Choosing & Hanging Art for Home Staging

Choosing the Right Art

Home Staging professionals appreciate the value of a well-placed picture. How and where you hang your photos and paintings can make or break your decor. It's been my experience through doing staging consultations with homeowners that most people aren't aware that there's actually an "art to hanging art" whether to live in, or for selling.

Art is very personal, and everyone likes something different. If you're selecting art for you to enjoy while living in your home, choose whatever you like, however, be conscious of your selections when you are trying to sell your house. In addition to removing all personal photos, also avoid nudes, or religious art or anything that a potential buyer might find offensive, whether it be conscious or subconscious. Try to select art that works well together in a room, taking into consideration COLOUR (i.e. blues & greens, STYLE (i.e. abstract) and THEME (i.e. landscape).

When deciding how many and which art to hang, its important to consider the scale of the wall and the furnishings surrounding it. On a small wall, too many pictures can look cluttered. On the flip side, a small picture on a large wall can look silly and incomplete. The art should compliment the furniture or items around it and make it feel like a "unit" rather individual components.

Alternative to Art

There are some obvious alternatives to traditional art, such as hanging framed mirrors, but you could also hang a grouping of mirrors of different sizes, as long as their frames are similar, to create an interesting display. Mirrors are particularly good to use if you have narrow spaces that you want to appear larger, or if you want to reflect light or a beautiful view. (Avoid propping up a mirror on the fireplace mantle as it just reflects the ceiling, or hanging it where it just reflects a blank wall.)

Iron art is also very popular right now with a wide variety of sizes and shapes. The nice thing about these new reproductions is that while they look like iron, they tend to be much lighter and easier to hang. Iron art works well when hung low above a bed to serve as a sort of headboard.

Hang Art at the Correct Height

In rooms with standard 8-foot high ceilings, most artwork should be hung so that the middle of the picture is approximately 5 feet (60”) off the floor. For rooms with higher ceilings, artwork can be hung a little higher, which will visually lower the ceiling height.

When hanging pictures above a sofa, leave an approximate 6” to 8” space between the top of the back of the sofa and the bottom of the picture. Over a tabletop or counter, allow 10” to 12” between the table surface and bottom of the picture. This space can be adjusted if you have lamps or other items on the table, which will visually add height.

Groupings of Smaller Artwork

Groupings are more effective if they are hung with some kind of symmetry to create a square or rectangular shaped display. Since your frame sizes will likely vary, you won’t have a perfect geometrically shaped outline, but the desired balanced appearance can still be achieved. Try to space the frames 3” to 4” apart.

As you now know, there IS an "art to hanging art". When done correctly, it makes the furnishings within the space feel more harmonious and inviting which helps buyers to more easily emotionally connect with the property.