Make it picture perfect and avoid art aberrations
Introducing art is a sure-fire way to give your home an instant visual upgrade. However, there are a range of common blunders that a rookie decorator can easily make. Get the most out of decorating your walls by avoiding making the following mistakes.
The wrong scale
Much like how a room looks best with furniture that is proportionate, art looks best when the scale is consistent with the other pieces in the room. There’s nothing like a too-small picture hung high above a sofa to make a room look off-kilter. If you need a rule to follow, make it this – bigger is better. One large painting that is obviously larger in scale than the other pieces in the room will always look better than the other way around.
This doesn’t mean that a gallery wall is off the menu. Instead, space your cluster of pictures evenly across an area that one large artwork would take up.
Too much height
Anyone who has allowed their much taller partner to do the picture-hanging will understand the importance of finding the correct height for your wall decor. Art is made to be viewed, so ideally, it should be at a height that the home’s inhabitants can stand in front of it to view, as in a gallery. Furthermore, just browse a beautiful home magazine and you’re notice that in chic homes art makes much more of a statement as it is usually hung closer to the furniture.
No variety
An art collection is, of course, called a collection for a reason, but decorating with the same type or style of artwork throughout a home can be saturating. To create interest in your home, consider regularly rotating your artworks around or relegating family photos or the work of an artist to a certain room or space. Whilst in more general terms of visual variety, it might be tempting to buy art to match your decor, but the process should really be the other way around. Invest in art that you will always love; the decor can evolve over time.
Positioned askew
It’s hard to enjoy an artwork when you’re trying to analyse whether it’s level. More so if the object changes position every time the door slams. Crooked wall decor usually comes down to being hung by a single nail or hook. While it’s reasonable (especially for renters) to not want to make a wealth of holes in the walls, doubling up when mounting artwork will ensure that pieces hang well and remain on the wall securely.
Overly fussy
Ignore this advice if a highmaintenance look is your prerogative, but when it comes to artwork, less is more. Leave at least one whole wall empty. It’s key to have negative space in a room so that the eye can rest.