at eye level, you can create balance by matching the size of your artwork to the size of your wall. For instance, if you have a huge wall running the
length of your living area, don’t adorn it with a small, single artwork. Instead, use a bigger artwork or group smaller pieces together.
A GUIDE TO HANGING ART
If you have a traditional or formal home, arrangements using straight lines (vertical, horizontal) will be most suitable. This also has a calming and pleasing affect on the eye.
Layer your art vertically to create height in rooms with low ceilings.
A GUIDE HANGING If youTO can’t fashion ART vertical groups, try using images with vertical lines or images framed in portrait-style.
Horizontal arrangements also help to make a smaller or skinnier rooms appear larger by creating the illusion of width. This is perfect if your home has small rooms!
Cascading arrangements can be ideal for hanging art over stairs to accentuate the space or staircase feature. You can also hang artworks at the top or bottom of the stairs.
MORE ARTWORK ARRANGEMENT TIPS & TRICKS
Hang art in every room to create flow and consistency throughout your home.
You can either establish a single theme for your home or a different theme for each room.
Use more neutral or light-coloured pieces to sooth an already bright space.
Use brightly-coloured artworks to create vitality and happiness in your home.
Consider leaning artworks against walls, placing art on shelves or mantles, installing picture rails or bulletin boards or using miniature easels to display your pieces.
DON’T KEEP YOUR ART IN THE DARK! Wherever you place your pieces, make sure they are well lit. If there is not enough natural light in the room, find other ways to light your piece (e.g. lamps).
YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE TO HANG ART
Remember, art can be found anywhere! You can decorate your home with family drawings and paintings, mounted fabric or wallpaper, photographs, postcards and more.
Questions about hanging or styling art? Contact us at info@urbanroad.com.au or view our gallery more some great styling ideas.
WANT TO SEE AN ARTWORK IN YOUR ROOM? Not sure which artwork to choose? Do you want to see it in your room before you purchase?
WE CAN HELP Using the form online let us know which artworks are your favourites and send us a photo of the wall you want to hang the artwork on. Make sure you take the photo of the wall while standing directly in front of it. You can also send additional images of the room to give us a feel for the design. We will show you what the artwork looks like on your wall and make suggestions if you wish. http://www.urbanroad.com.au/design-service
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