How do I properly place paintings at home? – Center point, scene and center of attraction

“You see everything with your whole body” – This sentence comes from Johann König, one of the most important gallery owners in Germany. His quote reminds us that art has an impact on all of our senses. When we look at a picture, we don't just see the colors and shapes presented to us on a canvas. We perceive them with all our senses in interaction with the space around us and our own emotional state. The ambience of the room and the arrangement of the work within it determine how we perceive an image as a whole. In order to grasp the artistically processed theme with its full impact, the right preparatory work is necessary. This blog post will help you enhance the overall impression of your purchased works and harmonize them with your home.

Select and hang pictures correctly: Effect of furnishings, room, color and ambience

At the beginning of every hanging there is the selection of your pictures. The space and the work of art correspond to each other. You should be aware of this when buying art. The furnishing style of your interior, whether retro, urban style or shabby chic, already creates its own atmosphere. Does it fit with the theme of the image you chose, or could it look out of place in the ambience of your room? The use of space also influences the mood and feelings of the people who are in it. Which topics can be dealt with well here? Always ask yourself these questions beforehand and then let yourself be inspired. My pictures tell of my travels to different countries as well as the challenges and experiences of starting companies. On my site you will find suggestions for pictures with very different topics.

The size of your walls is crucial when hanging pictures. Because one thing is clear: large images need more space to develop their effect. Small images also require less space. For example, they can be combined with others or placed on a piece of furniture. (You can find good instructions under: “Arrangement of different series of pictures”)

Colors change the spatial effect of an interior. The choice of wall color is therefore the focus of a suitable image selection. White walls are unproblematic: they offer any achromatic or bright colors the necessary space to develop. The same applies to modern concrete looks in gray or even darker walls in an achromatic color. When bright colors are combined with each other, it is helpful to use complementary design colors that complement each other. A red picture on a green wall is therefore more appealing than on a blue wall. This is called complementary or color contrast. You can find a good overview here .

Frame or frameless?

The effect of the framework is often underestimated. By individually adjusting the frame, the work of art can be deliberately set off from the wall surface or nestled against it. Frames can also be particularly effective if you want to hang pictures on colored or even patterned wallpaper. The protective function of the frame should not be underestimated either. It can protect the work of art from external influences. The framing should therefore definitely be carried out by the art or gallery owner. Large modern paintings can often work well on the wall without a frame. But here too, frames can give the work of art an individual character that harmonizes with your own furnishings. You can find inspiration for different frames here .

You will notice that I almost exclusively use so-called shadow gap frames in my works of art. Shadow gap frames are timeless and give my works a high-quality and graphic look.

Arrange pictures correctly: the correct placement of the work of art on the wall

Arranging murals means arranging the wall and the painting together. When hanging a painting, the size of the wall is the most important criterion. When planning and designing the interior, it is necessary to measure the wall and the picture. If several photographs, sketches or paintings are to decorate a single surface, it is important to arrange the images correctly. This is achieved as follows:

First of all, the rule of thumb is to multiply the wall width by 0.57. This creates a correct relationship between the picture and the wall. A single picture can be hung in the center and thus has a place of honor as an individual hanging. The space above the sofa is often suitable for this. If you want to decorate the wall with several pictures at once, there are different hanging methods.

Different rows of pictures to attach paintings to the wall

If you want to arrange a small number of two to three pictures, the best way to do this is with a straight row. With a triptych or multi-part picture, this happens in advance. You should arrange individual images so that their top and bottom edges form a common line. The center of the picture should correspond to the height of the head, i.e. around 145 cm.

Gallery strips

The best way to do this is with a so-called gallery bar. These picture rails, which are often used in galleries, have the advantage of eliminating the need for individual drilling when mounting the paintings. The straight row of top and bottom edges is predefined in this method. The pictures are hung on the rail using steel or Perlon cords and can be moved individually along the entire rail. Gallery strips are suitable for hanging medium-sized pictures of the same size. They also offer an advantage to those who frequently change images.

Edge hanging

You can use so-called edge hanging to harmoniously arrange small or medium-sized pictures of different formats together. The photographs, prints or paintings are arranged in two rows relative to each other along an imaginary horizontal and vertical center line. Both the distance to the central line and the distance between each other must be kept constant.

Grid hanging

With the so-called grid hanging, series of images can be created in which several images are arranged precisely with each other in a 2 x 4, 3 x 3 or 3 x 4 matrix. Custom work is required here! It will take some time to find the same distances from each other. It is therefore helpful to sketch out such work in advance and implement it to scale.

Ordered chaos, Petersburg hanging, salon hanging

It is much easier to hang it in a so-called ordered chaos, i.e. a colorful arrangement without a grid. It is important to ensure that the frame color and style of the motifs match each other. The noble variant of this picture arrangement is called Petersburg hanging or salon hanging. This is an advantage if you want to hang many pictures close together.

The light is the focus of the image presentation

Since our eyes also react to the atmospheric effects of light and darkness, the correct lighting of murals is essential and necessary. When attaching gallery strips, you should think about the effect of the lighting in advance. Even in a private setting, it is worth effectively showcasing art with the right lighting. The best way to do this is with so-called spotlights, floodlights or wallwashers. You can also use light strips to make the art experience even more effective. The lighting planning works scenically and can skilfully harmonize with each other using illuminated ceilings and other modern highlights. Attention: Do not expose your pictures to direct sunlight! In some works this may cause the colors to fade. You can find further information about lighting technology for works of art here .

The works from my latest series provide a special interplay of painting and light. In this project, the originals are printed on a special, very thin balloon silk canvas. This is illuminated from behind by many individual LED panels and ensures that the lighting conditions are right without any preparatory work. – A self-illuminating art experience for all senses! I work with the lighting design studio Derbelight . Please feel free to use my contact form if you would like further information about this or would like to watch it live.