Living with pattern: how to hang a bold geometric print
Size, framing, and what to put around it. A practical guide to giving a busy, colourful print the room it needs.
Words by ARTHAUS
A print full of rings, bars and colour does a lot of work on its own. The trick to hanging one is mostly about what you leave out.
Go bigger than you think
Dense pattern loses its detail when it is small and far away. Over a sofa or a sideboard, a print around two-thirds of the furniture's width usually looks right; the larger sizes, up to 100 × 100 cm, are made for exactly that spot. Smaller sizes work best where you stand close: a hallway, beside a desk, on a shelf.
Let the print choose the room's colours
Every piece on this site shows the colours it is made of, as a row of swatches under its picture on the wall. Pick one of them, ideally not the loudest, and repeat it once or twice nearby: a cushion, a vase, a book spine. The room starts to look planned without trying too hard.
Keep the furniture calm
Warm wood, simple shapes and plain walls give a busy print room to breathe. Mid-century pieces are a natural fit: teak and walnut sit happily next to tangerine and teal.
Border or full bleed?
A white border gives the pattern an edge to stop against, which suits the denser geometric pieces. Full bleed runs the colour to the edge of the paper, which suits the fluid Clouds of Color work, where there is no edge in the picture to begin with.
Hang more than one
Two or three pieces from the same collection share a palette, so they hang together easily as a row or a grid. The Blue Note and Pink Noise collections are good places to find a set.
