How to Multiply the Impact of Large Wall Art

In many ways, we’re living in a golden age of interior design. A lot of the tools and techniques used by professional designers have become easily and cheaply available to everyone – including color choosing software and palettes, cheap art, and wholesale suppliers of custom furniture and treatments – not to mention the availability of information on television and the Internet.

But just because we have access to printing services and every option possible for wall art doesn’t mean we’re doing it right. You can have the most amazing photo in the world, but if you print it on a canvas that’s too small, it will get lost in the room – and even if you create a large print you might only be getting a small portion of the possible impact. Here are some quick tips to getting the most from going big.

Tip 1: Reflection

Even oversized pieces can be isolated and cut off in a room, marooned on one end of the space and often diluted by the furniture, the paint colors, even the flooring. If you’re hanging dramatic art prints on one wall you’re only getting so much power from the piece. In order to get more from it, consider adding some mirrors.

The key is in mirror placement. You want to hang your mirrors in places that will catch the picture and beam it back around the room. Consider placing mirrors on the ceiling above, and on the walls at ninety degree angles to the art, and scout out how the reflections will work by standing in different spots. If the mirrors aren’t reflecting the image, they’re just mirrors and need to be re-positioned.

Tip 2: Gain Altitude

Simply ‘going large’ isn’t a magic spell that instantly makes your choices for wall prints more effective. You still have to consider scale and placement in order to get the greatest effect from your photos. Many people, when they decide to go large and install some big art, place them automatically at standard gallery height as they were told, so that the art is at eye level. But in some rooms, placing big pieces at standard height can make the room feel smaller and heavier.

Try placing the art up high. If you have tall ceilings, going up towards the ceiling line can draw the eye up, be a great surprise, and make the room feel large. Placing large pieces of art along staircases, rising upwards to the next floor, is also often very exciting to the eye and effective as a design technique. The main idea is to stop being tied to your floor as the root of your design objects.

Large wall art can be an awe-inspiring choice when you decorate. Size always impresses, and when scaled properly – and placed properly – the effect can be very powerful. Follow these techniques and you’ll be making people stop in their tracks. And when you’ve chosen the ideal piece to turn into something monolithic in your rooms, click here and we’ll make sure the final product is worthy of your home.