As an art enthusiast, you have spent considerable time devising the perfect home gallery to impress family and friends. You have selected the vases, paintings, photographs, and historically significant artifacts to place in the room designated as your art gallery. The next step in creating a home art gallery is to position each piece to maximize artistic beauty and present your collection in the most visually appealing manner possible.
Commercial and government-funded art galleries display their art collections by installing high-performance picture-hanging moldings that create uniform and symmetrical presentations. For a home gallery that you want to create that consists of far fewer pieces of artwork, how do you hang a gallery wall evenly?
It starts with developing an effective plan
Before you start considering how to hang a gallery wall evenly, you must choose the pictures and photographs you want to display. It is like the old saying, “Don’t put the horse before the cart.” Decide on an artistic theme for your gallery, and then choose the artwork that best reflects the theme. For example, if you want your gallery to exude a sophisticated Avant Garde theme, pick paintings and photographs that reflect that theme.
Think Big
Because of limited space, you should focus on selecting the larger art pieces before gathering the smaller paintings and photographs for display. You should hang the more prominent pieces closer together than the space between smaller pieces. Although you are not trying to achieve size symmetry at this stage, you should be concerned about balancing colors, designs, and finishes. Make sure you secure the heaviest pieces by using wall studs, with nails and screws getting the job done for hanging lighter paintings and photographs.
Simulate Different Arrangements
Using a large section of craft paper, simulate different arrangements to give you an idea of the best way to present your artwork. Place each painting and picture over the craft paper, trace the perimeter of each piece of artwork, and then cut each simulated piece of art depicted on the craft paper. Starting at the center of the gallery wall, attach the pieces of craft paper to make different display arrangements until you discover the arrangement that maximizes the visual appeal of your art collection.
Hang Your Artwork
To ensure you hang the home gallery wall evenly, you must use the proper tools to complete the job. The key tool is the same type of level a carpenter uses to produce straight-line cuts on sections of different types of wood. Using a level keeps every piece of your collection on the same straight line as the gallery wall. After using a level, attach a section of painter’s tape just under the bottom of the level for a marker where you hang the designated painting or photograph. Mark on the painter’s tape where you plan to secure the supporting mechanism, whether a nail, screw, hook, or other object.
Since the early 1960s, Walker Display has helped residential and commercial clients achieve the most visually appealing displays for their art collections. When the time comes to hang a home art gallery, ensure you hang the artwork evenly by consulting with the picture-hanging experts at Walker Display. Our clients include the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, Los Lunas Museum of Heritage & Arts, and Vermont Institute of Natural Science.
Submit the Contact form to discover how to hang a gallery wall evenly.