More meaning than a throw pillow?

A recent visit to a small New York apartment gave me pause.  My arrival had prompted the dwellers to hang their pictures - a last act of 'moving in.'  My instant reply was that they were hung too high.  But was that true?  Slowly accumulated as gifts or reminders of someplace special, what we hang on the walls are the art of our lives.  They have more meaning than a throw pillow.

Throw pillows may have associations with how they were acquired, by whom or where or even what you were doing when the urge to decorate came over you.  Yet, they lack content.  The meaning or significance we give them doesn't grow with time in the same way as an appreciation of a work of art.

Professional recommendations on how to decorate with framed art - in this case published by Nielsen Bainbridge, suppliers of the matte board used for framing - suggests several guidelines:  hang at eye level, oversize the matting to create drama, lean pictures on a shelf or mantle to look more causal or to make them easy to change, use a picture as an element in a sitting area, mix styles with the furniture to create "interest", or cluster similar images to make a gallery look.  The first suggestion is helpful:  hang at eye level, but is that sitting or standing?  I suggest that in rooms about motion (hallways and stairs) standing is the preferable height while rooms about rest and relaxation (the others) sitting is the preferable height.  Then what?

Look at the picture.  Examine its color, its composition, the direction your eye takes as you study it, the energy you get from it.  These effects are physical manifestations of the meaning that image has for you.  Finding its home within your home starts with matching that content to the way you occupy your spaces.  Intimate associations belong in private rooms, and something you're willing to share and discuss with the friendly observer should be hung in more public rooms.  Within either space, the picture can fit in or stand out depending on if you want a sense of blending or contrast.  For example, a picture hung over a sofa does not have to be centered on it:  if the colors compliment each other and in fact one object reinforces the other, then you create a sense of balance and repose when you center them.  But if you locate the picture to one side, its impact is heightened.  Your eye is drawn to it because it's not quite what you expect.  The effect is more dynamic and more interesting.  The same strategy works with spacing several pictures unusually close, or combining unusual textures, media or visual densities.

The art in your home is you, it tells your story.  Who were your parents, where you have been, what matters to you.  It reveals your sentiments for what you chose to remember about your experiences, and what you chose to share with others.