COLUMN FOR WOMEN

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 111, 13 January 1915, Page 7

COLUMN FOR WOMEN

THE ART OY HANGING PICTURES. Tbe appearance of many rooms that might otherwise be extremely attractive is ruined because of the failure of me difficult art. of hanging pictures. The first step in supplying a home with pictures should be the selection of proper subjects for the differnt rooms. Portraits of relatives and friends are out of place in one’s living room; they should be reserved for the privacy of the bedrooms. Reproductions of famous paintings are in the best taste for tm> living room. For the dining-room should be chosen pictures of good cheer and conviviality, of animals and hunting scenes. Give the largest pictures first choice for the most important wall space. Never hang pictures way up near the moulding or over doors and windows. Such a position is an insult to a good picture and gives a room a foolish, topheavy appearance. The larger and more important pictures should be hung so that the horizon line is five or five and a-half feet from the floor. Portraits may sometimes be higher than this, but even then they usually produce a better effect if kept on a level with your eyes when you stand upright. Never 'hang a picture so that it slants away from the wall at an acute angle, for this inevitably ruins its beauty. When hanging pictures over the mantel or bookshelves no part of the picture or frame should be hidden by vases or other ornaments. The picture should, of course, be in proportion to what is beneath it—neither too tong nor too small. The amateur at hanging pictures will usually find an entirely formal arrangement of them the most successful. I such an arrangement the largest pietun is placed in the centre; on either side of the large picture and slightly below its centre a smaller one, and above aiif below, still smaller ones