Because of landlord and property management's guidelines, sometimes wall decorating in an apartment can be challenging. Before making any decorating decisions, be sure to check your lease or check with you apartment management professional to find out the rules regarding: painting your walls and hanging things.
Once you determined the set rules and begin your ever so engaging search for art, keep several tips for [BREAK] picking and placing your art in mind to really get the most out of your decorating and impress your guests.
Picking Art - Ever been to someone's house who has eight thousand different pieces of art of varying colors and styles crammed onto one wall? Blech! It's so busy it may make you nauseous. When picking art for your apartment, first try and select a style, motif, or genre that really draws your interest. If you like several motifs, pick one for each room. Never try and combine them. It only makes things seem cluttered.
Once you pick your motif, search through pieces of art keeping in mind there are virtually millions of options for paintings, wall art, and pictures. Don't just jump on the first cool painting you see because you may pigeon hole yourself. No matter what, when picking your art, be consistent.
Being Aware of Furniture - Preferably, I think it looks much better to use one large piece of art on a wall that has furniture like a couch, and 2-4 smaller pieces on a wall that has no furniture. Go beyond 4 and you run the risk of getting cluttered. "Clutter be bad" should be your mantra! Side note...hanging above a couch or a bed is much different than hanging above a TV or entertainment center. Above the couch you could use a thought provoking large piece of art that draws attention, but do you really want your attention drawn away from your favorite TV shows? Above the TV you may want to consider three smaller, less busy pieces of art...or a clock. With the addition of flat panel televisions, they themselves can become great wall art.
Proper Hanging - There are a few general rules to keep in mind when hanging your art. 1) For best results, hang your art where it's center is as close to 57" off the ground as possible. Studies have shown that the closer art is to 57" the more appealing it is to the eye. 2) When hanging above a couch, you want to fill 2/3 of the wall space above the couch, which on most walls is why a large painting or print works wonderfully above a couch. With this in mind, make sure that you leave about a 5"-9" gap between the piece of art and the top of the couch to make room for peoples arms and to lean back their big-hair heads. For some unknown reason...some people...have big Texas Hair...and with that hair....comes grease....that can ruin a painting.
Framing - Yes...the art itself is the most important part, but if you are putting a print, photo, poster, or painting in a frame...the frame is very important too. Make sure the frame fits the style of what it holds. For instance, don't hang a rough military picture in a frilly frame. Also...if you have several framed pictures in a room. Be consistent! Make sure all of the frames match!
