"My bed is in a corner of the room - where do I hang my artwork?"

We love getting questions about picture hanging from our customers. Here’s one we were recently asked: 

“I am decorating a small bedroom. There is a twin bed in the corner against the wall and I want to hang art on the wall that the head of the bed touches. The wall is 133 inches wide and the bed takes the first 33 inches. Should I be centering art in the middle of 133 inch wall (so say centered at 66 inches) Or should I center in on the part of the wall that has no furniture on it (so centered on the 100 inches of wall after the bed ends so say at around 88 inches)” 

That's a great question, and one that highlights some of the ways that the human brain visually divides up space. You can use that understanding to decide where you want to have your artwork. Here’s what we mean.

Creating visual ‘zones’

As soon as you add elements like furniture into a space, your eye immediately divides the space up based on the position of the furniture to the walls. So in our example, the bed in the corner divides the walls into three zones (A, B & C), determined by the dimensions of the bed.

In order for the artwork to look visually balanced, select one of the zones in which to hang it.

Which zone should I pick?

You can use any of the zones you wish as a place to hang your artwork, but one thing to consider is which wall do you face when you walk into the room.

If you face the long wall as shown above when you enter the room, you can use either zone B or C.

However, if the wall you face when you walk into the room is the other one, you can consider hanging your artwork in zone A, so you see it as soon as you enter.

Align your frame with the middle of the zone

Aligning your artwork with the middle of the zone is the simplest way to make sure that it looks balanced in that space. No matter which area of the wall you hang your artwork on, this alignment will make sense. For the vertical height of the artwork, make sure the center of the art is at the standard standing eye height (60”- 66” from the floor) as you’ll most likely be seeing your art from a standing position.

And there you have it - a lovely, balanced look that brings harmony to your space. Remember that at the end of the day there is no single ‘right’ answer, whatever looks good to you is the most important consideration, but we hope that these tips help you get started. Happy decorating!

We love designing products to make decorating easy and help people create spaces that bring them joy. Click on the live chat below or email us at: questions@utrdecorating.com, and we’ll do our best to help you Create the home you love™

-The UTR Team