How to arrange wall hangings like pictures, paintings or photos

When arranging pictures on the wall, balance and scale are very important. Large paintings are better not bigger than the furniture underneath them, and that small paintings or prints should not be hung in isolation on a large wall. But whatever the size of the piece you are hanging, try to place it at eye level, taking either standing or sitting levels into account. The same applies to landings, where pictures will be seen by people coming up and down stairs. With a large grouping, keep the central pieces at eye level, but do be careful not to hang paintings so close to sofas and chairs that they get knocked by people’s head.

Working out arrangements

Vertical arrangements will, of course, make a room seem higher, just as horizontal ones will make an area seem wider. Play around with different sizes of pictures to find the sort of arrangement that works best on the wall space available and with any other objects or arrangements in the room.



If you are thinking  of hanging a large group of different-sized of pictures, decide on the overall shape of the arrangement first of all, and mark out the area in an impermanent way (very important this). Now lay out all the items on the floor, as you hope to position them on the wall. This should save a lot of unwanted damage to the wall as well as frayed tempers. The same procedure can be followed when mixing objects with paintings, prints, photographs and general memorabilia, marking on the wall where the top and bottom of each objects will be.


Picture from Tammy Manet on Flickr




To balance a larger painting or as a substitute for one, a number of very small paintings or prints can be hung together on another wall. A large picture in the middle of a group of smaller ones gives the impression of tailing off, so if one painting or print is much larger than the others, place it at one end of a grouping. The large picture can be balanced at the other end by plant, flowers or a piece of sculpture-any tall object. A collection of miscellaneous prints without much in common can be given a unity if each one has a matt with the same, distinctive color  (bearing in mind the colors of the room) and framed with the same chrome or brass.



Picture from Tammy Manet on Flickr

The disparate elements of an oddly assorted group will work well together if they share a predominant color : all sepia tints perhaps, or all green and white prints, all black or white, or all photographs. If, of course, the subjects share an affinity, there is no need to worry about shapes, sizes and oddities of frames, because the theme will at once have provided  the protection of collection status. And once such status has been given, disparate shapes and sizes will serve to make the whole more interesting, rather than being in any way detracting. A useful point to remember, tough, is always to leave at least half the width of the smallest item you are hanging between each picture. This gives a balance of its own.


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