Hanging the art is a creative process
Modern home decorations are including a variety of choices to make your house look more comfortable and stylish place. Oil paintings on canvas are a good preference for wall decor, they stand out as a valuable and ambitious solution for a design. The advantages of this classic media are beyond comparison: art made with oil paint is durable and solid, colors will be deep and bright and can include a large range of shades.
In the process of hanging wall art, you should take into account the surrounding objects, their colors and size. The compatibility with other elements in the room is a priority, the light source, the height of the ceiling also matter. Many factors have an impact on the way how the wall decor will affect the viewer.
Which size of wall art matches you?
Nowadays you can order wall decor of any size you want to improve your everyday visual experience. No doubt that any case is unique and you don’t want to buy a painting, that will get lost somewhere at a wall. But how do you consider which size is the best? This mostly depends on two key factors - the dimensions of your furniture and area.
You may want to buy a fresh art object for a living room and research to find out where you should hang it. There are many aspects that can influence this choice and one of them is choosing the right size of a stretched canvas.
For small or narrow rooms it is certainly better to choose something that fits. A big place with a little piece of art encourages us to concentrate on the piece, otherwise, it can be just lost among the other decorations and be forgotten. In contrast, big paintings can become a part of a room and define its atmosphere, unless they are excessively big. Definitely, extremely large paintings in small rooms will look like they are trying to conquer the room and furniture.
The general rule here is that the artworks shouldn’t be wider than the furniture under them. 75% of the width of the furniture is the most fitting width for an artwork or a group of paintings.
Normally, the strict and absolute rules for hanging images don’t exist. There are some recommendations to help improve the experience of hanging canvas art, which can assist to make the right choice. But the main rule here - is how happy you are with your purchase and how much do you love it.
The perfect size
There are several important points that have an impact on the final choice.
- How big is the area where you are going to place new art?
- What kind of room do you choose for decoration - dining room, living room, bedroom?
- The height of your ceiling matters.
- What furniture is located under or beside the wall art?
Talking about a specified size, it is always better to select a little more than a little less size in case you have doubts.
Distance from a painting
It is an important factor, but people usually forget about the distance between them and wall decor. If it’s about little art, you can just walk closer. But in other cases, you should think about how far you can step away from a piece of art to see it conveniently? You should be able to have a global view of your painting without moving your head.
Choosing the right wall
When it comes to measuring the wall you will have to consider the general proportions and the orientation of your art. Vertical, in other words, portrait orientation suits better to high ceilings and narrow walls. Landscape artworks look great in hallways or under a couch in horizontal wall spaces. Large wall art should cover from 60 to 80% of the whole wall, so you should not be afraid of picking a large painting instead of smaller.
An interesting way to create an attractive environment with small paintings - grouping them. Just take multiple art pieces and put them on one wall, their scale can be similar or vary.
Dissimilar art will look chaotic, so it is much better to group pieces with some likenesses. For example, you can choose by the palette, frame color, subject, or method of applying.
Different sizes can be grouped in online gallery layouts and will create visual diversity in your space. Put all artworks on the floor, group them as they will be on the walls and measure. Then apply the rules from the guidelines for large art.
Art that is too high
One of the most common mistakes in decorating your house is hanging the picture too high. The center of the picture should be located at the eye-level of an average person. An art object that is located far from the floor even a few inches more than needed can ruin all the impression.
‘Too high’ can differ from case to case. It depends on the place and what is located under and over the artwork, how high is the ceiling. There is no single formula that can tell you which place for your painting is just the best. But general advice can be helpful if you decided to hang the painting at the right height.
The most simple way to achieve the optimal result, in this case, is to place your painting’s center at 57” from the floor. Look at the result: you should be able to look at your canvas without problems, not bending your neck or missing the top of a painting. To hang a picture over a bed, sofa or drawer count 5 to 8 inches between the bottom of a painting and the top of furniture.
Wall art matters
Artworks can complete your house and obtain a big value in interior design. They can create a feel and finalize the overall look of a room, but it is much better to put such decoration according to some basic rules. You should keep in mind the color scheme and respect spacing, but the general rule is that the output should be something that you will love.