Where to Hang Art When You Think You Have No Wall Space

“I love art, but I just don't have the wall space.”

I hear this surprisingly often.

And I understand it. Most of us don't live in enormous minimalist houses with vast expanses of empty wall. Our homes have furniture, photographs, shelves, radiators, windows and all the things we have collected over the years.

But I've started to think that perhaps the problem isn't always a lack of wall space.

Sometimes we're simply looking for the wrong kind of space.

When we think about displaying art, we tend to picture the obvious places: a large painting above the sofa, over the fireplace or perhaps above the bed.

Once those spaces are taken, it can feel as though the house is full.

But there are plenty of less obvious places where artwork can completely change how a space feels.

1. Stand in the doorway

Here's a very simple thing to try.

Rather than standing in the middle of a room and looking around for an empty wall, leave the room and then walk back in.

Stop in the doorway.

Where does your eye naturally land?

There may be a little wall at the other end of the room, a space beside a window or an area above a piece of furniture that you've stopped noticing because you see it every day.

Interior designers often think about sightlines — what you see as you enter or move through a space.

A relatively small painting positioned at the end of a sightline can have far more impact than a much larger painting somewhere less noticeable.

TRY THIS: Stand at the entrance to three rooms in your home. Don't look for an empty wall. Look for the place your eye naturally travels to.

2. Don't ignore the narrow walls

Some of the most interesting spaces for artwork aren't particularly wide.

Think about:

• the wall between two doors

• beside a window

• the end of a hallway

• beside a wardrobe

• a small wall on a landing

• between two pieces of furniture.

A tall or portrait-format painting can work beautifully in these spaces.

The important thing is to consider the shape of the available space, rather than simply its overall size.

A narrow wall doesn't necessarily need a tiny picture. Sometimes it needs a taller piece that echoes its proportions.

3. Look above your furniture, not at the entire wall

This is one of the most useful tricks when choosing the size of a painting.

Imagine you have a large wall with a sideboard against it.

If you judge a painting against the entire wall, almost everything can seem too small.

Instead, judge it against the furniture underneath it.

As a general starting point, artwork — or a group of artworks — around two-thirds the width of the furniture underneath can create a pleasing sense of proportion.

It isn't a law. Homes aren't mathematical equations.

But it's a very useful place to start.

So rather than asking:

“Is this painting big enough for this wall?”

try asking:

“Does this painting feel balanced with what's underneath it?”

That's a much easier question to answer.

4. Art doesn't actually have to hang on a wall

This is one of my favourite ways to display smaller pieces.

Lean them.

A painting can sit on:

• a sideboard

• a mantelpiece

• a deep shelf

• a console table

• a picture ledge.

It creates a more relaxed, collected feeling and makes it incredibly easy to move your artwork around.

You can also layer art with objects you already own — books, ceramics, plants or things you've collected on your travels.

And if you're someone who likes changing your home occasionally, leaning rather than hanging means you aren't committed to the same arrangement forever.

5. Look at the forgotten rooms

We tend to save artwork for living rooms and dining rooms.

But some of the places where we spend quite a lot of time get forgotten.

Bedrooms.

Hallways.

Landings.

Home offices.

Even kitchens.

A painting doesn't have to be somewhere visitors will see it.

In fact, there is something rather lovely about putting a favourite piece somewhere you will see it regularly.

Perhaps beside the chair where you read.

Opposite your bed.

Or at the end of the hallway you walk down every morning.

That's when art becomes part of everyday life rather than something we simply display for other people.

6. Try a gallery wall — but give it a reason

If you have several smaller pieces, bringing them together can turn a collection into one focal point.

But I think gallery walls work best when there is something connecting the pieces.

That might be:

• a similar colour

• a shared subject

• the same style of frame

• work collected on travels

• pieces by artists you love

• family photographs mixed with original artwork.

They don't need to match.

They just need enough connection to feel intentional rather than accidental.

And don't be afraid to mix an original painting with photographs, prints or objects that mean something to you.

A home isn't a gallery.

It can tell your story.

7. Before hanging anything, use masking tape

This may save you from making several unnecessary holes in the wall.

Measure the artwork and mark its outside dimensions on your wall using low-tack masking or painter's tape.

Then leave it there.

Don't decide immediately.

Walk past it during the day. Sit on the sofa. Look at it from the doorway. See it in morning and evening light.

You'll quickly get a sense of whether the scale feels right.

You can also cut a piece of paper to the dimensions of the artwork and tape that to the wall.

It is surprisingly difficult to judge the size of artwork from measurements alone. Seeing the actual footprint makes the decision much easier.

8. Photograph the room

This sounds almost too simple, but try it.

Take a photograph of the room on your phone.

Then look at the photograph rather than the room itself.

For some reason, we often notice things in photographs that we've stopped seeing in real life.

Does one side of the room suddenly look empty?

Is everything concentrated at one height?

Is there an awkward little wall you've never considered?

Your camera can give you just enough distance to see your own home differently.

Perhaps the question isn't “Do I have an empty wall?”

I think we sometimes imagine that owning art requires a perfect house and a large blank wall.

It doesn't.

Some of the nicest displays of art I've seen haven't been perfect at all. They've been layered into people's lives amongst books, photographs, furniture and things collected over many years.

So if you think you've run out of wall space, try one little experiment this weekend.

Take a photograph of one room.

Stand in its doorway.

Look at the narrow spaces.

Look above your furniture.

And ask yourself:

“Where could I create one little moment?”

You may have more space than you thought.