Here’s Why You Should Consider These Overlooked Spots for Displaying Art
The cool thing about artwork is that it can be minimal, modern, or abstract — whatever speaks to you is worth investing in. You can buy as many pieces as you like and rotate your collection around your home. If you feel like you’re running out of wall space though, I’ve got news for you. Art doesn’t have to be hung above your sofa, headboard, or even dining table. There are plenty of forgotten spots to hang and place art, and sometimes displaying your favorites somewhere unexpected can make your space more dynamic and help you fall in love with your pieces all over again.
Just take Whitney Mitchell and the masterful mix of paintings, drawings, and more in her two-bedroom New Orleans apartment, for instance. At just under 900-square-feet, it’s not like her space is small. It’s those soaring 12-foot tall walls — and vaulted ceilings! — though that steal the show, and she certainly uses those features to her advantage when displaying art. Instead of hanging pieces in just the usual spots, Mitchell’s art climbs more than three-quarters of the way up some of her walls. As you move around the space, it almost feels like you’re walking through an art gallery.
It’s easy to think the more decor you have, the smaller or more crowded your space might feel. That’s not the case with Mitchell’s brand of maximalism though. Paired with her high ceilings, placing art above her doorway actually helps to draw the eye upward, making the space look even bigger and loftier as a result.
She doesn’t just stop at that one unexpected spot for hanging art either. She even turned the half-wall on her kitchen peninsula into a mini gallery moment! Her bar cart, windowsills, and shelves are all other surfaces where she displays and rotates artwork, too. Everywhere you look there’s something special to see, and once at-home entertaining becomes a thing again, Mitchell’s guests will have no shortage of conversation starters in her bright, personality-filled apartment.
Mitchell’s philosophy on art buying is that nothing is ugly. “You’re just putting it in the wrong spot,” she says. I couldn’t have said it better myself! Think outside the box when it comes to hanging art, and your home, too, could benefit from that strategy as this vibrant space certainly has.