Have you ever walked into an art gallery and begun to melt like one of Dali’s clocks? Dance like a Keith Haring figure? Contemplate like Rodin’s thinker? Clasp your face and drop your jaw like Munch’s The Scream? Like most, we love art in the home. It’s a great way to capture your personality and creativity and express yourself on your wall space with tools like paint color, a special piece of art, art on the wall that goes with your favorite piece of furniture, and more.
So what’s the problem? Poorly hung art stands out like a bad toupee…you can’t help but notice it, and you just want to fix it. So we wrote this article as a response to the many questions that came in on how to hang wall art…including:
- How to hang prints
- How to decorate with wall art
- How to hang paintings on a wall
- How to hang prints
- What to use to hang wall art
How to Hang Wall Decor & Art Tip #1: Hang Art at Eye Level
source: zoominteriors.com
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Most people have the tendency to hang artwork too high. If you take one piece of information from this article, let it be this: 57″ on center. This means that the center of your art piece (not the hook) should be 57″ from the floor. This 57″ standard represents the average human eye-height and is regularly used as a standard in many galleries and museums. It also creates balance in the home because all of your art will share a visual midline.
There are a few exceptions to this rule: If you have really low ceilings (less than 8-9′), divide the vertical length of your wall into quarters and hang your art in the third quadrant up from the floor. And if you’re hanging art above a sofa, allow for 8-10 inches above the sofa back, even if this breaks the 57″ rule. Also be mindful of the space between your art and where the wall meets the ceiling.
How to Hang Wall Art Tip #2: Balance the Scales
If you’re working with a collection of art, it’s important to treat that collection or gallery as one piece to achieve a balanced look. First, make sure your collection is neither too large nor too small in relation to your sofa or sideboard. We want the just right, Goldilocks effect here: The artwork should be two-thirds the size of the sofa or sideboard. If you are hanging multiple pieces in a group, make sure the heavier pieces are at the bottom left and the lighter pieces are at the upper right with mid-sized pieces placed in between (see the photo above).
Or, if you have one large piece and a few smaller pieces, hang the large piece toward the middle as a focal point and go from there. Leave 2-5 inches between each frame for proper spacing. Insider tip: Use low adhesive tape to keep spacing consistent between frames. And if all of this seems overwhelming, don’t fret! We can help you create your perfect gallery wall when you sign up for our KKH design services.
How to Hang Wall Art Tip #3: Don’t Shy from Salon Style
Source: Burnham Design
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The salon-style look for wall art could be one of the most adored and admired features of a space… if it weren’t so intimidating! How do you create a look you like without putting a ton of extra holes in your wall? The arrangement should really be to your (or your client’s) personal liking, but remember to follow the general guidelines outlined in Tip #2 above for multiple pieces. Salon-style also works best when you mix and match multiple types of wall hangings, from paintings to prints to photos to text pieces to wall sculptures!
Our last piece of salon-style advice: use craft paper and low adhesive tape to plan out the arrangement on the wall and for determining nail placement. And are you OBSESSED with the rug featured above? Well good, because you can buy it here.
How to Hang Wall Art Tip #4: Be Off the Walls
Don’t have the time or patience for a salon-style gallery wall? Design differently and place wall art in unexpected places. Don’t limit yourself to walls! Floating wall shelves are the new gallery wall! Try layering multiple pieces for an interesting and multidimensional approach. And if you have a very large art piece, consider propping it against the wall instead of hanging it for a more relaxed and contemporary look.
How to Hang Wall Art Tip #5: Find the Shape of the Wall
Source: architecturaldigest.com
Another common mistake we see is when art is just way too small for the space. Big art can be an intimidating buy (and an investment), but generally the art you hang should be in the same shape and orientation as the wall it’s trying to fill (like in the photo above).
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How to Hang Wall Art Tip #6: Avoid Kitchen Kitsch
We don’t know about you, but when we’re cooking in the kitchen, the last thing we want to see up on our wall is an artsy rendition of fresh, dewy asparagus sprinkled with parmesan. It’s a bit much, and let’s face it, the artwork will probably look better than our home cooking (fun fact: fruits and veggies shot for food photography are usually coated in hairspray to give some extra shine).
So what kind of art deserves a place in the kitchen? We love vintage or modern pieces, depending on the kitchen design. An additional tip: If you want artwork in the kitchen, be careful not to hang it anywhere it can become damaged by water or heat.
How to Hang Artwork on Your Wall: Tip #7: Use Frames Wisely
Don’t neglect the frame when thinking about your focal piece of artwork, especially in the living room; always consider that the art will serve as a wall anchor. Whether you go modern with monochromatic frames or you mix and match different vintage-style frames and picture hangers, your framing can bring just as much style and personality to a space as the artwork itself.
Kathy Kuo Home Design Services
Feeling inspired? In addition to being a source for beautiful high quality furnishings and decor, Kathy Kuo Home has a team of professional interior designers that are ready to assist with all of your interior design needs. Our services provide multiple layout and design options that fit your style and budget for any room. You will work with a team of designers and project managers to help you love where you live.
Call (888) 908-3486 or email designs@kathykuohome.com today to get started!
39 thoughts on “How to Hang Wall Art Like a Design Pro”
Thank you for sharing this helpful guide! This is very useful since knowing where and how to hang wall arts are important since it also creates a style and adds another beauty to the artwork itself. I find balancing the scales difficult since most of my art collections are in different sizes but thanks to your tips, I will surely try them. I would just like to ask how would you suggest hanging wall art that is almost as high as my wall? Do I have to hang it alone on a wall or should I mix it with other wall art?
I want to get some nice art hung up on my walls, but I’m not sure how to choose them. It makes sense that I would want to consider getting some nice frames for the art, too. That seems like a good way to ensure that it looks nice.
My mother would like to hire an interior designer that will be able to improve the home’s value. Thank you for sharing here as well the importance of having a new art installed. I also agree with you that proper spacing between the artwork must be observed.
It really helped when you talked about art pieces and how to hang them at the right spot! Recently, my wife and I decided to re-decorate our home. We realized how we don’t have any type of artwork hanging from our walls, so we’ll be sure to look for some nice pieces and follow your hanging tips! Thanks for the advice on how we should hang artwork at our eye level.
What a wonderful list of ideas for a wall art. It’s interesting to see some unique concepts that can be applied to the design.
Lovin this site. Great help for my art work project.
I like that you recommended decorating according to the the size of the space, basically, make sure the painting is not so small for the wall’s size. I recently moved to my new apartment, and I want to decorate it with wall art but since I’ve never really done it I’m looking for advice. I will definitely make sure that I do what you recommended to ensure it looks organized and aesthetic.
All good stuff! Something to consider with frameless luxury fine art photography media would be to make sure the pieces include aluminum rails attached behind the piece to “float” it slightly from the wall.
It caught my attention when you recommend ed hanging the art frames at eye level because of tempts to hand it too high. My mom wants to renovate her office and decorate the place with a few pieces of art to make the office more appealing. I will pass her the note so she can be aware fo the high that the art should be hand and look fantastic.
I’m glad you mentioned that we need to avoid areas that’ll be affected by water or heat when choosing where to hang wall art in our kitchen. My husband wants to use a custom framing service for some of his recent art projects so we can display them throughout the large home we just moved to. Thanks for sharing these tips about wall art placement we can use to make sure his art is protected and looks good!
Love thede tips im going to be putting ip picture frames needed this
I like that you explain the importance of treating your entire gallery as one piece to make sure it all flows together and that there are no major outliers. My husband and I are in the process of buying a new home. We definitely want to spruce the place up, I think we should find a private art consultant to help us figure out what’s best for our house.
I liked the idea of achieving a balanced look when working with a collection of art. My aunt loves naive art, and he wants to buy some pieces to hang in her wall. I will share with her the article so she can get an idea of how to position the pieces.
I love your advice to look at the balance of the room to help make sure that no artwork is too large or small for a room. About a week ago, my sister gave me this amazing painting she has been working on for a month! It is just incredible. I want to hang it up, but I think that it needs a frame. I will have to look for services that could get me the perfect frame.
Thanks for teaching me the rule of being 57″ on center. I’m not great at decorating. I’m going to look for an interior designer to do it for me.
I found it interesting when you said that you should hang it at eye level. My roommate and I are wanting to decorate our home more. Thank you for the tips on how to hang wall art!
You’re welcome! So happy this helped.
Thanks for providing us valuable tips of wall art. I love to decor my home with beautiful paintings or canvas. Thanks again for sharing it.
I like how you mention that frames can bring style and personality to the space along with the artwork. To me, frames would be so important to consider because you want them to be high quality in case they fall and so that they don’t detract from the painting or other decor. I’ll have to look more into picture framing and hanging.
I love what you said about using floating art shelves in order to display things in your home. I believe that buying the right family art can make your home more comforting. My family and I want to buy more things to hang up in our new home, so I’ll make sure to find an art store that makes decorative art at a reasonable price.
We bought some art – a 3-piece set – to hang over the headboard in our master bedroom. The headboard has three posts (right, left, and middle – not super thick, just ornate) that are a bit high, so my husband has hung the art with some of it behind the middle post. I really like the art, but think it looks funny to have that post. He thinks it would look funny to hang the art higher. How do we determine the best way to do it? The wall meets the ceiling at 8′, and then the ceiling rises to a peak in the middle.
Thank you for any suggestions!
Hi Eileen!
Contact us at http://www.kathykuodesigns.com and one of our designers would be happy to consult with you on this.
My family is reducing some of our homes and we wanted to hang some more pictures. I really appreciated how this article talked about how it’s important to treat that collection or gallery as one piece to achieve a balanced look. I will have to keep that in mind as we search for the right frames for our photos.
My living room walls are full of frames and mirror but something that bothered me about them is their arrangement and now i know how to turn them into perfect wall art…
I love that you talked about using the Goldilocks effect when decorating the wall. Like you said, the pieces shouldn’t be too big or small for the pieces of furniture in the room. It should be just right. My boyfriend and I are going to redecorate our sunroom because it is almost summer, and we want to host chilled get-togethers there. Thanks for the tips!
You’re very welcome! Enjoy all of your summer parties 🙂
Yes! finally i got some amazing and helpful thing about wall art. This place is nice and i got very nice info about wall art.
Thanks again for all the information regarding hanging wonderful wall art! It was interesting to read about how most people actually hang their artwork too high and sometimes it needs to be lowered. My wife and I are looking into the remodeling business and this is important information — I will let her know! Thanks again!
Hi Michael, we’re so happy you found the article helpful!!
My mom is planning on making some of our old pictures into photography wall art. Thanks so much for the tip that she makes the center of each of the photos be at 57″ since she’ll want them to be at eye level. I’ll be sure to let her know about the 57″ rule with her photography wall art, but also make sure that she makes sure there are at least 10″ between the sofa and any pictures she hangs above it.
Hi Ashley thanks for reaching out we’re so happy this was helpful!
Hey Kathy !
Firstly, thanks to share these kind of tips with us. My wife also planning to purchase some wall art to decor the home, but she got confused how to hang them in proper way and we found your article. It’s really great and surely we surely follow your above mentioned steps to decorate the walls. But, we also have some question that how to select a wall art according to color of wall? Out wall color is white, so can you please suggest us which type of wall art we should be used to decor the wall in some innovative ways.
Hi Oliver,
Thanks for reaching out! With white walls, you can really go in any direction since nothing will really clash (except maybe an off-white piece). Art is very personal, so I always recommend searching for a piece that speaks to you. With a white wall, you can never go wrong with some colorful abstracts!
I like your tip to keep the art at eye level. My father has a room in his basement with lots of vintage collectibles and I’ve been wanting to buy him some vintage wall hangings. I think I’ll surprise him and hang them up while he’s gone.
What a great idea! Especially with Father’s Day coming up 🙂
I didn’t know that most people hang wall art too high. Maybe I should ask someone that I trust about different things that I would be able to do to make sure I am hanging it where it would be easy to see. I’ll need to find a professional that could help me find some wall art that would look good with the color of my house.
Hi John,
I hope you found the article useful! If you need any help source art, feel free to reach out to one of our design specialists at 888-908-2925!
I’m planning on getting some wall art and want to make sure that I hang it correctly in my house. It’s good to know that your art should be the shape and orientation as the wall it is hanging on. Something else to consider is to get wall art that matches your furniture so that you can be sure it will look nice.
Absolutely agree! Thanks for the comment, Sarah 🙂