Who better to give tips on hanging precious art in a home than an artist?  Lookiloos had the opportunity to chat with artist Sonya Paz, who shared her approach to displaying art pieces.

While she offers tips, she did emphasize that each art piece is different, so it requires different treatment – lighting, placement and how you group or not group it with other pieces.  There are no rules that cover all type of wall art, so feel free to be creative.

Sonya’s Tips:

1.) Look at your wall space.  How tall, wide or small is it?  Do you want to fill the entire wall or just a portion?  Your arrangement can be as simple as one large print to fill the entire wall or having multiple sizes mixed together spreading across your space.  Consider what will be around the painting after it is hung – a tv, another piece of art, a window.  How will this enhance or detract from the art itself?  Does a red wall bring out the red in your painting or make it look horrible?

2.) Have tall walls?  Start at eye level and then move up, emphasizing the height of your walls.  No one wants to have to crane their necks to look at your favorite prints.

3.) Themes:  Black and white, colorful, muted pastels, all small prints, photos featuring cars or uniform colored frames – these are just some themes that can help guide your arrangement.  You can also carry a theme throughout a home or just in one room.

4.) Home “gallery systems” help you change art quickly and hang art without putting holes in your walls.  These systems make it easier to add or remove paintings to your collection as needed.

5.) Good lighting makes a huge difference!  It can be as sophisticated as lighting attached to each piece, placing your painting in a room that gets a lot of sun or making sure a lamp illuminates your piece just right from a table close by.

6.) The art should be the primary focus.  A frame should not take away from the piece itself.  When it comes to framing and matting – less is more!

7.) Arrangements do not have to be permanent.  They should be changed and moved occasionally.  A work of art can take on a new look when paired with something different or when it is placed in a different spot in your home.

Related stories:
Artist Sonya Paz
A Passionate Art Collector Turns Home into Gallery
English Tudor House in Woodside
Restored Italianate Victorian House

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 at 11:35 am and is filed under Decorating, Home Decor, Q & A, Q and A, Sheila. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.