It’s an enviable and for many, impossible-to-imagine scenario: having too much art. But for some avid collectors (and those with creative and generous friends) it can be a reality. Here's how to take back your walls and bring some clarity to your collection of art.
If you’ve got art leaning 5 canvases deep in a corner somewhere or a bunch of prints rolled up on a desk but can’t for the life of you see some negative space on a wall for you to add another piece, you might want to consider trimming back your art collection (or at the very least some new organizational methods). Some ideas:
Collage it An oldie but a goodie: when you start to run out of walls to hang art, start squeezing more on each wall. We have suggestions on how: Creating Picture Frame Collages
Organize it by theme, store and swap out for the seasons If you really have tons of art, so much that you can't hang all at once even in a collage, consider grouping your art into themes, like some by a common color, or by subject matter or even just in sets that work together aesthetically. Consider gallery art hanging systems as a way to easily change out art.
Give as gifts to friends Art (and books) can be pretty hard to part with, especially if they have meaning and memories to you. But if you really have too much to enjoy all at once, you might consider sharing your love of art with friends for housewarming gifts.
Deceptive hiding spots Got a lot of posters/prints that are relatively the same size? Consider storing them a few deep in the same frame that’s already up on a wall, and switch them out when things get stale.
Odd spots Leaning it on the back of the couch or hanging itin the shower might seem odd, but if you're really running out of space and can't part with any pieces you might look to alternate solutions.
One in, one out Much like other room items, you could do this with art; for every piece you get in, you could donate one to a children’s hospital, women’s shelter or friend who just moved into an new, blank-walled space.
Is your art collection getting too big? If you find yourself with more art than walls, what do you do? Let us know!
Images: Adrienne Breaux
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i started hanging mine in closets. saves me the floor space to store them all together and gives me a reason to smile when i open up the doors.
Oh boy, do I relate. First, I make art. Then I buy art from friends. Then I find art at thrift stores and flea markets. I have things piled in corners, I have a "salon" arrangement in a stairwell, I have to many things in to omany places. There is art in my laundry room, every bathroom, hallway, stairs, you name it. (I even have a poster and some 3-d stars in the garage!)
I am striving to keep some walls cllutter free so the things that are up aren't ovewhelmed, but it's hard to pass up a bargain if I like it!
I recently pried my fingers off a colorful painting of a little girl reading a book and donated it to the Library where I work. One down! (I still half-way want it back, though!!!)
I have a few commercial prints in my salon space (Japanese art i can't afford in the original but that I enjoy.) I'm considering whether to swap those out with local original watercolors (very NOT Japanese!) to favor original over commercial. I have some framed embroideries and molas that I could UN-frame and use as the textiles they are, in wearable art or something. But it is definitely a challenge!
I hang art all over the house- in every room. I make art, and have a lot of art and artful objects on display from Russia and also my own paintings. My daughters 3 and 7 have started creating really great work- (that rivals the professional art I have on display). We frame and hang those as well.
When someone comes to our home and comments on a painting that they REALLY love a LOT. I make note. If they LOVE it again on another visit, I'll often take it off my wall and give it to them on their way out. Then replace it with something newer or in storage. If I have nothing to go in that space, I just make something new. Also I have long narrow hanging shelves from IKEA in my office that go all the way around the room- I place art that has no home in a line on that shelf. It's also a nice place to show off stuff that my kids are proud of.
I like the movement and changing nature of art in our home because it keeps me creative and happy to know that my friends and family have my art that moved them hanging in their homes now.
Ugh. My husband found an artist on ebay two years ago that sold his art of fairly cheap. While I like two of the pieces and they are in our living room, the other SIX are HUGE canvases with black and turquoise that just won't go in out house. Our last place had a long hallway where he put them, but they've been stacked in a corner in our bedroom for six months since we moved in. I think he's either going to have to give them away or hang them in our "tunnel" to our house (we have a covered entryway with stairs).
Find creative spaces. We hung a canvas under a low shelf because there was no room for it elsewhere.
Too much art?
Excuse me, what did you say?
I'm sorry. I don't understand.
What language are you speaking?
No such thing as too much art - only too few walls.
I like it when people hang smaller pictures on bookshelves, in front of books, like this: http://pinterest.com/pin/80231629/
What's next? What to do with leftover wine?
Agree with pippigirl! But if you really have "too much" for your space, how about simply rotating it? I have a lot of little ceramic and milkglass pieces from my grandma that I move around (including back and forth between the house and a few boxes in the attic) throughout the year to give things a little bit of a new look.
I had the brilliant idea of converting my 1960 house to an open concept LR, DR, & Kitchen. The thing I miss most is wall space to hang art....
i have this problem! it's awful...deciding what to put up and what wonderful thing to leave out is torture. leftover wine is never an issue.