Posted on Tuesday 18th May 2021 | Interior Design
The do’s and don'ts of hanging ready made frames on wallpaper
One of the most popular ways to create a focal point in your home is to use stunning wallpaper as a backdrop for your art in
ready made frames – but how do you know that they won’t clash and that your art won’t be fighting for attention with your paper?
You need this
online framing uk guide to the dos and don’ts of hanging works of art on wallpaper, to enable you to go for it with confidence – after all it is a dramatic look that really has the potential to elevate your space.
Tip One: Consider scale
If your artwork is competing with a bold backdrop, then it needs to be larger than life in order to grab attention. This will be a visually striking style to achieve, so if you want to ensure your art is the main attraction in your room you are going to have to think big.
It is also important to try and create a connection between your art and the wallpaper – perhaps by ensuring they share the same motif or have a similar colour palette running through them – you can create a distinction between the two with the use of a white frame.
Keep in mind, that any framed artwork smaller than 30cm by 45cm is at risk of being overlooked.
Tip Two: You don’t have to play it safe with your frame
If the idea of bold wallpaper and bold artwork doesn’t float your boat, then you can always go for something more subdued on your wall to act as a back-drop for your more impactful artwork. You could hang one striking piece of art in a brightly coloured frame to draw attention to it, or even create a vertically stacked gallery wall to fill the space.
If you choose paler, more subtle wallpaper colours and motifs then you can focus on revealing your personality and taste in the artwork you choose to display. You could also choose to subtly echo one or more of the colours in your piece throughout the furnishings in the room to really bring your interior scheme together.
Tip Three: More is more is more
You might not think that hanging wallpaper as a backdrop will be the ideal thing to do for your prized collection of artworks, but it can have a dramatic effect – as long as you are consistent in your choice of colour, framing and scale.
Hanging a coloured wallpaper is a great way to show off a collection of monochrome works of art, without creating any competition for them. You could use this technique to create an amazing gallery wall in the void above your stairwell. A collection of smaller works like this can definitely stand up to being hung on a large expanse of patterned wallpaper.
Tip Four: Don’t hang your art too high
If you hang a wallpaper with a repeated pattern, especially a vertical repeated pattern, then this will draw attention to the height of your space. You should keep this in mind then, when you are deciding at what height to hang your artwork at.
If you have a large piece, for example, you might want to hang it in a central position to draw the eye away from the ceiling and towards the beautiful living space instead.
Another important thing to remember is to take the dimensions of your piece of art into consideration before you start drilling holes into your wallpaper. The last thing you want to do is decide you need to move it, when you’ve already ruined the paper!
And make sure you always use a spirit level to make sure your pictures are all hung at the same height!
Tip Five: Don’t be afraid to use negative space
If you hang your pictures using lots of negative space around them, or by using a wide mount or large frame to create this negative space – this will certainly separate your artwork from the wallpaper behind it.
This technique can be especially useful if you are working with a highly coloured or patterned wallpaper that could easily draw the viewers' attention away from your art.
Bare in mind when choosing your artwork, that an abstract work that is busy will prove something of a challenge to pair with most wallpapers.
Tip Six; Don’t forget to mount your work
As we mentioned above, using a white mount to frame your artwork can be really helpful for separating your artwork from the wallpaper behind it, giving it room to breathe and allowing viewers to take it all in without distraction.
This can be a really useful technique for those pieces of art that may otherwise jar with your feature wallpaper – whether this be because they have a similar motif or are completely different colour palettes.
Tip Seven: Use your art to offset a feature wall
Wallpaper is often chosen to be used on a feature wall rather than every wall in a room – and this can mean that it sometimes acts as art in itself. It can also act as a backdrop for the main piece of furniture in the room – such as the bed or a dining table for example.
If you have a feature wall of wallpaper like this, why not place your artwork on an adjacent wall? This way you can draw the attention of viewers away from just the feature wall and around the rest of the room as well.
Smaller pieces of art will make intriguing additions in this case, adding some detail and glamour to an otherwise high-impact space.
Tip Eight: You don’t always have to nail it!
As we mentioned above, the problem with hanging art on wallpaper is that you are going to damage the wallpaper by sticking a nail through it – which is why it is really important that you are totally happy with where you are hanging your piece of artwork before you commit to it!
The nail isn’t the only thing you have to worry about damaging your wallpaper though – you are going to want to cover the ends of any other attachments or wire with cloth tape to further avoid any potential damage as well.
If you want to completely avoid this type of damage, then you are going to need to prop your art against the wall rather than hanging It. This not only creates a cool and more casual look, but also allows you the opportunity to change your artwork more frequently as well.
Tip Nine: Let your wallpaper speak for itself
Many wallpaper designs nowadays can be unique and incredibly intricate, like artworks in themselves – and some may even have been designed by artists from across the globe. This means that sometimes you may want to just let your wallpaper speak for itself.
If there is a particular artist you admire, then it may be worth checking whether they have designed any wallpaper or even if they would be willing to create a bespoke one just for you.
If you are looking for any help with any aspect of picture framing, from
picture frame sizes uk to custom picture frames, please get in touch with the team at Frames.co.uk. We are here to help.
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