Choosing Artwork For A Hallway

Erin S 1

Decorating Dilemmas is a weekly column in which our stylists answer your design questions, so you can tackle your home decorating project with complete confidence.

Dear How to Decorate,

I am looking for two abstract canvas paintings to put in my upstairs hallway. The hallway is visible at the top of the stairs, from the entryway when you walk in the house as well.

It is a long hallway, but the thermostat is kind of right in the middle of the wall, and there is also a light switch at the end on the wall as well, so it can’t be one large painting, it has to be two.

So my dilemma is finding two paintings that go with each other and coordinate, but one being vertical and one being horizontal, as the two sections of the wall are not equal.

-the first section is 62W x 55H (would like a vertical painting here)
-the second section is 86W x 55H (would like a horizontal painting here)

I have been looking on your site at the different hand painted art and I love them, but it’s hard to tell which ones will complement each other from the computer screen, as the colors could be different in person.

I do have the four seasons paintings from a couple years ago hung in the house as well, so those paintings would be visible when seeing the paintings in the upstairs hallway too.

I think I’ve included all the info, I’ve attached some pictures as well. Please let me know if you need any additional info. I can’t wait to hear your suggestions!

Thank you,

Erin

Stairway

Stairway

Hallway

Erin,

Because of your viewpoint of the “trouble” wall when you walk in the front door, we recommend hanging three square pieces of artwork that are very close to the same size. Keeping the format of the artwork the same size will create a stronger statement and cause your eye to focus on the subject matter.

Consider using a pair of abstracts flanking a single art piece. Below we have used our Dreaming of Spring Giclee flanked by our Cool Mist Giclee.

Erin Collage 2

If the spacing still remains a road block, then we suggest hanging our Falling Leave Giclee on the left and White Water II Giclee on the right.

Wall art redo

Happy Decorating!

The How to Decorate Team

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How to Decorate Team

We enjoy spending days interacting with How to Decorate readers. From answering Design Dilemmas to writing How To articles and working with guest designers, our passion is to provide informative and accurate resources to help people solve their design problems.

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  1. Reply

    Lucy Tuazon

    October 21, 2018

    I think that this idea will make the decorations of the house complete, I just have to choose some paintings that will best match our house as well as will best explain our personality. Having a wall art inside a house is some form of making a statement as well as balancing the design of the house giving it a great accent that contrasts the color. I like your idea of hanging three square pieces of artwork that has the same size, I think this will be best placed on our hallways. Thanks!

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