You have put a lot of thought into planning your nursery. You’ve painted the walls, carefully selected the baby furniture and bought those cute accessories like a lamp, curtains and a rug that make your child’s first room a special place. The final finishing touch is selecting pictures that stimulate baby’s vision, helping your child learn and grow. In order for wall art to have a positive effect on your child, pictures should be hung correctly and be predominant in baby’s line of sight.

Properly hung pictures and other kinds of wall art can actually enhance the subject by putting the emphasis on the picture, drawing the observer’s eye into the frame or the object itself. Depending on the size, color or shape, wall art has the ability to emphasize and harmonize the personality and atmosphere of the room. And the way in which wall art is placed on the walls, individually or in sets, can single-handedly make a room spacious or smaller – whichever is the more desired effect.

Tips for Hanging Pictures

Typically you would hang framed pictures at eye level when standing. But in a nursery, hang pictures and other types of wall art at baby’s eye level when being carried or held (when you’re standing).

Group smaller pieces of art into sets and position the pictures in each set close to each other rather than trying spread out a small number of pictures in an attempt to fill up the space.

To avoid creating a sense of clutter or busyness, when creating set of smaller pictures, group them together by color scheme, theme, style or size.

Before hanging a group of art pieces, have a plan. First make a rough draft layout by placing the pictures on a table or the floor – this will help you visualize how they will look like when they are hung.

Tricks the Pros Use

To make the best use of the space, match the size and orientation of the wall art to the main portion of the wall where it is to be hung. For example, a vertical framed picture would look best on a narrow wall but a landscape (horizontal) framed work of art would nicely fill the space of a wide wall.

There’s no “one hook per picture” rule – hang wide frames using two hooks. Place one hook on either side, one third of the in from the outer edges of the fame. Use a ruler or a level to ensure that both hooks are aligned properly.

Use removable hooks with adhesive backs for lightweight pictures or wall art pieces. This will give you the freedom to change a group of pictures to reflect a different season or a specific holiday.