Three Inspiring Ways to Hang One Art Collection

Last winter, I partnered with the team from Desenio (remember when I used some of their prints to makeover my dining room nook two years ago?!) to show them around New York City. Their creative team were capturing NYC art prints which are now part of the Studio Cosmopolitan collection, that features photographs from NYC, London and Paris. It was a brutally cold winter’s day but you would never know as their pictures came out beautifully. I get asked about decorating with art alllll the time – how to place art, what kind of art to choose, where to source art etc. etc – so if you’re looking for gallery wall ideas and advice then these three posts are a great place to start:

– How to Hang A Gallery Wall on Exposed Brick Walls
– Gallery Wall Ideas for Light and Dark Rooms
– My GHTV Class: How to Hang Three Gallery Walls

Today, I’m sharing three approaches for decorating your walls from one art collection. I always believe if you love a piece or a collection you can find a way to make it work in your home. So, my hope is that one of these three ways will ignite the spark of inspiration in you that makes you want to adorn your walls with some classic NYC art prints.

1. Triptych
Hanging art in a symmetrical trio, or triptych, is a great way to make a graphic statement in a room or add visual punch and elongation to a transitional area, such as an entryway. The key to making a triptych work lies in ensuring there’s a number of red threads that tie the three pieces together visually. For maximum effect I would advise using the same size, frame, matting and color palette for all three pieces of art. Here, you can see how three pieces of art share the same monochromatic palette, black frame and subject matter. That last one is important as the architectural style of the photography also ties the three NYC art prints together visually. Note how the middle NYC photograph, while still having an architectural theme, is shot from a different angle and is more of a detail capture. The other two NYC art prints act as ‘bookends’ either side of this photograph which gives the gallery wall balance.
2. Asymmetrical
When hanging gallery walls it can be so tempting to make everything line up perfectly, to have each piece equally spaced and to source every piece of art in the same size. While that can be an effective approach (see no.1, for example!) it’s not the only way to achieve a great looking gallery wall. For example, breaking the rules and opting for an asymmetrical approach can pay style dividends. This is when you hang a gallery wall that has one or more parts that aren’t equal to the others – here, it’s the oversized landscape print hung in a group with the three portrait NYC art prints. This kind of gallery wall can work well on a vast wall as a way to provide an element of surprise in space. If the eye expects to see one hero print or a set of equally placed and sized pieces, choosing to display the art asymmetrically can result in a more exciting and unexpected space. You can also consider an asymmetrical gallery wall if you are having art around an existing piece – perhaps its a table lamp on a console table or the TV etc.3. Tonal
A tonal gallery wall focuses less on the sizes and placement of the art, and more on the art itself. No matter what approach you take to curating a gallery wall I always think each type needs at least one element that ties it all together. Plus, you you can take that element and make it into the story of the gallery wall – after all, isn’t that what art is meant to do, tell a story? Here, that element is the color tones of the art. By collecting a series of NYC art prints that all feature pink-brown tones it tells an instant design and color story. This approach is a nice way to continue a color story in a room, or even start a new one. Which of these NYC art prints do you like best? How would you hang the art in your space?