Art galleries are gorgeous. They add warmth and character to your home and can sit side by side with your photos to add personality and style.
Unfortunately, all that is only possible if you pick the suitable artwork and, more importantly, arrange the pieces strategically and proportionally throughout your home. The first part isn’t too difficult. You can easily pick up quality art pieces at https://www.photowall.co.uk/canvas-prints/cities-places-today. Unfortunately, arranging artwork isn’t as easy as playing a frisbee.
For one, you need to ensure that your art pieces marry the room and reinforce your overall style. More importantly, the arrangement must be such that the individual piece’s complement each other. It takes considerable effort to achieve that level of harmony.
But, don’t despair. We’ve rounded up several tips to help you arrange wall art for a flawless wall display.
Before you Begin
1. Choose your wall
Many people think you can just hang art anywhere. Unfortunately, that’s too reckless. You need to consciously decide the best wall for your art.
First, should you put the art pieces on the obvious large walls or hang them in smaller spaces? Generally, we recommend larger walls as you need to fill large space in one way or another to unify the room. Smaller spaces, such as those between windows and doors, are best for displaying petite pieces.
However, keep in mind that the size of the artwork also plays a key role in placement. Small art pieces on a large wall look lost. So, you need to either group several smaller pieces together or go with one large piece.
2. Have a plan
Never make the mistake of hoping to stumble upon an arrangement style on-the-go. It can result in costly mistakes and leave you with egg on the face.
Instead, think about the arrangement well in advance. Imagine it in your mind and, ideally, use digital tools or low-tech methods, such as tape and craft paper, to visualize the dream.
An excellent computer software you can use to visualize wall art arrangements is the 1stdibs app. It allows you to create a “view on wall” image to see how your artwork will look once installed. You just take photos of the art pieces and move them around the app to create the best arrangement. The app provides professional tips and ideas using photos of your art pieces.
5 Tips to Arrange Artwork
1. Hang art at eye level
An often-overlooked rule is to hang art so that the center is at eye level. This translates to 57 inches to 60 inches from the floor. The only time you’re allowed to hang artwork outside eye level is if you have a lower ceiling. In this case, you can hang your art pieces slightly lower as the occupants will be seated anyway.
2. Blend it with your furniture
Proper art selection and arrangement can add interest to your sofas, chairs, and dining areas. Therefore, we recommend a gallery that isn’t wider than the piece of furniture it hangs over. For long sofas, make sure the artwork or gallery isn’t more than two-thirds of the length of the sofa. Additionally, leave enough space between the furniture and the art piece.
3. Symmetrical galleries are formal and traditional
If you live in a modern architecture home or have a modern décor, the best choice for an art arrangement is symmetrical. The same applies to traditional decors. A typical symmetrical wall arrangement comprises a grid of four to six pieces. Make sure to leave identical spaces between the different pieces. Also, it works best if all the pieces are of the same size and have identical frames (similar in size and design).
4. Asymmetrical galleries are informal and eclectic
Symmetrical art arrangements have an informal feel and work best in eclectic decors. A typical asymmetric arrangement comprises small clusters of art or large, salon-style gallery walls. The beauty of this arrangement is that it allows you to mix different sizes, styles, and orientations in the same gallery. You can even vary frame dimensions, types, and finishes, and intersperse the art pieces with DIY art pieces, wall sculptures, baskets, mirrors, etc.
5. Create a visual balance
Achieving balance is easy with symmetrical art galleries. However, since most people hang wall art asymmetrically, you’ll need to put in a little more effort to achieve cohesion and balance. One way to go is to avoid putting too much “weight” on either side of the gallery. So, for example, you should hang the largest pieces first, at the center, or towards the bottom of the gallery to create a focal point.
Summary
The five tips above should give you a good foundation for arranging wall art in your home. Don’t forget to mix up the artwork with your photos.
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