No rule of thumb, only a good eye...

It's really a matter of preference and style. Some people fill their walls with galleries of art leaving very little open space. Others like some open walls or space around the art. What do you like?

I think if you post pictures of some of the rooms you want to start with the amazing people here will gladly help make suggestions on amount and size of art (and probably some specific art suggestions).

Personally I like art on a handful of walls throughout the house, but I also don't like to fill the space completely. I prefer to leave hallways without art and I also don't like art in bathrooms. That's all just my personal preferences for my own home. Take a look at some pictures online and think about the walls in your home to see what suits you.

Take groveraxle up on her offer to show you an art plan. Post your room pics wall by wall so she can do her magic.

Why don't you buy art as you find pieces you like and can afford, place them as they arrive? Art is not like wallpaper.

Once you have run out of wall space, stop, or buy a second house ;-)

I like the philosophy of negative space - the eyes need to rest. Just because you may have a lot of wall space, that doesn't mean you have to fill it all up. In top search box, put in Should all walls be covered in art in photos. If you are a maximalist, you will have all the walls covered. If you are a minimalist, you'll have very few walls covered. If you are somewhere in between, you'll have some art on some walls and some walls will have no art. I'm in the later category.

Do you have any art now? Don't just go out and buy generic art to fill up your walls. Also, art does not have to match your furnishings. Art should "speak" to you. I am very picky when I buy art, but that means that I still love the first pieces of art that I bought 18 years ago.

I had rather have a blank wall than a generic piece bought just to fill the space. And I have pieces I bought 45 yrs ago that I still love.

I’m a firm believer that ‘just because you can doesn’t mean you should’. We have a print that we bought over 30 years ago that I love like we just bought it yesterday. That print has made every move with us and fits into our new space perfectly. I think things we surround ourselves with should be a part of who we are, our story to tell. Let it evolve.

I don't think I'm a maximalist, but I have art on most of my walls, including hallways, and one bathroom. I even have art in the laundry! I also have a few wall hangings, a couple of camel bags, some brass trays, and a few wood carvings.

All the things I have are pieces collected over a lifetime of travel, so all have a story to tell. They speak to me, and to my friends. Hmmm, maybe I am a maximalist after all...

As much art as you have and love, that's how much art should be on your walls. Personally, I seem to have run out of wall space and am contemplating moving my little-used TV to a less-prominent location to make room for a new piece. It's that or start rotating art. But that's me.

I totally agree that filling up walls with generic mass-market art just to meet some art quota makes no sense.

Find the art you love and find perfect spot to put it in your home. It all about light, every painting will look differently depending on surrounding colors and light. Some art compliments each other but I found I like each piece by itself. Good collection takes years, so don't try to just fill in your walls with Homegoods art.

I feel bad for young people starting out today.

19 years ago when we bought our first house, you could actually find nice inexpensive pieces of framed art at Homegoods. I have two smaller pieces that came from Marshall or HG, they hang alongside original art and you wouldn't be able to pick them out.

The stuff today is all mass produced, printed out on plastic coated stretched canvas and just looks cheap.

Chispa - there's lots of art out there, maybe not Van Gogh or Rembrandt, but nice pieces by local artists or art students. I've picked up interesting things on my travels as well, at street markets and in small galleries. The art is there. And a lot of it is affordable. But I guess, in this internet age, it's easier to just order something on line rather than investing time in visiting galleries and art shows.

As others have suggested - if there is an artwork(s) you love, it will work. Whether it is just one hanging on a wall, or a gallery wall. Art is a reflection I think of personality, and therefore adds the “home” part to a house.

But don’t buy things just to fit the walls. I do think it shows when someone has accumulated pieces they love - whether a $5 print or a $25,000 original oil - versus bought just to fill a space as the “colours worked”, as if their house was a parade home versus their home. It is okay to take a lifetime to gain your art collection :)

The rule of thumb is there should be some negative space in every room, a place where there is nothing so that your eye can "rest" and you're not being visually assaulted or overly bombarded with stimulus. There are natural places to hang art (like over a sideboard or piece of furniture, or in entry way or on a focal point wall) so initially just stick with those areas. The places where I don't hang art are in the kitchen (for sanitary reasons) and in a laundry room (because that's not the place for it). Leave enough blank walls in the home so that where there is art, it stands out. If you highlight everything, then nothing stands out as special.

I have a few pieces in my laundry room. Do I spend time in there? Yes. Is it a room in my house? Yes. Ditto with the kitchen, bathroom, staircase to the unfinished basement. The more you look at art, and/or buy art you’ll start to notice how some pieces play off each other and seem to look more interesting hanging near each other. And you’ll notice that some pieces look better all by themselves and some pieces look better hanging next to something it has nothing in common with. There really is no rule, if it pleases you, hung or leaning, in a grouping or alone,in a laundry room or over the mantle, then it works. Be it a $5 ikea print or a$10000 gallery purchase, if you love it, then it’ll look great.

@Donald: Our new laundry room will for sure have some art - I have some quirky prints for it that give me a smile already. It’s a 10x11 room where I will be spending time in doing laundry. Laundry may be an unpleasant chore but spending time in the room does not need to be devoid of lovely or fun things to look at. I want if there so that seems to indeed make it a place for it :)

There is a way to approach this with a plan that will work with your furnishings selections and complement the architecture of your home.

I always start by taking the floor plan and first noting where the TV flatscreens are likely to be located. You want to make sure that you have your cable connections in the right locations. I have noted those locations in BLUE on this floor plan.

Then I note in green possible locations for major art. These are not all the locations that will receive art, but are the primary locations that will require either large pieces of multiple pieces that read as one piece once installed. Some times the art should be located in a hallway intersection. Sometimes over a bed. Sometimes over a sofa or console table. Take a look at this floor plan and see if this helps.

I hope this helps.

I think BeverlyFLADeziner approach is very useful, as far as the art itself i am with the ones that mentioned that a collection takes time and effort as well as a good eye, but they should speak to you. in addition you can find small sculptures and folk art and place them in interesting ways, placing art is an art in itself

here a few examples, of a variety of approaches for a visual aid

This has been an interesting conversation! I moved from a home with 20 foot ceilings to a home with 8 foot ceilings. I spent 15 years collecting 7 paintings and giclee pieces. 3 are very large. I am not done collecting, but it's been difficult knowing whether I have to attempt trading in beloved pieces to fit the new home's architecture or if I can work with large pieces in low ceilings and leave blank space.

My last home had separate rooms and a lot more floor to ceiling windows, this home is half the size and not many floor to ceiling windows and rooms have not as much distance between them.

To expand on the question, should art be the very last thing placed or the first? I am trying to connect with the new space and make it feel like home, but visually correct at the same time and I am at a loss of where to start.

There is no formula. I would line up my pieces against the wall, on the floor and one by one, over time figure out where they go. During this time, I guarantee you will be noticing every detail about how other people tackle the challenge in their houses and that will give you more to work with in your own house.

This is an example of what I mean. The room is still a work in progress, just wondering on art itself.

You've created a beautiful setting with your selected furniture, lighting and space. That, in itself, is a work of art!

ana474, I think you can absolutely work with large pieces and low ceilings. In our current house we have all 8' ceilings, in new house we have a mix of 8', 9', and ~19' so still a few "lower" ceilings. Not sure how large your "very large" pieces are, but we have some larger pieces now, like ~6-7', etc. I think with larger pieces and "lower" ceilings it is just important to make sure not to crowd things together. So if you have a nice blank wall, and a large or very large piece of art, make that piece the statement for that wall and leave a lot more blank space. Use lighter wall paint as a "blank canvas" of sorts for it.

Personally, I am the kind that sort of prefers to start with art and use it to influence the rest of the space where possible, and I think this is a good strategy for anyone who considers their collection to be "beloved" as you do as that to me speaks to your connection to the work. I also think once you add them and DO feel connected to the space - by seeing your beloved pieces hanging - the rest will likely flow a bit easier for you and will come from that connection.

I am in a situation now where there is a piece I really, really want to add, but we are moving in a month and I really can't justify buying it when we have almost zero furniture for new house (we purged a lot of it when we moved cross country and have limited accumulating more knowing we would be moving into a more permanent home in time). But I tell you, I am tempted to just go for it...sitting in stairwell to eat my dinner for a while may be a sacrifice I am willing to make.

@ana474 that space looks perfect for art, if the rest of your home is similar - meaning such a wonderful neutral blank canvas - I think you could really let your art be a star on any wall.

Rai Kai I purposefully am trying to blank canvas the new home as much as possible so I can begin to think and connect with the space. It was, and still is in some rooms the colors and tastes of the last owner. I need a blank neutral space to take away chaos then begin to make it mine. I may add color or architectural detail in due time.

You don't have to spend a lot on art. Write up a wish list and keep your eyes on the lookout. Also ask friends if they have some stashed away that they don't want. Check out local at festivals. Look at local art galleries, then art.com. Art.com has sales at times. Get only the print, then get frames 30% off at AC Moore.

When I got married in 1966, we bought a couple of Chagall lithographs from his series of the Bible. I think they were about $75 each at that time - a bit of a stretch for us. Ex-husband still has them and they are now worth about $1500!

We also bought a couple of large watercolors at an art fair in a summer resort town - same artist. He also has those - at one time, he had one, I had the other - I give him mine when I ran out of walls and preferred something else.

Over the past 52 years, I have collected fine prints, a few oils, some watercolors and a couple of signed litheographs. I love them all. My walls are filled! I also have a group of antique Russian maps my late husband bought on a trip to Russia after he graduated from university - he was a Russian Studies major. They're all in the upstairs hall.

Buy what you love, but the best you can afford, and you'll always find a place for it. For heavens sake, don't waste your money on schlock from Home Goods.

Show us the area pictures and dimensions i ll send you bunch of options !

Best

Rule #1: Never buy mass-produced garbage from a 'décor store'!

Rule #2: Take your time.

Hang only things that speak to you, that show your history, that show your interests, that are a conversation-starter when people visit your home. Make gathering art a part of your life--art shows on weekends in the summer, especially as you travel--there's no rush.

I stumbled upon a great piece of photography this spring as I ran errands; I should have been going to the hardware store, but I detoured to an art show and saw something I had to have. It wasn't expensive, and it wasn't something I would otherwise have seen if I hadn't detoured my walk a few blocks through Rittenhouse Square.

Buy whatever you like. If you see a mass-produced piece from a big box that strikes your fancy and you want to live with it, by all means do so. Part of the pleasure of curating your home is the evolution of your personal style. My walls display large original paintings by several prominent artists in a particular genre, nice quality antique photos, prints made from photos I took with an iPhone, and a few inexpensive canvas prints from Kirkland's. It's all an expression of the people living within these walls. There are infinite sources of artistic expression -- and none of them are "wrong" or "against the rules."

Re the OP's query as to how much to hang-- again, all very personal. A decorator may have one idea. A collector may have a completely different take. I've had my walls so full that I seriously started to think about hanging art from the ceiling in a previous home. In my current home, I find I need plenty of negative space to rest my eyes. There may be rules of thumb for some, but there is no one size fits all answer to the question of "how much."

I have a long narrow hallway leading to stairs. Should all the walls have artwork or just one side?

I am becoming a wall minimalist over the years. My motto: “Less Is More”. After I repainted my entire home I left more blank wall space where I previously had pictures and mirrors. I like the blank wall space for now. I find it calming. I do have pictures and mirrors in my hallway, bedrooms and living room. I have a lot of “stuff “ in my living room, and aimed for less on the walls there. I had a solid oak staircase put in and left the wall space there sparse for now so you notice the beauty of the wood stairs. To decorate wall spaces is personal taste.

I have never been much of a fan of mirrors, but art is in a different category. It's more than "decor." It's life. I put as much of it up as feels right.