Planning a new wall art display? In this guide, we will show you how to arrange wall art, pictures, and posters on your walls easily for maximum impact.
We’ll share tips on how to arrange your wall art around specific features like couches, beds, and fireplaces before covering specifics like how to arrange groups of two, three, and four pictures.
Read on for advice and inspiration on where to hang your pictures and wall art.
Where to Hang Pictures
Where you hang your artwork is entirely up to you. You might choose to create a gallery wall in the kitchen or spotlight a few prized posters on your bedroom wall. However, no matter where you decide to place your artwork, knowing how to hang it and at what height can sometimes be tricky.
Luckily, Displate has a few tips to help you feel more confident about arranging and hanging your wall art.
Change Your Layout Whenever You Like With Displate
Before we get started, remember that with a display, you can hang your artwork anywhere. And the best part? You can change your mind time and time again.
Our magnetic poster hanging system lets you swap out the designs on your walls for a different effect each day! Instead of hammers and nails, Displate’s simple fixtures take the sting out of deciding where to place your artwork.
How & Where to Hang Pictures in the Living Room
The living room is a great place to display your artwork, as you’ll spend most of your time here and welcome guests into this space. Plus, fireplaces, alcoves, and couches offer great focal points for arranging wall art.
Hanging Pictures Over a Fireplace
If you have a fireplace in your room, it instantly creates a focal point and an ideal place to arrange your pictures. You can either hang a picture over the fireplace, or arrange them as a display on the mantel. Either use one bigger piece of art (ideally the same width as the opening of the fireplace), or a couple of smaller ones.
The first important step is deciding on the placement of your pictures and the overall layout of the arrangement you want to create. Hanging your art in a thoughtful way will add to the balance and warmth of the room. So, where to hang your pictures & art?
Hanging Pictures Over a Couch
Hanging art over the couch is always a good idea, and it works in all (or nearly all) cases. There are couches in every apartment, and it’s another natural focal point of the room – ideal to display your wall art and pictures.
Below is an example of how floral and botanical posters have been used to create a fun visual collection over a couch.
Where & How to Arrange Wall Art in a Bedroom
In the bedroom, you’ll likely want to display calming or slightly lower-key artwork. No one wants to stare at neon graphic zig-zag prints right before bed (unless that’s your thing).
How to Hang Pictures Over a Bed
Use the bed’s headboard as the focal point and arrange a grid or a line of three posters for symmetry and central alignment.
How to Hang Pictures On a Blank Wall to Create a Focal Point
If you have a lot of blank wall space in your bedroom, you can easily create your own focal point using a collection of pictures in a gallery wall-style arrangement. Be as imaginative or as organized as you like with this one.
How to Hang & Arrange Wall Art
Now that we’ve covered the main locations where you can hang your wall art, we’ll cover the practical tips for making sure your posters and pictures stay in place and are at the right height.
1. Arrange Your Pictures First, Then Put Them On a Wall (Not the Other Way Around!)
Before you commit to the wall, think through and test your layout. You don’t want to put in all the work and then have to take it all down.
For this, we have a few tips for you:
- Gather all your art and pictures, and put them on a table (or the floor).
- Move your pictures around, and try to get the arrangement that you’d like on your wall. This is the creative process that will allow you to do different things without committing to one solution.
- Try symmetrical or asymmetrical placements. With pictures of the same size, you can try doing both. With pictures of different sizes, you’ll probably end up with an asymmetrical setup – but you can have it composed in a symmetrical shape (for example, smaller and bigger artworks arranged in the square shape).
- When you’ve decided, ideally take a picture of the arrangement, which will then make it easier to replicate it on the wall (you won’t have to remember it; just check the picture, and you’re set).
- Measure the distance between each of the pictures or paintings; this will help to keep the right distance between them when hanging them on a wall.
Once you’ve done all that, you can begin hanging your artwork on the wall. If you’ve purchased Displates, congratulations! This next stage is easy.
2. Hang the Artwork at Eye Level
A common mistake we see is people hanging wall art too high on the wall. Unless you’re creating a floor-to-ceiling gallery wall or intending to hang work higher for creative reasons, it’s usually best practice to keep your posters and prints at eye level for maximum impact.
Here’s an example of pictures that have been hung at eye level or lower to complete a desk setup space:
A fan of these impressionist pieces? Find more in our famous paintings posters category.
Of course, sometimes hanging posters asymmetrically or lower than eye level may be more fitting or visually striking – that’s for you to decide. As an example, see this idea of a group of 3 abstract art posters, arranged asymmetrically on a wall:
3. Leave Space Between Your Pictures
Many people focus too much on the frames and forget about the space around them when hanging their wall art. So, how far apart should pictures be spaced?
Ideally, the spacing between multiple paintings or pictures should be in the range of 2 to 6 inches (5cm to 15cm). But everything depends on individual scenarios and preferences, as you might want to create different effects.
There is also a general rule that your art arrangement should not be wider than the piece of furniture you’re hanging it over. While this can be solid advice, we recommend that you experiment with it on your own. In many cases, you will find that you have more freedom than the “rules” allow. Experiment!
How to Hang Groups of Pictures (or Multiple Pictures) On a Wall
While standalone pictures can be super effective, hanging more than one piece of wall art lets you get creative and experiment with:
- Creating compositions
- Using similar or different colors
- Hanging pictures belonging to a collection
- Doing something completely different or totally random!
Below, we’ve shared advice on how you can hang sets of two, three, and four pictures on your wall, including arrangements:
- Put side by side
- Vertically, horizontally, or at an angle
- Slightly staggered
- Symmetrically and asymmetrically.
Hanging Pictures Staggered?
You can try hanging two pictures staggered by hanging one slightly lower or higher than the other, so the bottom or top won’t match. This helps create an interesting effect, and looks especially good with one picture being slightly larger than the other.
How to Arrange 2 Pictures on a Wall
While it sounds simple, hanging two pictures on a wall can be done in a variety of ways – side by side, vertically, staggered – each with its own method and visual impact.
Use the examples of two hanging pictures below to get some inspiration for your wall space.
Here are two beautiful landscape posters (or landscape travel posters) arranged side by side on a wall.
Below is an example of two staggered pictures, one slightly higher than the other. Here, we’ve used animal posters, but with the look of abstract geometric shapes, for a modern take on nature art.
How to Arrange 3 Pictures On a Wall
If you’re looking to spotlight three pictures or posters, there are plenty of configuration options. You can center the arrangement around a central print, hang them symmetrically in a row, or arrange them asymmetrically in a collage style.
Below, we’ve chosen an example of three posters hung symmetrically, side by side, with similar colors and themes, over a desk. This creates a balanced and minimalistic look for the room. Here, we used minimalist posters from our collection. You can create a similar look with black and white posters or paintings.
Next up is an example of a three-picture arrangement featuring posters from our All You Need is Love Collection. Here, using three posters that follow a central theme and have continuity in their visual elements ties the wall together nicely.
Next is another example of wall art over a desk. This time, the artwork is staggered to fill the space, and the pictures are hanging beside other pieces of art. Similar themes and contrasting colors make for a stronger style in this home office.
For a fun and funky example, the picture below shows a set of three wall art pictures hanging vertically, with a central travel theme. While the colors are not the same across the prints, we used vintage travel posters as a theme to create a certain mood for the wall.
Next up is a green, moody, dark example where dramatic landscapes and creatures create visual continuity across three staggered posters hanging above a bed. For this, we dipped into our collection of abstract nature and animal posters.
Not a fan of bold colors? Monochrome is a great option. Below, we’ve used black-and-gray prints from our movie poster collection, arranged in a descending staircase pattern.
Who said your wall art all has to be the same size? If you’re a bit of a rule breaker, experiment with different-sized pieces. Here, we’ve used a larger France travel poster as the centerpiece of the arrangement.
Lastly, as we saw above, you can get a great look with one bigger picture or painting and two smaller ones. Below, we’ve used some botanical prints and monstera posters to create a vivid and refreshing visual arrangement on the wall that contrasts with the muted colors of the furniture around it.
How to Arrange 4 Pictures on a Wall
They say three is the magic number, but four posters or pictures allow for symmetry and grid patterns that are super satisfying on your walls
How to hang 4 pictures in a square?
One of the most common configurations for hanging four prints is in a simple square. To do this,
- Pick a place on your wall
- Keep the same (close) distance between each picture
- Hang them symmetrically at eye level
Here’s an example of a square arrangement of four pictures:
If you have more horizontal wall space than vertical space, hanging four posters in a row can work well, especially above a headboard or to make a wall seem longer. Here, we’ve used flower posters, alongside houseplants and natural elements like a wooden headboard, to create an outside-inside theme for this bedroom.
Just because a cluster of four posters lends itself nicely to a square doesn’t mean you have to follow the rules. Asymmetrical and staggered designs work well with four posters too, depending on the size of your space.
The two examples below fill up blank wall space in an imaginative way with prints tied together by theme and not necessarily color.
You may want to experiment with the size of your posters too. Below, we’ve opted for three small and one large poster.
As a final example to show you what’s possible with four-poster arrangements, this animal-themed collection follows a square shape with slight asymmetry to bring this kitchen wall to life.
How to Hang More Than 4 Pictures on the Wall
Got more than four pictures or paintings, or maybe you want to use other pieces of wall art, too? In that case, you’ve got yourself a gallery wall.
Gallery walls open up all sorts of layout possibilities, using mixed media combinations, trinkets, posters of different sizes, and different focal points around a home.
(Image from https://laurajaneatelier.com/, shared in one of our previous blog posts, Decorate your space with coherent collections)
If you’re not feeling too crazy, you can always lean back on the rows and grids that work so well with fewer poster numbers too, for a more minimalist, organized look.
Arrange Your Wall Art Easily With Displate
As you can see, there are endless possibilities for arranging the art on your walls.
Keep things simple with a grid of four similar posters, or experiment with gallery walls and asymmetrical or staggered designs.
However you choose to display your wall art, you can rely on the Displate collection to provide you with imaginative, creative, and unique prints to brighten up your space.
