Throughout the ages, people had always valued paintings and could buy a million-dollar Rembrandt to showcase in their living rooms. Well, now we have our cameras, and our corporate portraits and family photographs have become an indispensable part of our decor. Who needs those overpriced paintings anymore?
But not everyone knows how best to use photography in their home, especially when they’re furnishing it for the first time. It’s not just about hanging up frames randomly but knowing what to hang and where to hang it.
So without further ado, let’s find out some incredible ways to spruce up your home using photography.
Be minimalist with family photographs and portraits
You’re probably yearning to display all your favorite photos across the four walls of your space. Why not? They’re all so beautiful, so everyone should see them. But that’s not always the best idea. The first step to decorating your home with photographs is to not overdress the walls with photographs.
Select picturesque photographs that would serve as focal points in your home. It could be a combination of a wedding photo (if you’re married), your younger self, a group family photograph, and one or more eye-catching representational/abstract art.
Now, even after figuring out how many photos to use and which rooms to place them in, positioning matters, and that’s duly addressed in another section.
Your portrait or fine art can hang on the wall behind your chairs, directly facing the TV. It’s also a great idea to place it on the left or right wall of the room so you can get a good view of it, but not the wall with a window.
Use a large print panoramic photos
Do you see the panorama feature on your iPhone? Or maybe you’re more of an actual camera fan. If you want to capture the best of natural landscapes, switch to panorama.
Now imagine that picture, as small as it looks, coming to life on your wall in large-scale HD format. The elegance is awe-inspiring. Using panoramic wall art in your living space instantly creates a luxuriant, warm, and welcoming feel. Whether it’s nature, wedding, or abstract art print, you can place it on the wall centrally above your bed or on either side of your living room.
And the thing is, you don’t need to look too far. You can have a professional Photo artist print out your panoramic photos from your phone into large frames without losing a single pixel of quality.
Positioning matters!
Poorly placed wall art can make a room feel too small, congested, or unsymmetrical. It could also put the artwork at risk of damage.
The first step to properly position wall art in your home is to determine the general area where the piece will fit in.
Use the following guidelines:
- Place the art on the wall with its base about 6-8 inches above the furniture.
- Place the art piece with the top about 1-2 inches from the ceiling.
- Open the door closest to determine if its knob will reach it. Also, view the new look with the art held on the wall and see how it works in the space.
Doing the above will help you avoid puncturing holes in the wall that you may later realize you don’t need.
Pro tip: Avoid placing the wall print photograph in a position subjected to direct sunlight, extreme temperature, and humidity. All of these can damage photographs and make them lose color. Since the direction of sunlight moves throughout the year, you shouldn’t decide based on the current direction alone.
…So does placement
You can make a statement using wall photography anytime, any day. This is easily achieved in a home by placing the wall print at vantage points.
Wall art shouldn’t be limited to the living room and bedroom alone. Make a statement with panoramic wall art in your hallway.
Pro tip: It’s best to have your panoramic wall art extending the width of your bed’s headboard. The wide, centralized look offers not just symmetry but serves as an incredible focal point working in sync with your bed. You may have to measure the headboard so that your panoramic print expert knows the right size to scale your photograph to.
Use photography that matches your decor style
If you already have a particular decor style in place, it’s best to maintain that feel by using suitable wall art. The kind of photograph suitable for farmhouse decor may look odd in a contemporary or trendy one.
What types of materials and finishes exist in the space? What’s the color palette? When buying fine art or arranging for your photograph to be printed, keep the home’s decor style in mind.
Interestingly, some aspects of photography can greatly influence style:
- The material/frame on which the photograph is printed. For instance, metal wall art would produce a different appeal from canvas print.
- The subject of the art. Representational photography is more suitable for bedroom spaces than in a contemporary living room. Abstract photography would make more sense in contemporary or modern decor, likewise nature in a farmhouse style.
Surround a large photograph symmetrically with smaller ones
One incredibly stunning way to decorate your interior with photographs is to group smaller photos around a larger one symmetrically. Whether you’re using a large portrait or panoramic photograph as the focus (central image), the others should be portraits, and they can be of varying sizes. Just ensure the same sizes are on opposite sides to create symmetry and a sense of organization.
You can use as few as 5 photographs altogether or as many as 10. It depends on how large the space is and how appealing the finished work is.
Pro tip: Before boring holes in the wall, find a way to hold up the photographs on the wall in their prospective positions to see how they would look.
Bottom Line
Wall arts are a statement piece in any space. But how you use them matters. A simple panoramic photograph on your phone can become stunning large-scale wall art in your living space. And when you position it properly, it can also become an appealing focal point that continuously induces compliments from visitors.
