Art Wall Guide | Kræss Store

KRÆSS ART WALL GUIDE

⚡The important points

Building a beautiful picture wall is, in short, about combining colors and styles that compliment each other and hanging the posters so that they harmonize on your wall and in your room.

Wall pictures that generally give your eye peace, and resonate. You will most likely have to look at it for a long time.
Start by placing the posters in the middle and build from: if you want a loose border and the picture wall should look “random”.
Start by placing the posters in the corners: if you want a “tight/fixed” picture wall.
Do not place many posters in the same color shades next to each other: distribute the colors.
Use different sized posters: Distribute the sizes.
Use different frames: When you mix different frames you have the opportunity to create more dynamics. A single colored frame among oak can create is new space.
We would often recommend that you choose a color for the frame that does not dominate the images. That makes the sr image stand out more. If a blue frame breaks out with a blue image, it can disappear a little into itself. But if you like it, go for it!
Different materials: you can supplement your picture wall with a tapestry or plant with an organic form. The posters must be roughly the same.
Mix posters yourself: Try and play with the idea of using posters with different printing methods: mix e.g. rice printing, linoleum printing and analogue printing.

📕The Comprehensive Art Wall guide

⏱️ Reading time: approx. 8 minutes.

The guide consists of 8 points which are important to consider before you build your own picture wall.

Choose the right room and wall for your picture wall
Placement of the pictures
Distance between pictures
Composition and colors
Picture frames
Picture sizes
Use something other than just pictures
Price and quality

🤳 TIP! We have developed an online picture wall designer where you can place all pictures in our shop on your own wall and see your picture wall before you hang the pictures in reality. You will find the picture wall designer HERE.

1. 🏠 Choose the right room and wall for your picture wall

The most popular places to build a picture wall are the kitchen and the living room, but corridors, stairs and rooms are also popular places to build a picture wall.

You can choose to build your picture wall in a room that you often stay in, or “beautify” a corridor so that it is not just a passage in your house or apartment.

When you have chosen an empty wall in a room to build your picture wall on, it is important that you include the wall as part of your picture wall.

The room and the wall color must compliment the pictures in your picture wall. This makes the expression more exciting and effective – and it brings the picture wall together into a “bounded whole”.

You have to make up your mind even if you want to build your picture wall and choose pictures based on the wall and the wall color, or if you need to paint your wall in a new color or change the location of your furniture, lamps, wall shelves and interior, if you already have some pictures and a picture wall in mind that the room should fit.

TIP! A colored wall behind a picture wall creates a different expression than a plain white wall. If you have a very dark wall colour, it can brighten up and attract attention with pictures in light colours. If you have a delicate and light wall color, you can possibly continue to work with the same colors in your posters on the picture wall.

2. 🔨 Placement of the pictures

Before you start building your picture wall, decide if you want to start from the center (creates a random look) and build out or if you can start from the corners and build inward (creates a tight/fixed look). In a bedroom you typically want a calm atmosphere, so here you can use symmetry to create calm by starting from the corners and building inwards.

3. 📐 Distance between pictures

The distance between the pictures in your picture wall should be approximately the same. In addition, it is important that the picture wall has a distance to the floor/furniture and ceiling.

Rule of thumb for distances:

The recommended distance between the images: 8-15 cm.
The recommended distance from the floor to the bottom of your picture wall: 150 cm.
The recommended distance from the top of furniture to the bottom of your picture wall: 15-20 cm.

*The distance is only indicative and depends on your wall, room and desired expression.

TIP! If, for example, the picture wall hangs above a sofa, it is important that there is some air from the top of the sofa to the bottom of the pictures. You want to avoid bumping your head in your photos. It also gives a more harmonious look if there is a little air between the top picture and the ceiling.”

4. 🎨 Composition and colors

As a starting point, it is good to mix images with different colors and but do not place images in the same color shades next to each other.

It is important to work with contrast and similarity. You can either choose to let, for example, a bluish tone repeat itself in images or contrasting colors – such as blue and pink – where each image has its own color and they thus complement each other.

The common thread is absolutely essential in a picture wall if it is not to appear messy and random. And it can be many other things than the color choice, such as pictures with nature motifs.

If you are into a subdued expression, then stick to a limited color scale, but if you simply let certain colors recur as a red thread in the picture wall, then you can also easily let your creativity run wild and mix many shades.

It is always a good idea to find a color tone that is represented in several of the images, but it can also be something about the motifs that repeats itself. For example, a picture with a tree and two other posters where branches and/or flowers form part of the motifs. It can create coherence, that the eye links the two things together.”

A good idea is to look at the composition of the picture. If you have two different images that have the main focus of the motif on the left and right side of the poster, it is best to position them so that there is air between the motifs – such that the poster with the motif on the left side is placed on the left, and the poster with the motif on the right side is placed to the right. It creates air between the subject and is pleasing to the eye to look at.

Use posters with different printing methods to create dynamism in your picture wall: mix e.g. riso prints, linoleum prints and analogue prints.

5. 🖼️ Picture frames

In addition to the color choice of the motifs, the frames also have a lot to say on a picture wall. If the picture wall is the focus of your room, you can choose different materials and colors for the frames – if, on the other hand, the room is calm, you can go for the same color and type of material for all the frames.

If you want peace of mind, go for one or two types of frames in the same colors and thicknesses. If you are into the creative look, all frames can easily be different in both expression and colour.

If you are into a tactile expression that really stimulates all the senses, make your picture or poster wall three-dimensional by mixing the frames with other types of artwork. It can be, for example, a ceramic plate, a wall-hung candlestick or, as here, abstract art in various forms that softens the square expression.

A good tip is to use a poster board to give a “lightness” and distraction to your picture wall.

If you want a picture wall that is the focus, use different frames and mix the colors and materials such as wood and aluminum or use a magnetic poster lists for one of the posters.

Easy-changing frames for standard sizes

Easy-changing frames are frames that are mass produced and therefore the price is low. However, toggle frames are only available for images in standard sizes and they are available in both high and low quality. Inserting images into toggle frames is also easy and anyone can do it.

Image sizes for which you can always find easy-changing frames:

10,5 x 14,8 cm. (A6).
14,8 x 21 cm. (A5).
21 x 29,7 cm. (A4).
29,7 x 42 cm. (A3).
30 x 30 cm.
30 x 40 cm.
40 x 50 cm.
50 x 50 cm.
42 x 59,4 cm. (A2).
50 x 70 cm.
59,4 x 84,1 cm. (A1).
70 x 100 cm.

Easy-changing frames quality

Quality and price are often linked when you buy changing frames. As a general rule, you can often find easy-changing frames in either solid wood or with foil. Frames with foil are cheaper.

Solid wood frames are cut directly from the type of wood (e.g. oak).

Frames with Oak foil are made of pine and coated with a foil that looks like, for example, Oak or Walnut wood.

As a starting point, the untrained eye cannot tell the difference between the two types from a distance, but you can feel the difference – the foil is smooth in contrast to the “raw solid wood”. Solid wood is also more often a bit darker in appearance and has more blemishes.

The big difference is the price. Pine frames with foil are cheaper to produce.

Glass quality for easy-changing frames

Real glass is the standard in quality framing, but acrylic glass (also known as Plexiglas) is becoming increasingly popular because it can be easily shipped when you shop on webshops. Acrylic glass is often the only thing you can buy when shopping for frames online. Physical stores often offer real glass. Although real glass is preferable, it is not necessarily more expensive.

Real Glass vs Acrylic Glass:

Advantages of real glass:
– Standard in high-quality framing.
– Crystal clear.
– Can be washed easily (does not scratch).

Disadvantages of real glass:
– Breaks/splinters on impact.
– Large frames with real glass cannot be transported with freight companies..

Advantages of acrylic glass:
– Stronger and more flexible than glass.
– Good for e.g. children’s rooms or bathrooms where the glass must not shatter.
– Can be transported with freight companies.
– Can have anti-reflective properties (strong light sources do not bother).

Disadvantages of acrylic glass:
– Difficult to clean (avoid scratches and static electricity).
– Big difference in quality (Ikea sells, for example, cheap and thin acrylic glass in their frames, which makes the motif indistinct).

Frames for non-traditional sizes (where you can’t find easy-changing frames)

It can be expensive to go to a glazier or frame shop and get custom-made frames for pictures that are not in standard sizes and where you cannot find replacement frames that fit. It often costs more than DKK 1000 per picture and there is a long wait.

Therefore, most people only get custom-made frames if the picture has an atypical size and does not fit replacement frames. It could be, for example, that it is an older picture or was bought somewhere in the world where they have different standard sizes than where you live.

If you have a picture in an atypical size that doesn’t fit in a changing frame, but you don’t want to pay for a custom-made frame, we have a good trick:

Or you can also buy a poster list with magnets.

You can buy a changing frame that is slightly larger than the picture. The changing frame almost always comes with an insert paper that you can turn over and put your picture on the white side. In this way, you create a white margin around the image like a passepartout.

6. 🔍 Picture sizes

If you want to build a large picture wall, use pictures in different sizes as far as possible. A rule of thumb to create a nice and dynamic picture wall is to mix the very common sizes such as A3 (29.7×42 cm.) and 50×70 with, for example, square posters. For very large picture walls, very large sizes such as 70×100 centimeters can also be used.

7. 🍌 Use something other than just pictures

Supplement your picture wall with more than just posters – so that it doesn’t all turn into motifs, wood and metal.

For example, hang a green plant, a teak wood shelf or a tapestry on your wall and create distraction.

Other ideas for diversion are ceramic wall hangings, poster strips and wall lamps.

8. 💸 Price and quality

The price of a picture wall of course depends on the number of pictures in the picture wall, the quality, the artist and the exclusivity of the pictures.

Pictures are available at all prices from DKK 50. and to several thousand kroner.

If a picture is original, limited edition or printed in high quality, it obviously costs more than at poster shops that print copies of well-known motifs in poor quality.

We do not recommend that you buy many pictures in dubious webshops that sell well-known motifs such as Matisse very cheaply. This is often because they change the motif or text on a known image to avoid copyright law in order to be able to mass-produce a motif in poor print quality. They don’t think about the art but about the profit.

In addition, the price of the picture wall also depends on the frames. Often frames can be more expensive than the pictures because they are difficult to produce and transport, especially if your pictures are not in standard sizes and you therefore cannot use changing frames.

🎉 Good luck with your new Art Wall!

🤳 TIP! We have developed an online picture wall designer where you can place all pictures in our shop on your own wall and see your picture wall before you hang the pictures in reality. You will find the picture wall designer HERE.

Start your Art Wall online