Top Ten Tips for Hanging Art in Your Home
Read our founder’s top ten tips for hanging art in your home to get the most out of your collection…..
1) Be playful. Experiment with groupings and placements as much as you can before you start making holes in your walls. Lay pictures out on the floor, a sofa or a bed to see what pieces work well together. Try mixing up paintings, prints, photographs and drawings from different decades (or centuries) in different locations to see what suits different wall colours and textures in your home. Pure white walls are rarely the best backdrop for a picture.
A traditional landscape hung in a contemporary home designed by Sandy Rendel Architects. Photo by Jim Stephenson.
Strong pictures like this monotype by Tamsin Relly can stand up to even stronger wall colours.
2) Map out your space. Hang like a pro; measure and map out any large hanging spaces on the floor with masking tape. Remember the ‘true’ hanging area is always smaller than the wall you are looking at; don’t forget to leave breathing space above furniture and below the ceiling.
3) Find a partner. It is far easier to hang pictures when there’s two of you! One person should hold the picture and the other can stand back to give directions on height and positioning. Up a bit, down a bit; your walls will thank you for it.
4) Don’t be a slave to your tape measure. Finding a standard eye level or ‘line’ for rows of pictures to sit along can work beautifully in formal settings. But in a home with furniture, lamps, mirrors and doorframes it can often be better to place work ‘by eye’ so that it relates to its domestic context. Small tweaks can make a huge difference; re-position until it feels right.
Photo by Jane Looker.
5) Look for ‘conversations’ between pictures. Traditional hanging strategies might involve grouping works by theme, for example landscapes, portraits or abstracts. By all means look for common ground, but strict groupings can end up looking contrived in a home. Instead, try looking for connections between works which are more instinctive – echoes of the same colour, a similar atmosphere, or lines that seem to lead from one picture to the next are all subtle ways to link groupings together beautifully.
6) Give your pictures room to breathe. With the rise in popularity of the traditional ‘salon hang’ works can often find themselves squashed up against each other. Remember; whatever the layout, every piece needs its own space. Think of each artist and the thought that went into their work. Again, do this by eye, as some pictures will need more space around them than others.
Mix pictures with other objects and flowers or plants on your shelves. Photo by Ellie Laycock.
Photo by Emmanuelis Stasaitis.
7) Mix up the frames. One of the cardinal sins of framing a collection is to buy the same frame for every work so they ‘match’. Always choose the best frame for that particular picture (a good framer will advise you). Combining contemporary and traditional frames in the home adds warmth and character – treat each of your pictures as the unique individual that they are.
Photo courtesy of Jim Stephenson.
Give your pictures breathing space and consider vistas. Photo by Jane Looker.
8) Take a journey around your home. Be brave and try a huge picture on a wall where it only just fits or hang a small piece just above a low side table or desk where you will see it more clearly. Walls at the top of a flight of stairs or on a small landing are key hanging spots, as are walls that face you as you exit a room. Take a walk around your home and see where you naturally pause;. this is a prime spot for a favourite picture.
Pictures can be hung in surprising locations to relate to their domestic surroundings, as pictured here at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge.
A trio of works, each framed differently, in the home of Copenhagen-based antiques dealer Helle Thygesen. Photo courtesy Mikkel Tjellesen.
9) Look beyond the walls. Shelves, mantlepieces and corners offer opportunities to create groupings of smaller framed works with sculptures, plants, childrens’ pottery and books. Use blobs of blu-tack to invisibly secure any wobbly works so that they don’t topple over as walking, particularly on older floorboards, can create vibrations. If you don’t want to drill into your walls at all, consider a picture rail with transparent cords for endless flexibility (try hangingsystems.com).
A flexible cord hanging system. Photo by Ellie Laycock.
A triptych of watercolours by Joseph Goody in a Television Centre apartment designed by FAR Studio.
10) You can always change your mind! Don’t be fooled into thinking that the pros always get it right first time! On the contrary, many a gallery hang has been tweaked, adjusted or started all over again. Once you have hung your pictures, get a good night’s sleep and the following morning it will be easy to see what has worked and what needs a re-think.
If you want to learn more, watch a recording of Katherine’s instagram live video on how to create a salon hang in your own home.
