Picture Hanging Tips

To help you get the "hang" of artful arranging, the following are some positive pointers on picture
grouping. Remember, Your front door talks about you to everyone who passes by…your walls gossip
about you to all your friends. Walls are the largest single feature in any room! Be sure yours makes a
positive statement by careful selection of your artwork, framing and hanging!

  1. Composition is the key. Consider your grouping as a single unit. Line, Balance, Rhythm and
    Scale.
  2. First, work out an attractive arrangement on the floor. Remembering to measure out the entire
    amount of wall space you have to work in. Trace an outline of each picture on paper and use
    these as guides for placement on the walls. This will eliminate unnecessary nail holes.
    (Newspaper, freezer paper, brown craft paper).
  3. The eye craves order, so remember your practical geometry. Hang pictures so that they form at
    least one horizontal, and one vertical line. (With the exception of a round grouping.)
  4. Your arrangement should hang-together, literally. Too much space between pictures disrupts the
    graphic effect. (Use your hand width as a good spacing between pieces.)
  5. Remember, not only size, but color and textures will affect the balance. Always integrate
    groupings for balance by keeping the weight of your composition well distributed.
  6. Add Rhythm by combining large and small squares, rectangles and circles, but mingle the
    various shapes and sizes throughout to add visual interest.
  7. Permanent accessories such as lamps, are important to remember, so include them into your plan.
  8. Correct scale is such a common factor in decorating that we are not aware of it until it is absent.
    Standing a pony beside an elephant will make the pony look smaller or the elephant look larger...
    tiny pictures over a large overstuffed sofa or vice versa is incorrect.
  9. Avoid stair-stepping pictures unless you are hanging them on a stairway wall.
  10. How High or How Low??? Remember, everyone's "eye-level" is different. The Rule to remember is:
    No more than 6 to 8 inches above a piece of furniture or at average eye level if not above
    furniture.
Happy Hanging !
Westchester
Art & Frame