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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right
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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right

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Are you getting the most out of art in your home?

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  1. Home
  2. House Rules

3 things you need to know about hanging art

Arranging artworks is an art in itself - by Lynne Testoni
  • 09 Jan 2020

Here are some insider tips to make your walls work.

Artworks – photography, paintings and drawings – are what makes a house a home. They showcase your memories: of family, of travels and your own personal style.

How to hang art

There were lots of artworks used at Mikaela and Eliza’s renovated home in WA, which prompted discussion from the judges as to the correct way to display them.

Displaying them properly requires some skill and a little flair, but there are some simple guidelines that will help you show off your creative collections to the best advantage.

Rule 1 – display at eye level

Many people make the mistake of hanging art too high. For a medium-sized work, the centre should be sitting about 1500mm from the floor. “Classical good taste will tell you that your eye level should correspond with the top third of any picture,” says House Rules judge Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen. “And that's a good yardstick.”

A tall man, Laurence says he makes sure the height reflects the average visitor. “I actually like lower than my eye level. So I like to use Jamie [Durie]’s eye level, and then come down even more.”

How to hang art

Rule 2 - display works in odd numbers

Like flowers in vases, or items on a coffee table, it’s a good idea to arrange art in odd numbers – three or five different paintings work better than two or four because the lack of perfect symmetry creates a more relaxed feeling. And one large piece often is all you need. If you have different-sized pieces, run them off the same centre line for balance, at about eye level (see above).

If in doubt, enlist a friend to hold things up before you affix anything to a wall, so you get a clear picture of how a work is fitting in the space.

Rule 3 – find a uniting theme

Don’t feel that all your art has to look the same – choose pieces that mean something to you, not necessarily just because you want to reflect a certain colour palette or aesthetic. This is also important if you are combining an art collection with a partner or roommate. No one’s taste will be exactly the same – which is a good thing after all!

How to hang art

However, when it comes to displaying them in your home, you want to ensure they complement, rather than compete, with each other. Outlining different artworks in
the same frame style can provide a way to visually unite different colours, designs and art styles. You can also group different styles of artworks in colours – as how Pete and Courtney used the macramé pieces in Eliza and Mikaela’s home.

Pete & Courtney's reno reveal

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Why we love herringbone floors

5 ways to get Scandi style

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  • Decorate
  • House Rules
Lynne Testoni
Lynne Testoni
Lynne Testoni is a writer, editor and content creator in the food and design space. With a background in interior magazines, she has worked on more than 20 titles including Home Beautiful and Better Homes & Gardens. She lives in a Victorian terrace in inner city Sydney that is constantly being renovated and restyled, with the seasons and trends.

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