How to Get the Hang of Picture Hanging

This room would look lopsided without the beautiful, generously sized Asian art. Photo: Henrik Olund, DesireToInspire.net

Some of the most common mistakes people make when staging their homes for sale, is poor art placement. Yet, there are only a few things you need to know about hanging artworks on walls.

• Hang art at eye level. The average American male is 5'10", and the average female is 5'3", so the center of your art should be about five and a half feet off the floor.

• Hang the largest piece of art on the largest wall. Also, leave one wall bare, but not the largest one.

• Cluster like with like. You won't hear an interior decorator tell you this, but in a home staged for the real estate market, simplicity and clear intentions rule. Don't mix paintings with posters with photographs with textile wall hangings, all on the same wall.

• Choose art that makes buyers feel comfortable and confident. Stay with landscapes, seascapes, animals, abstracts, and still lifes.  Avoid political, ethnic, religious, confrontational, or controversial art, including nudes.

• Photographs, drawings, prints, and posters should be framed under glass, and the mats surrounding the prints should be wide and white.  Painting should have frames.

• Use wall hangings other than prints and paintings for variety and texture. Hang baskets, plates, masks, wreaths, and carvings.

• Resist the urge to prop framed art against the wall on a dresser, table, or the floor. Hang it up. Art that's just leaning against a wall looks too casual and unfinished in a staged home.

There are a gazillion ways to arrange a group of pictures. Okay, not a gazillion, but here are some samples to help you appreciate wall arrangements done well.
 

Classic colorful foursquare, nicely framed. Photo: Southern Living Magazine

Three sepia photographs, all restful scenes. Photo: Good Housekeeping Magazine

Plates become art when artfully arranged. Photo: Better Homes and Gardens Magazine

Clean and bold to emphasize the fireplace. Photo: Meredith.com

Every room needs art. Photo: sunnysblog.typepad.com

Once you have sold your home, it's great to be able to un-stage without patching and touching up walls.  Hangers that stick to the wall but let you peel them off, are the way to go. No holes!

Art it too important an element of home staging to mess up.  Follow these simple tips, and get more advice how how to find, select, arrange, and even make your own art for staging in my eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips.