Lately, I’ve gotten a few requests to talk about how I organize my art while decorating. I thought I’d try to write up a post explaining my thought process! I’m in a position where I have accumulated a lot of prints and art, so I’ll mostly be approaching it from that perspective. But if you’re only getting started collecting, I hope you’ll find it useful as well. The majority of art that I own are prints, which are relatively inexpensive to obtain. I usually come home with quite a few whenever I attend artist markets or events like Design Festa! I like to buy paintings, but since those are a more significant investment, I am pickier about which ones I choose.
So once you have some art, it might be overwhelming thinking of how or where to place it! I tried to group my tips into a few points to help you consider how to set up your art.
Choose a focal piece or point.
I always start with a central piece or arrangement and move outwards from there. Sometimes the focal piece is a painting or a big print that I want in the middle. One of my walls, I have the art directly above a shelf with figures. It might not be the main focal area, but I do keep it in mind while arranging. Even if your space is not as “cluttered” as mine, it often looks nice to center artwork above furniture. This technique works well with lots of art, or with lots of blank walls!
Balance the color.
Once I have the main pieces down, the next step is to add complementary prints around it. I usually try to match the colors, tone, or style. I don’t want things to be too uniform, though, so I don’t match all three. For me, this usually results in alternating colors. If a print I put on one side has a lot of purples, I will try to balance it out by adding something with purple on the opposite side. I also like to alternate color, so maybe I’ll have a section where I repeat pinks and blues, for example.
Keep it organized.
I wasn’t sure if I should put this step first or not. I think it’s relevant at any point in the process. In this case, I dealt with a lot of art when I moved, so I did organize it right away. As I hang things up, I continuously re-organize and re-group to help me choose what goes up next. These groupings are entirely subjective. Sometimes I have piles that are grouped by artist, sometimes it’s by color, sometimes by style. I find that this step helps me decide what to put up next. If I see a blank area that I want to fill with something pastel, I usually have a pile of prints that fit that type!
Rearranging is good.
I don’t always get things in the ideal place when I first put them up. Don’t feel like your first attempt has to be perfect. Since a collection is something that is always growing, it’s good to be flexible. I like to change out my art when I get new pieces that I want to show off. It’s good to be in the mindset that it’s not permanent! With that in mind, I often will change things quickly after I first put them up. I might hang a few things up and let it go for a day and then come back. For those in creative fields, I think it’s similar to taking a step back from something you’ve made. Or “letting it breathe,” so you can come back with fresh eyes another day.
I hope that these tips have been helpful. I tried my best to summarize the things I think about when putting up art. If you have any further questions, please drop me a comment or even message me on Instagram. Thanks for reading!
