#1 Top Decorating Mistake & How to correct it: Hanging Artwork by Anne Lubner Designs
Is your artwork in “Outer Space”?
just a few inches lower would connect the art to the sofa
One of the most common decorating mistakes is hanging artwork, mirrors, and wall decor too high on the wall. This makes your wall art look like it is floating in outer space! All wall art needs to be anchored, and I’m not referring to how it’s installed—although wall anchors are always a good idea for mirrors and heavy pieces of art. In my opinion, the paintings above are hung too high, making them look like they’re floating above the sofa, not related to it.
Even the art below could be hung a tad lower.
If your ceilings are very high, meaning your walls are very tall, it’s more important to make sure your art is connected to what you have in the room. If you have very high ceilings, and want to dramatize that fact, select art with a strong verticality like the scrolls below. Notice how the three scrolls are hung very high on the wall, yet they relate perfectly to the sofa.
great juxtaposition of horizontal with vertical tapestries
The popular axion is that artwork should be hung at eye level. But does that mean the top of the art should be at eye level, or the center? And what if you’re 5’3” and your husband is 6’2”? Whose eyes do you use? And does this apply to groupings of art or only to large wall art? This rule is confusing because it raises more questions than it answers. Even galleries have different rules of thumb.
Galleries typically hang their artwork so the center is about 57” from the floor.
This is true no matter the size of the art!
But how many home interiors have you seen that look like an art gallery? Not many, I bet. It’s fun to wander around art galleries but I wouldn’t want to live in one!
Rather than trying to follow the “art should be at eye level” rule, there are several guidelines to consider the next time you want to hang that mirror or artwork. They are not steps to be considered in sequence, but rather factors to consider together.
- the room itself, meaning its function
- the size of the wall and the art
- the shape of the wall and the art
- whether the art will be hung over furniture
- the size and shape of the furniture
What’s the Function?
The first thing to consider is the function of the room. Is it a foyer or a hallway where you’ll be standing?
Or will you be primarily sitting, such as in a living or dining room?
The point is that we shouldn’t have to crane our necks up in order to view artwork. If you will mainly be standing in the room, a good rule of thumb is that the center of the artwork should be about 57-64” from the floor, roughly gallery height, the “eye level” rule. If you will mainly be sitting in the room, then the center of the artwork can be a little lower. Another approach is to sit down while a helper holds the art and moves it up and down until you like its placement. But remember, these are only starting points.
Size Matters!
It is also important to consider how the size of the artwork relates to the size of the wall. A small piece of art on a large wall will look lost while a large painting will look cramped on a narrow wall. Give your art room to breathe by leaving space around it in proportion to the wall. In the photo below, the art over the fireplace has plenty of breathing room as does the sconce.
Shape Matters Too!
The shape of the art should also relate to the shape of the wall. This means that a tall narrow print looks best on a tall narrow wall. Here one of my favorite designers, Michael S. Smith (official decorator for the Obama White House) selected two tall large vertical Chinese ancestor portraits to hang in the tall vertical wall spaces.
As a side note, this room above is bold and not everyone will like it, but it is a great example of how to combine different patterns. I’ll have to write a blogpost or an ezine on what you can learn by studying photographs of masterfully decorated rooms. If you’d like to read more of my writing on interior design and decorating, please go to my website www.annelubnerdesigns.com and click on blog at the top. Or go straight to www.annelubnerdesigns.com/interior-beauty-blog/
Example of Successfully Breaking a Rule
In the photo below, designer Hal Williamson chose to break the rule of relating shape of art to shape of wall. Formal symmetry, as in the Michael S. Smith room, is more restful, best in an already bold room. In the soft palette of the Hal Williamson room below, the horizontal painting is not as restful; in fact, it grabs your eye because a) it is not symmetrical to the tall art on the left and b) the deep brown in the painting is in high contrast to the wall and upholstery. Functioning as a focal point, the deep brown in the horizontal painting then highlights the color of the wood floor and the silk drapery, causing your eye to move about the room and take in the lovely details. Although hung high above the table, the painting is connected to the table by the urn which is part of a pair. This shows that rules can be broken--for a good reason. The more you look at this room, the more you may like it.
Hanging Art over Furniture
A large wide piece of art or wall décor looks best on a large wide wall and unless you have gallery type spaces, over a correspondingly large piece of furniture, like a sofa.
When art is placed over a piece of furniture, the best rule of thumb is to place your art so it relates to the furniture beneath it. When hanging a large painting above your sofa, hang the painting so it is at least 6” but no more than 12” above the back of the sofa. This way the art will be “anchored” by the sofa. (On a side note, I love how the ceiling above is painted in a high gloss finish. The prep work to make the ceiling totally perfect is labor intensive but the gloss adds a lot of character to this room.)
The art should be about 2/3 the width of the sofa. If it’s only about half the width of the sofa, add other elements to create a grouping that visually extends the artwork to balance the sofa. Consider using sconces, smaller pieces of art, or as designer Ned Marshall used in the chocolate foyer below, porcelain jars resting on decorative corbels.
Artwork should be in scale with its surroundings. For example do not have your artwork much smaller or larger than the piece of furniture beneath it. Think of the art as a hat and the furniture as a person’s head; you don’t want to create an effect like a tiny hat on a giant head (or vice versa)! If the art is too small, augment it by adding other pieces of art, or even different objects like plates, sconces, mirrors, etc., to make a grouping. Then treat the grouping as one large piece of art. Here is another foyer by Ned Marshall showing his grouping of mirror and framed nature prints that are in perfect scale with the table and chairs.
When hanging a mirror or art over a fireplace, chest or table, the distance between them should generally be close. The goal is to group the art and the mantel or furniture so they look like they belong together. Here is a beautiful example from James Michael Howard. Don’t worry about exposing the entire mirror; that is not necessary or always desirable. The mirror extends down and the statue, plants and urns reach up to connect with each other, making a unified tableau.
Even though this 18th Century Italian mirror is perfectly scaled to the Louis XV table, the mirror by itself would have felt lost on this foyer wall had not designer Jonathan Berger flanked it with corbels holding porcelain jars. The mirror would have felt too high were it not for the gold figurine and ginger jar with cherry blossoms extending up toward the mirror. Notice the mirror lines up perfectly with the chandelier while the table is slightly to the left to allow the mirror to be seen.
Following the Shape of Furniture
Another factor to consider is the shape of the furniture. Rather than always hanging art in straight lines, try hanging it to relate to the shape of the furniture beneath it.
Below is a beautiful example by James Michael Howard. The art is hung to follow the lampshade, creating a grouping that is perfectly balanced and highlights the shape of the lamp. The octagons create interesting blank space between the objects.
Or do the unexpected. Here designer Paula Perlini adds movement, interest, and a bit of whimsy by alternating the placement. She could also have chosen to hang the prints to follow the shape of the headboard.
Hanging Art to Follow a Staircase
This is a beautiful foyer, with its sunny Nina Campbell wallpaper contrasted with the black and white tile, staircase, and framed botanical prints. While an attempt was made to follow the shape of the wall resulting from the staircase, the framed prints are not hung at the same angle as the staircase. This would've been fine if the foyer ceiling didn't intrude on the space and crowd the lowest print. The first thing I see after the floor is how close the lowest print is to the ceiling and how it doesn't relate to the wall space around it. Art not hung properly will detract from even the most beautiful space. The fix would be to rehang the bottom print a little lower and the top print a little higher, increasing the angle to give the bottom print more breathing room.
So the next you look around your home, take note of whether your art is hung according to these guidelines:
- Purpose of the Room
- Size of Art to Size of Wall
- Shape of Art to Shape of Wall
- Size of Art to Size of Furniture
- Art Following the Shape of Furniture (or what’s beneath it)
And if it isn’t, rehang according to these guidelines, and you will be surprised at the difference it makes.
If you’d like help making your home the best it can be, email me at anne@annelubnerdesigns.com or call me (727) 415-2097. I love helping homeowners create “interior beauty” in their homes!
