8 Expert Tips for Displaying Artwork in Your Home

Picking out artwork is a challenge in itself. However, another difficulty arises when deciding how to best represent a piece of work in your home. It’s easy to hang a picture, but ensuring multiple pieces flow together and appropriately complement or contrast with the rest of the room is not an easy task.

Since experts are expert for a reason, let’s turn to some for advice on properly displaying artwork, shall we?

1. Carla Jones (Carla Jones Designs)

When it comes to ensuring you’re committed to a piece and how it flows with the rest of your space, Designer Carla Jones has some wonderful advice:

“If you have bought a new piece of art, sit the piece in the room you’ve chosen for it for a few days before deciding to hang it. See how the lighting suits the piece. Daylight, mood lighting, evening shade – all can really make a piece of art shine in a room.”

Rushing to hang your piece not only means putting unnecessary holes in the wall but also means patience in ensuring your piece of art best accommodates the room you’re placing it in won’t be provided. Thus, the results may not be what you expect.

The fact that patience is a key factor Carla Jones goes by when deciding if a piece of art is right for a room proves that even experts need to have quality time to think things over when it comes to strategically playing a piece of work in a room.

Sometimes it’s better to get second thoughts during the initial process than later on when it’s already set and done.

2. Emma Harris (A Quiet Style)

You know that feeling you get when you hang pieces of art and slowly begin to love it less overtime? It’s not that you don’t like it; sometimes you get so used to it that you forget how much it means to you.

Take Emma Harris’ expert advice for solving this issue:

“I think my number 1 tip for getting the most out of artwork when displaying it in your home is to have a little rejig every so often. Move things around, all of a sudden, you learn to appreciate an old favourite again if it is in a different space…”

Besides moving artwork around as Emma suggests, another great way to rekindle your love for a piece of art is to switch out paintings a few times a year. Some homeowners like to switch out paintings based on the season. Maybe they will have warmer-colored paintings in the summer and wintry pieces in the winter.

3. Kylie Mawdsley (Kylie M Interiors)

According to Kylie Mawdsley, copying what everyone else is doing in regard to picking out and displaying artwork just to fit in is not the way to go:

“My number 1 tip for hanging art is to only hang what you love. So often we get caught up in ‘what matches and what is trendy’ without thinking enough about what we really love. You should respond emotionally to your artwork… the esthetics should come after.”

Keep in mind that trends are temporary, but the way a painting evokes your emotions and relates to you personally can be forever if you choose the piece that you truly love. Don’t worry about pleasing others when it comes to art. Not everyone has to love your piece if it is your space .

However, if you are concerned about a particular piece but are in love with it, consider hanging it in a hallway or bedroom where it is more personal.

4. Nicola Holden (Nicola Holden Designs)

One you have found a piece of art you’re completely happy with and have found a good spot for it, consider how others will view it. Is it a piece that draws in all eyes? Do you want to place more attention towards it?

Nicola Holden has a suggestion for making your artwork pop in any space:

“To get the most out of artwork when displaying it in your home, don’t neglect your lighting… Lighting your artwork is the most transformative thing you can do to make it pop off the walls and draw your eyes straight to it.”

With that it mind, where can you find great light fixtures to beautifully display your works of art? One wonderful source is Cocoweb.com, where one can find thousands of picture light options to choose from: modern, vintage, contemporary, traditional, matte, shiny, neutral, colorful – you name it.

5. Karolina Barnes

This next expert’s advice will ensure you choose and display art that resembles who you are while melding perfectly into your space at the same time:

“Art is a medium of self-expression. It only works if you can see part of yourself in it… Go by instinct. Once you have your artwork, work your space around it. Pull 3 – 4 colors out and inject them into your interior design through cushions, rugs, soft furnishings, and accessories. Tell the story of you; make the colours flow naturally throughout the space…”

Choosing three or four colors is one great way to protect your piece of art into the rest of your space adequately. However, as Karolina Barnes states, it is absolutely integral that a piece of art speaks to you and tells others about who you are. Isn’t that what the main point of art is anyhow?

6. Lynni Megginson

When choosing and displaying art, think quality over quantity. Lynni Megginson has an exceptional explanation why this is so important to stick with:

“One large amazing piece that commands your attention in the room is so much more preferable than feeling as if you need to hang something on every single wall…”

When it comes to anything in design, sometimes less is more. You’ve got to go with what looks good; you’ll know when it feels right. Jampacking art on a wall, rather than creating beauty and enjoyment, may cause chaos and anxiety. Too much artwork is never appealing no matter how beautiful each piece is on its own.

A space can still be lively and art-filled without having several pieces of art hanging on the walls. Seek to provide balance through the quality and amount of art you choose to hang rather that focus too much on filling up wall space . For a larger room, consider bigger pieces rather than a plethora.

7. Gail Green (Gail Green Interiors)

Regarding the size of your artwork compared to the blank wall space you have available, check out what professional Gail Green has to say:

“Showcasing artwork is an art; that is, art comes alive when it is positioned within a specific context that is correctly proportioned. It has to look right for the wall upon which it is placed. Thus, if the wall is too big, the art will look diminished in stature. If the wall is too small, the observer’s eye will not properly focus on the art…”

Gail Green makes great points that the wrong size artwork in proportion to your wall space can not only make a piece of art look out of place but can change the perspective towards that piece altogether.

Tiny pieces should be placed in quaint rooms or tiny walls or can even be placed in multiples on the same wall, as long as there is coordination still going on that ensures the pieces are not too close or too far from one another.

With larger pieces especially, sometimes just one or two in an entire room can do the trick. The whole idea behind having a large piece of art is to make it the most important piece in a room. Having too many large pieces can cause unnecessary competition . Keep large pieces to a minimum.

8. Natalie Marchbanks (Block Prints Social)

Maybe picking out your own artwork is easy for you, but do you know the general guidelines for spacing your artwork on a wall when it comes time to hanging it?

If you need some guidance on this, Natalie Marchbanks has great advice:

“When hanging art, I like to consider the primary use of the room and how people inhabit the space. In a dining room or casual living room – where my guests and I are most often sitting – I tend to hang art a little bit lower than in a hallway or kitchen where we’re more likely to view the art from a standing position…”

It is generally standard for artwork to be hung approximately 58 inches from the ground up. However, as Natalie states, consider the main purpose of a room and its furniture when deciding how high or low you will be hanging your piece of work.

After hanging your piece of art, walk by a few times back-and-forth or sit down and look at your work for awhile it contemplate if it’s at the right height.

Conclusion

Each of these experts has phenomenal advice regarding finding artwork best suited for your space and ensuring it is properly displayed. Picking and showcasing art can seem like an intimidating task. However, as long as one finds joy in it, it can be one of the most enjoyable experiences you may come across in a long time!