When it comes to hanging art in an interior, designers turn to a variety of tricks of the trade. But, as with the art itself, their approaches are all different. One point they do agree on is that there are no rules for hanging art. The eye of the beholder is what really counts. From their experience, however, we can gain a variety of helpful ideas.

Washington, D.C., designer Mary Douglas Drysdale approaches hanging art with the architecture of the wall foremost in mind. "I try to create a relationship between the wall and the art," she says, "so that the way the art is hung on the wall is in response to the architectural shape of the wall." For example, in a recent project, Drysdale hung a folio of 15 images in a triangular pattern, starting with five images on the top row, then four, then three, then two, then one, all stacked to the right, on the triangular-shaped side wall of an open stairway.

To Fred Dilger of Dilger-Gibson in Atlanta, the composition of the display is most important. "If the art is a variety of subject matter or artists, I like to hang it salon-style," Dilger says. "Each piece is different in framing, but the frames know each other in finish or style. This creates a relationship in the composition."

Warrenton, Virginia, designer Barry Dixon occasionally likes to prop a piece against a wall or on a mantel, not hanging it at all. Like Dixon, designer Tricia McLean of Patricia McLean Interiors in Atlanta loves incorporating other elements into an assemblage. Porcelains, brackets, and mirrors can look compelling when they fill a wall.

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			Remember these tips when hanging art
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To work out the spacing for hanging a group of art, Dilger suggests first measuring the space on the wall, then taping it out on the floor. If there is a piece of furniture against the wall, tape that out on the floor as well, and mark the tape at 5 1/2 feet from the bottom. That's universal eye-level height, he says. Play around with the pieces on the floor. See how they relate to each other by size and subject matter, then transfer your final composition to the wall. When hanging the works, Dilger advises placing them close together, normally not farther than two inches apart. "They have to be interconnected and form a part of a whole," he says. "When you stand back, you should see one shape." If the subject matter is the same and the pieces are framed alike, such as a group of photographs or engravings, Dilger suggests laying them out in a grid pattern, creating one large piece. If the frames are really large, he often arranges them so they touch each other.

Dixon often assembles an odd number together when hanging a group of disparate pieces. He especially likes groups of nine. "Nine really is a magic number," he says. "It gives a lot of latitude because you can hang in three stacks of three, or an arrangement of five and four, or nine going across." For a lighthearted touch with a less-than-serious collection--a group of pastel watercolors or children's drawings, for example--he suggests hanging them in a lyrical way, up and down like musical notes, keeping the mean level at 5 1/2 feet. To achieve balance with a group of pieces that are different in size and scale, Dixon says to draw an imaginary axis vertically and horizontally on the wall and make sure the pieces have equal weight and balance in each of the four quadrants.

"We line up the centers of all the pictures in a room," says Dallas designer Josie McCarthy. "Then we work out any arrangements on the floor, starting from the center of the grouping and working outward."

What about hanging a single piece of art? Drysdale notes the need to think of the wall in terms of classical proportions of quarters, thirds, halves, and fifths in determining the placement of the piece on the wall. Make sure the proportions (horizontally and vertically) are correct, says Drysdale. When working in a room with a 9-foot ceiling, Dixon advises that the chair rail should be at 3 feet (one-third), leaving 6 feet above for the painting. With the center of the work at the 6-foot mark, it would be proportionately in the center of the top of the space.

There is no such thing as a piece of art that's too small to hang, say the designers. "It depends on the space to be filled," says McLean. The space dictates the size. "A small piece can stand on its own on a large wall," says Dilger, "but it must be a very fine piece." Drysdale says she would take a little work that has an enormous impact and make up for the space by lighting an area 2 feet around it. Drysdale also likes to pay attention to corners--neglected spaces, she calls them--especially the right-angled walls of a stairway. By filling even those spots with loved works, each corner of the house will have something to offer when it is passed by.