Home staging professionals appreciate the value of a well-placed picture. How and where you hang your photos and paintings can make or break your decor. Whether you are a designer, home staging expert, or simply love to decorate your space, knowing the trick to hanging pictures can make it a whole lot more fun.
Size Matters
When deciding how many and which paintings and photos to hang, it’s important to consider the size of the wall. On a small wall, too many pictures can look cluttered (a home staging “don’t”). Conversely, a small picture on a large wall can look silly and incomplete. If you have a large space to fill but only have smaller pieces of art, try arranging the pictures in groups to give the illusion of a larger piece of artwork.
Gallery Wall 101
One of the best tips for hanging pictures in groups is to create a gallery wall. Although the name sounds fancy, the concept isn’t difficult or too strictly defined. A gallery wall is simply an assortment of various pictures and items hung together to create a cohesive unit. A gallery wall can consist of any variety of photographs, artwork, illustrations, or other objects. When used for home staging, its main purpose is to add warmth to a blank wall or lifeless room.
When hanging your gallery wall, select art that works well together visually, taking into consideration color, style, and theme. There are no hard and fast rules about this, but hanging a brightly colored sports photograph next to a pastel still life would almost certainly create a sense of discord. If you prefer to keep your artwork eclectic, then opt for cohesion by placing your pieces in matching frames, or choose mats that are the same color and style.
Picture Perfect Placement
There’s a trick to hanging pictures correctly so they add to the flow and look of the room without seeming out of place. If you’re hanging individual pictures, then place them at eye level. This means the center of the art (not the top), should sit roughly 58 to 65 inches from the floor on an empty wall. When you’re working with a gallery wall or group of hanging art, consider the entire group as one unit, and aim for the center piece in your gallery to be at eye level. Don’t be too strict, though, and consider the following variations:
- When arranging pictures over a sofa or other furniture piece, avoid leaving a large gap between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the picture. Four to six inches should be the maximum space.
- If you’re hanging art in a room where the occupants regularly sit rather than stand, like a dining room or a living room, eye-level will be a bit lower, so you’ll need to experiment to find the optimal hanging position. To do this, have one person sit in a chair directing you where to hang the picture.
- Consider the people viewing the art. If you’re hanging a gallery wall in a kids’ room, place it a bit lower than the 58-inch standard.
There’s a right way to hang your gallery wall. When hanging a variety of art grouped together, start with the largest piece in the center and move outward in a grid; this creates balance and symmetry. Space each piece 2 to 3 inches apart, keeping in mind how it looks against furniture or other pieces in the room.
Art Hanging How-to
Home staging experts know that a little prior planning can go a long way toward making your space look incredible. When you have decided which pieces of art or photos to hang, create a full-sized, labeled paper template for each piece. With low-stick adhesive, place each template on the wall to see exactly how the layout will look.
Before you pick up a hammer or screwdriver, consider the weight of each piece and what type of mounting should be used. Also, another home staging trick is using your paper templates to locate the correct place to put each mount, drilling or hammering right through the paper and ripping it off when you’re done.
Wall Hanging Alternatives
You don’t always have to hang wall art for staging. As an alternative, try placing artwork on a floating shelf. These types of shelves make it easy to group various pieces of art, and they also give you the flexibility of playing around with different artwork groupings without committing to hanging each piece. When using the shelves, follow the same tips for arranging pictures in groups and the principles for height placement.
Home staging art is just one piece of the overall decorative picture. Consider furniture rental to find the finishing pieces you need to give your home staging project the best overall look. CORT Furniture Rental can help you with all your home décor and furniture needs to make your staging project a success.
