I came across this recent article posted by Meg Crossley of Canadian House & Home, and thought it was really quite useful - not only because of the gorgeous image from Meg's files, but mainly because at some stage or another we all look at hanging our favourite art work or print and often wonder if that is the right space or wall for it - will it be to big, will it be lost and too small... I am currently hanging a lot of frames in our office, and prints at the moment so I find that any info can always be educational...at some stage you'll delve into your memory bank! Hope this helps you get on with that hanging project! Enjoy x
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Article - March 24, 2010, 'Playing With Scale' by Meg CrossleySomething that gets talked about a lot by House & Home design editors is scale. This is mainly because we are often producing some kind of story that requires bringing in a lot of furnishings from disparate sources in order to create a “room” — without having time for it to evolve slowly, the way decorating a real room would. So we are working from instinct, asking questions such as: “Is this lamp going to be too tall?”, “Is this side table going to be too short?”, or, “Is this chair going to be too big?”
Still, some of the images I like best in either our own mag or others, are those that involve messing with scale.
This shot is one of my favourites and has been sitting on my desktop for ages. With the framed artwork being twice the size of the chest of drawers it hangs above, I am sure this is breaking every old-school rule about scale, yet it works.
For playing-with-scale novices, there are a couple of tips to been gleaned from this photo. The artwork is graphic, sure, but still subtle and simple in both its colours and content. Big and quiet works in a way that big and loud would not. Also, take a look at how it’s hung. A wall space border of about 8” (I’m guessing from sight) surrounds the artwork on top and both sides — using the beam on the left as an indicator of where that area ends. So, they are keeping it even. And despite it hanging over both sides of the chest in terms of width, they are keeping the overhang even, too. Lastly, the art is the only big thing in the room. It’s not an Alice in Wonderland room full of very big pieces, therefore it’s more of a statement piece.
And we in the design business love statements.
For more tips on hanging art, see our Art Advice Guide.
Photo credit:1. Unknown source: Help! Does anyone know where this shot comes from?
Following from my earlier post on 'Scale' I am in the midst of adding to my cluster wall art in our upstairs landing area, stairwell, and sorting out multiple frames [degrees, certificates & the like] in our office. The office framing is proving the most tricky as I don't want the walls to feel like they are con caving onto the workspace, so key elements of placement and scale is critical here, whilst dealing with regular height ceilings - higher ceilings would be far more helpful! What I did come across on Canadian House & Home, by Meg Crossley's post, was this fabulous image of a work space with a very workable wall art cluster as captured by Cape Town photographer Jac de Villiers. I am further inspired to keep going at it!! I hope to post something soon of the outcome... Stay tuned! 
