THE ART OF CHOOSING ART
How to choose and hang art when you have high ceilings
You fell in love with the soaring ceilings and oversized windows, which help make your home or condo feel expansive and elegant. However, if those walls are looking mighty bare, your place could feel cold and empty, so consider livening them up with art. Properly displayed, the right pieces will infuse your space with colour, texture and personality. We asked interior designers and art gallery experts to share tips on how to choose and hang art in your new space.
GO BIG
“Large-scale art is beautiful on high walls, and if you have a large enough budget, Montreal has art galleries galore, so take the time to visit a few,” suggests Laurie Gordon, an interior decorator with L decor (https://www.ldecor.info).
Don't just grab the largest piece you see, adds artist and designer Rosalie Levi, owner of Rosalie Levi Interior Design (www.rosalielevi.com).
“Every space is unique, so I like to look at the space as a whole, and not just at one wall,” she says. “Every room has its focal points, and choosing art depends on people's style, whether it's modern, contemporary or traditional.”
Budget-conscious home and condo owners will want to look at works by young artists at various price points, suggests Levi.
“You don't have to spend $7,000 for one painting; you can find a large canvas for $1,200, especially if it's student artists,” she says.
Gordon suggests thinking beyond a painting or a print: Patterned fabric stretched on a DIY wooden frame can be the perfect choice.
“There are many lovely designs to choose from, and it's easy to find something that will coordinate with the colours in your décor,” she notes.
“Nail together a frame of 1-x-2inch wooden strips, wrap the fabric around it – covering the sides – and then staple it on from the back.”
THINK BEYOND ONE LARGE PIECE
“Tall walls can be a challenge, and finding the right piece is not always easy; often, people only look for a large piece of art, which limits the selection,” says Rhéal Olivier Lanthier, director at Art Mûr (artmur.com), a contemporary art gallery in Montreal.
Instead, think about getting a series of two, three or four pieces from the same artist, he suggests.
“Once assembled on the wall, they will occupy the available space. Placing art in a living space should be seen as a musical composition: To be successful, it must have rhythm.”
Other ways to make a big impact with smaller pieces include hanging several different sizes of framed family photos or a collection of vintage mirrors over a large sectional sofa, adds Gordon.
“You can mount wallpaper murals directly to the wall – either framed or mounted to a piece of lightweight ¼-inch plywood,” she suggests.
“Cut the wallpaper two inches wider than the plywood so you can wrap it around the plywood to hide the edges.”
THINK IN THREE DIMENSIONS
“Dare to include sculpture in your space; it brings you closer to art because it shares the space with you,” advises Lanthier.
“One of my mottos is, `The art of living is to live with art'.”
Levi recommends choosing one or several bold pieces of
wall-mounted metal work. And don't be afraid to play with layers of light – such as one large light fixture or a cluster of three fixtures – to showcase your soaring ceilings and the space around them, she suggests.
“I love to create pockets of light and shadow. Lighting also helps fill a space, so you don't need to cover the whole area in paintings and artwork,” she says.
BRING IN A PRO
With standard ceilings, a general rule of thumb would be to line up the middle of a picture about five feet from the ground, says artist and designer Rosalie Levi, owner of Rosalie Levi Interior Design. However, when your ceilings are 10 to 12 feet or higher, it can be challenging to figure out where a piece of art will really shine.
Gordon recommends having your pictures professionally hung so the room is balanced.
“They'll know how to arrange the art to connect your furniture to the ceiling height,” she explains.
“If art is hung too high, it leaves the furniture looking like it has been abandoned. And when hanging art more than eight feet above the floor, special ladders or scaffolding may be required.”
Lanthier adds that a pro can harmonize the art within a room for maximum impact.
“One mistake people make is spreading the art evenly through the space, which makes for a very boring visual composition,” he says.
Some interior designers – especially if they are artists themselves like Levi, can hang your art.
“I always go by feeling – if you're going to cover an entire room with paintings, some consistency and symmetry from one wall to the next is nice,” she says.
“It all depends on the size of the painting, and how high the windows and doorways are.”