31 Days to A Better Dressed Nest :: Day 29~ Proportion and Relation

Punished we were, disproportionate to our crime. Know what movie that is from? I'll give you a hint, eat three oreos and then go to the mirror and look at your teeth as you say the quote aloud to yourself.


Here is another crime of proportions. What's wrong with this picture, besides the fact that it looks as if I have 800 watt bulbs in each of my lamps and something always seems to be hanging out of the drawers?

If I were a good blogger, this is the part where I would show you no less than 12 photos depicting correct and incorrect sizing and spacing of objects hung above and over other objects.


Katie sent me this photo. She was so excited that her husband finally hung her door in their playroom. Doncha love how they splatter painted it? She said she was so happy that he hung it, she didn't have the heart to tell him that it's too high. She's gonna make it work but she told me I could show you all this example of too highness.

Husbands tend to hang items WAAAAY too high, maybe because they are tall, maybe because they grew up in the 70's when moms hung everything close to the ceiling. This door is closer to the ceiling than to the sofa--that is a sure sign that something is wrong. When you hang something, most of the time, it's hung in relation to something else. This door is hung over the sofa. Therefore, it's related to the sofa and should be closer to the sofa. However, in the door's defense, it's a a great size and scale for over the sofa.

Are there rules for hanging such things? I'm not a big rule abider but, yes, there's some sort of 2/3rds rule that says you should make sure you visually fill in 2/3 of the space above an item. For example, with this sofa, whatever is on the wall should fill up 2/3 of the visual space of the sofa to make it feel balance. Too small and it looks like a shrunken head, too big and it's top heavy.




See how this door does not look right hung over this small table? Now, that door is about the same visual weight as the sofa on the right but I still think it looks just fine when I have the sofa under the door even though that doesn't obey the 2/3 rule. And no, I don't only have photos of doors on walls.

I also have shutters.

I tend to err on hanging things too low. But I love how the things on the far wall are all related, and they love each other. They are not afraid to get close, two great looks that look great together.

I'm sure there's a rule for height in hanging stuff on walls too--like the center should be 60 inches off the ground, or eye level {who's eye?}. Personally, I choose to hang it, look at it, and if seems too high or low then I move the nail. Remember, it 's just a nail hole, the smallest worry in the entire universe.

So, walk around and check out your wall hangings. Are they in proportion to what they are hanging over? Do you have your mirrors, clocks, shutters, photos, art, spaced so far from the thing it's place over that it looks like it's floating? If so, bring it down a little.

By the way,promise me you will NEVER, I repeat, never measure something and try to hang something exactly 2/3 the size over it. That is insane.