A woman in a pink shirt is arranging frames on a grey and white wall, filled with various artwork and photos, using tesa tape. The room has a modern design with a small kitchen on the left, light wood flooring, and green plants for decoration.

Stunning! Professional Tips for Displaying Pictures

Technologies

Pictures give a room a certain flair. There are many ways to arrange and hang them artistically. We’ve put together the best options for you.

Photos from your last vacation, your children’s drawings, an old painting found at the flea market – pictures give a personal touch to a living room and they radiate liveliness. But how can you skillfully stage your favorite motifs? With the right mounting system, it’s truly easy!
Five black and white landscape photographs are framed in black and arranged in a row on a white wall. The images depict ocean scenes, including a pier, palm trees on a beach, a rocky coast, and expansive seas. These photos are secured with tesa tape for a clean and professional presentation.

Elegant and straight

If you like a classic and tidy look, the ‘Row Display’ is your perfect solution. Several pictures are simply placed next to each other on the wall at the same height. “It looks truly classy when related motifs, for example, a series of photos or pictures, are hung next to each other in identical frames,” explains production designer Sebastian Krawinkel. 

"You can create a great effect when the color scheme of the motifs and the material of the frames are reflected in the furniture of the room."
Sebastian Krawinkel

Production Designer

A man stands in front of a construction site with cranes and a partially built classical-style structure. He is holding a tablet and seems to be observing the progress. The image is in black and white and framed in a circular shape.
Sebastian Krawinkel

equips international film sets (“Around the World in 80 Days”, “Inglourious Basterds”, “Vier gegen die Bank”)

One after the other

Mounting pictures in a grid requires plenty of patience and precision! Just like a checkerboard pattern, all motifs have the same format. Very important: The distance between the pictures must be identical on all sides. The ideal distance is approx. five centimeters. A tip from interior expert Sebastian Krawinkel: “You can create a great effect when the color scheme of the motifs and the material of the frames are reflected in the furniture of the room.”

A bedroom features a black bed with white bedding and a geometric black and white rug. Above the bed, there are five framed pictures. A white chair holding a cap sits next to a potted plant. A window is on the left wall, while a mirror adorns the right wall.

145 to 160 centimeters

above the floor – That’s where the center of a picture should be placed. This is a rule of thumb for museums when displaying works of art.

Source: Kunsthalle Hamburg

A white staircase with red cushions at the bottom and a blue scarf draped on the handrail. The wall is decorated with numerous framed feather illustrations and photos in various sizes, predominantly black, white, and blue.

Framed

For pictures of different sizes, you best use an imaginary frame. The advantage of the layout “Inside the Lines”: There are neither uniform distances nor predetermined viewing axes. The motifs are arranged in a defined form. It could be a circle, an oval, a square or a heart. It’s best to mark the side edges of the form in advance with masking tape. You then hang up the largest picture and place the remaining works of art around it in a mix of portrait and landscape formats.

A white wall features multiple framed artworks and photographs arranged on black and white shelves. The images include abstract designs, nature, and floral motifs. Small potted plants are interspersed among the frames, all secured with tesa tape for a sturdy hold.

Many pictures – one grand piece of art

Countless pictures side by side – from floor to ceiling: The St. Petersburg Hermitage, one of the most famous museums in the world, has launched this trend. The St. Petersburg Display once exhibited the wealth of the noble class. Today you don’t need an expensive collection of paintings to be extraordinary. A colorful mix of pictures is all you need! To make the overall work of art look harmonious, simply repeat certain frame shapes, similar color combinations or common content.

On the wall!

Photo frame or canvas: With the height-adjustable adhesive nails from tesa, small and large works of art can be mounted to the wall in just a few simple steps. This way, creative interior artists can fashion new imagery on the wall at any time.

Fixing without hammer and nail

Adhesive nails are a reliable solution for fixing things to the wall – without having to take out the toolbox.

Tips & Tricks

Three outlined icons: two images with mountains and a sun, marked by tesa tape corner dots, are on the left and right. The central icon depicts a framed picture of mountains and a sun with a hanging nail. All icons are in red with blue tesa tape corner dots.
For a successful display, make paper stencils of the pictures beforehand and attach them to the wall with tesa adhesive tape in order to determine the exact position.
A red outlined icon of a landscape photograph with a mountain and sun, surrounded by dashed rectangles on both sides. The design suggests an image placeholder or gallery layout using tesa tape for securing images effectively.
Existing lines within the room help you arrange your pictures. For example, the top edge of a door or window frame, but also the position of light switches. Thus, the pictures should be placed in one line.
Three red outlined icons of framed landscape pictures with a circle in each. Each frame has a triangle on top, resembling a hanging hook. The images are identical and aligned horizontally, suggesting they might be secured with tesa tape.
To the human eye, a combination of three or another odd number of images looks more harmonious.
Illustration showing a framed picture icon with a small circle, representing a mountain and sun, outlined in red. A blue paintbrush with a pointed tip is positioned next to it, suggesting artwork or photo editing. Background is blue and white.
A picture arrangement becomes more expressive if you pick out one color of the motif and paint the wall behind the artwork accordingly – the darker the color, the better.