Arrange Your Photos Like You’re a Goddamn Adult
Whether it’s paintings from garage sales or you want to display a few family photos that have actually been printed, there is special art to hang your artwork on. Fortunately, the basic rules of curation are not as complicated as they might seem – with just a creative eye and simple measurements, you can create a great aesthetic look on your walls. Here’s some information to keep in mind when creating your own gallery.
Know what wall you have
Older homes built before the 1940s often have plaster on the walls that flakes and breaks when punctured. If you have plastered walls, you need to use masonry anchors – plastic cylinders that fit into a drilled hole in the wall so the screw can securely engage and anchor – to properly hang the artwork without unduly damaging the wall or losing strength. suspension force. Use them to avoid ruining the walls and coming home to the fallen paintings and paintings.
However, modern homes generally use drywall, which holds your nails and screws better, as long as you don’t mind the holes as they are removed. If you don’t want to stain your walls at all, you can use removable sticky strips and save yourself the headaches associated with filling holes. Some removable adhesives ( like command tapes ) can support five to 30 pounds without damaging walls.
Measure the correct hanging height
Usually, you want to hang artwork and photographs at eye level – which most museums say means the center of the artwork is about 58 inches from the floor . Calculating the center of a piece of art is easy: you just take the height and divide it by two . Regardless of whether you use spacers or nails and screws, the dimensions should remain the same.
Mark the wall with a light pencil, then measure out half the height of the artwork from the 58 “mark. Using a level, draw a small horizontal line at this point – this is where the top of your shape will be. Measure from the top of the part to the hanging holes or wire (if applicable) and measure from the horizontal line to where the nail or screw should be. If you are using removable adhesive tape, you can simply apply glue to this mark on the wall.
Choose a focus for collages
Plan out your photos and their locations before piling up walls. The focal element will be the largest images, usually in the center of the collage. When hanging, start at the center piece and gradually work out. If you are placing art on top of any furniture, leave six to eight inches from the bottom to the sofa or furniture. By leaving that much room, you maintain eye level for your work and eliminate the risk of bumping your head against the piece of art while it is sitting.
Hang the artwork at an equal distance from each other.
Hang the pieces next to each other, three to six inches apart. It is common to leave 30% of the wall exposed in the space, which also helps determine the number of pieces you can hang. Measure the length and width of the walls along with each piece you have to get an idea of how many pieces you can actually fit into the space. There is no specific number of pieces that you have to hang, but follow these placement guidelines and you will be able to fit as many pieces as you like, or rather, as much as space will allow.