Thank you for all words of encouragement on Instagram yesterday when I had a bit of a moan about this crazy schedule and the move – yesterday was one of those bad days – with everyone letting us down and things going wrong. Shutter people, sign writers, customs holding samples in from Asia and not relinquishing, our new broker (who for reasons that are unfathomable to me – put all the deposits to our factories on the slow payment route which meant I had factories screaming at me that they hadn’t received deposits for all our orders and therefore were liable to miss the production schedule). Website problems (we’re overhauling it to coincide with the new store). Products not arriving – shall I go on. No I here you cry and you’re right today is a whole other day lets see what it will bring in the meantime – lets talk art- oh and no blog post from me tomorrow (sorry) we’re prepping the warehouse sale (this Saturday 10.30 at our store in Islington for one day only, and everything must go)! I sound like an advert on TV – but it must – we changing a lot with the new move – which is a good thing right?
Anyways I digress lets get to it..
Hanging art can be frustrating, time consuming and (been here) leave a lot of holes in the wall if you get it wrong! Here are some dos and don’ts.
DO FIGURE OUT YOUR FOCAL POINT
There’s an easy trick for this. Walk into your space and figure out where your eyes first land – this is the perfect place for your artwork.
DON’T HANG EVERYTHING
Don’t feel like you need to put in a nail or drill a hole for every piece! Often times propping artwork against a wall or on a mantle looks just as cool. I am a huge fan of this casual style, it dresses down your room so to speak and makes it feel way more relaxing.
DO LEAVE SOME BLANK SPACE
Keep a wall or two without free of art – that way it will allow your eyes to rest and make the art you do have more attention grabbing.
DON’T GO MATCHY-MATCHY
There’s no need to match your art to your colour scheme – in fact it looks a bit too contrived if you ask me. Buy pieces that you love. I never even consider the colour palette.
DO PAIR UP
Treat a pair of works as one large picture in terms of visual weight and space. This trick works whether they are the same size or not. Think of it as one piece.
DON’T HANG TOO HIGH
The bottom of the work should not be floating a mile away from your table or sofa or console, or it feels too disconnected from the rest of the space. The heart of the piece should really be at eye level and people rarely hang them right – unless you are 8 feet tall that is!
DO HANG SECURELY
Use at least two picture hooks per artwork. This provides added security and helps art remain level.
DON’T FORGET BATHROOMS & KITCHENS
Every room is a potential gallery! You can hang the coolest pieces in any room, I do.
Do treat a pair of works as one large picture whether they are the same size or not.