Insights into Interior Design: How Designers Select Wall Hangings. Part I: Choosing Pictures

When interior designers use the term “wall hangings,” they are commonly referring to anything and everything that one may hang on a wall. This can include pictures, photographs, plates, frames, mirrors, sculptures, reliefs and much more besides.

London is a fabulous place to choose wall hangings due to the many active artist communities and the strong tradition of professional interior design.

One of the most important elements of wall hangings are pictures. Many interior designers know that pictures are the way to "make a house a home." However, poor positioning of pictures can easily detract from an otherwise well-planned interior design. This is especially important in smaller London homes or flats. Your interior designer will be able to outline the key points that need to be kept in mind regardless of whether you are hanging a recent family photo or an ancient heirloom. In London, interior designers have a saying, namely that "all pictures should relate to something else in the room." This means that wall hangings of this type should never look as though they were included by accident. Pictures should be related via either colour or thematic elements to display tables, armchairs, bookshelves or fireplaces - or indeed to architectural features, such as panelling or mouldings, which can often be quite historic and interesting in London residences.

London Interior Designers will often elect not to position wall hangings symmetrically (meaning centred on fireplaces or furniture), since this can make the overall interior design seem a little uninspired or "flat."

In London, it is important to remember that the weather is often a little rainy and cool. Therefore interior designers often find it desirable to depict slightly brighter images in their selection of wall hangings. It is also important to group pictures that are related to one another. An interior designer will often place a selection of landscapes close to one another, or they will do the same for seascapes or floral pictures. Another approach often used by some of the most prestigious London interior design consultancies is to group images by colour themes or at the very least by styles of frame or mounting.

In the next article in this interior design series, I will discuss in more detail the practicalities of how to install pictures.