Hang On! What you need to know about hanging wall art!
Hanging artwork on your wall can make an instant and dramatic change. Art is an integral part of good design and most importantly, a presentation created with your personality in mind. Like paint color, artwork can immediately establish or change a room’s mood.
How you hang art, whether as a single framed piece or a grouping, influences the overall feeling of a room and doing so properly requires planning and preparation.
Many are confused and overwhelmed by the prospect of pounding that nail into the wall…that they just painted! I am here to help you sort through what can be a daunting task punctuated (no pun intended;)) by the myriad of choices and decisions you are faced with making.
The first step is, as always: Make a plan! How many times have you heard me say that? Analyze the style, color and function of the room that the art will be hung. To make your art work stand out or make a statement, select a picture that best complements the room’s color pallet and is in harmony with the mood and style of the room.
After all, a blank wall is like a canvas of sorts, perfect for arranging pictures and creating a masterpiece that is both stunning by design as well as sentiment. Understanding the basic visual principles such as symmetry and lines is paramount to a well-designed presentation.
Rule number one (after you’ve make your plan and have a style/genre/etc. selected! duh) is to remember when you hang a picture, the size of the frame needs to be relative to the size of the wall. Smaller frames look best on narrow walls, while larger frames or a group of frames is best hung on expansive walls.
When it comes times to hang your artwork, you can minimize nail holes, by first doing a paper layout. This can be as low tech as a sketch or as high tech as using your computer and special software. Another way is to go down to the art supply store and stock up on inexpensive butcher paper and masking tape. Cut the butcher paper into the same shape and size of the pictures and other wall decor you’ll be arranging. On the other hand, if it helps, do a basic drawing in each shape to represent the picture you are working with. These drawings don’t need to be elaborate; they just need to represent!
Clearly, the safest choice on hanging art is a grid. You can do this easily on a square-based format. It doesn’t mean your entire wall decor needs to be similarly sized. Mixing up sizes and shapes while still conforming to a basic symmetrical grid layout is easy and presents a fabulous composition. Grids help with spacing and lining the art in a balanced presentation.
The use of LINE is sometimes overlooked by DIY’ers. Proper use of line can set the mood in a room. Horizontal lines tend to elongate, widen and emphasize a casual decorating scheme. Further, horizontal lines tend to be calming and can give the illusion of width in a narrow room. Vertical lines however, tend to be more formal, add to the illusion of height and can seem more elegant and refined. Diagonal lines make the presentation appear more dramatic and exciting. While artwork generally shouldn’t be hung in offset arrangements, it is a useful technique in a stairwell as the floor levels change. Diagonal lines – either within a picture itself or in a line of pictures arranged on the wall also tend to add excitement to the composition. Using symmetrical or asymmetrical arrangements of art can create either a formal or a casual feeling. Symmetry simply means that when an arrangement is divided in half, each half is a mirror image of the other. Symmetry adds balance and formality to an arrangement and is generally more calming to view. Asymmetrical arrangements are more unexpected and tend to be eye-catching and present a more casual and informal composition.
Take your cue from the other elements in the room.
In general, artwork should be hung so that the center point of the picture or grouping is at about eye level for the average person. This is not ALWAYS possible but it is a good guideline to keep in mind.
It’s important to relate the artwork to the furniture below it if possible. For example, if you’re hanging a large picture over a table, the bottom of the frame should sit within 4 – 8″ of the tabletop. Also, the picture frame over you sofa should not be longer than the width of the sofa. As a rule, the bottom length of the frame should not exceed 75% to 80% of the length of the piece of furniture and let the height of the furniture piece determine the height of the art. That being said, art tends to look best when it seems to extend the lines of the furniture, windows or doorways, or when several small pieces are grouped together. Also, do not leave a lot of wall space between a sofa and a picture. Anything higher than 3 – 6′ will cause the eyes to focus on the wall rather than your art!
When hanging smaller pieces together, think of staying within the box! Two horizontally framed pictures can easily be hung with two vertically framed pictures by offsetting each style. Make sure that the perimeter of the entire grouping stays within boundaries so that the small pieces work together as one unit.
Smaller groupings can also be made to appear larger with interesting objects are interjected within the grouping such as mirrors, ironwork and the like.
If the matting and frames are alike, it tends to add an air of importance to the grouping….even something as mundane as postcards, menus, etc. will become a fuller more substantial presentation that brings unity and direction to the entire composition.
Conversely, you can add interest to a picture grouping by hanging pictures with differently shaped frames. This is a trickier application but can be done if there is some thought and planning involved.
Finally, it’s important not to forget another extremely important element of design and consequently, hanging your art: Lighting!
Beautiful artwork can be lost unless it is well lit. Illuminating artwork gives it importance. However, make sure you know what type of bulb you’re using, otherwise you risk doing damage to artwork, especially a painting, over time. Fluorescent bulbs tend to fade images, but incandescent bulbs only have 4% of their rays in the damaging zone. A good guideline to follow in terms of lighting is that anything that will fade your carpet will also fade your art, such as direct sunlight.
So, remember that creating a beautifully designed room includes the presentation of wall art and you are now equipped to go forth and Hang On! Imagination, Courage and Precision….come together to make a beautiful space because it’s all about: Better Living by Design!
What is YOUR Color Personality?
I bet you already knew that color has energy. When you think about color as having varying wavelengths then it makes perfect sense. Most of us are naturally attracted to a specific color. What’s your favorite color and what does it say about YOU?
RED: Dominant and strong. You are a risk taker and a visionary…you’re courageous and willing to go out on a limb!
ORANGE: Balanced. You are both mentally and physically balanced. Typically happy, loyal and easy going…willing to take each day as it comes.
YELLOW: Enigmatic! You’re typically happy and cheerful, charming and intelligent. Both creative and even somewhat psychic. A great negotiator.
GREEN: Grounded. You are not easily swayed and will remain loyal to your point and your people. You attack problems logically and find balance between the physical and the mental.
BLUE: Devoted. You are an idealistic and empathetic care giver. A natural mom!
INDIGO: Ambitious! You have a great lust for life and a somewhat impulsive/curious streek. You have an inner-knowing!
VIOLET: Loving. An old soul with the artistic and sentimental flavor for life.
So, what do you think….?? Do these describe you and your personality? If you’re thinking about creating a space that speaks to YOU and reflects your personality, call me!
A New Year! A New Hue!
Because I am blessed with the gift of doing a job that I truly love and having a career that chose me as much as I chose it, I like to keep abreast of the latest and greatest, the newest and brightest in all things DESIGN. This doesn’t mean I always go with the newest, most tantalizing, all the “bells and whistles” gadget, design, color pallet or anything remotely like that! I just gotta know! It brings me true joy to view what “they” or the “powers that be” in design have presented. One of my favorite design concepts is COLOR or HUE. So with no further adieu, lets talk some hue:)
So this year brings new hues to the forefront and while one can rarely completely change the interior color pallet of their home each and every year (and who would want to?), it is fun to know what small changes one can make utilizing the latest color trends?
This new year brings about a lot of talk and influence that have clearly started much earlier, but are even more prominent now. GLOBAL concepts and GREEN living. The neutral hues for 2010 are earthy and saturated though they have lessened in their saturation just slightly. Going green has a number of meanings and tremendous influences in just about every aspect of our lives these days. With regard to color, more organic and natural elements are being used in the process and creation of product. Colors derived from natural organic matter such as berries will bring a lot of neutral colors back into play such as beiges, browns, greens and so forth.
While the neutral pallet is moving toward the earthy, muddy hues, the global influence introduces some vibrant and intense hues. So, expect to see some earthy browns and greens mixed with the more vibrant oranges, pinks and purples. Rich plums and purple hues continue to pull through the new year and decade and the less saturated pinks and lavender are reintroduced in small doses.
Look for some vibrant yellows (great for a sunny kitchen and kitchen dining area) and soothing greens. For metallics we’re going to see gold make a comeback.
So, pick a new hue for 2010 and bring it into your home in small doses. How about a couple new accessory pillows in a beautiful plum with a red tassel??? WOW! It’s easy to do…just ask a designer friend you know…like me:) Carma Zarosinski with Carma For Design!