What makes an abode your home, is it the art and personal items you treasure and love to look at? In the end, it's less about the pedigree of what you have and more about the meaning that the art and objects you are looking to display have for you.

If you own an art collection you are currently maintaining or adding to, remember to keep a firm grip on the obvious and hang accordingly.

A few simple tips:

 • Sunlight will wash out the color or actually fade nearly anything. The right windows can help - check out 'Renewal by Andersen' windows which can block 83% of UV rays that can fade fabric and damage furniture.

 • Heat/humidity warps and discolors. Check your environment carefully.

Create groupings that work well with the size of the wall and the surrounding area.

 • Unless it's an outside installation, it's never a great idea to store art in the basement.
Make sure each piece "plays well with others." Not all work should be displayed in the same area, without regard. Some pieces may just not look good next to some of the others in a grouping. Make sure every piece is shown in a way that retains the same effect on you that you bought it for.

Some art does indeed look best displayed on a white wall, but don't overlook any different wall color opportunities. Try pulling a color from the art itself for a good background. Your artwork will thank you by really popping out.

Don't be afraid to hang something besides pictures on the walls. Be creative. Collections of baskets, trays, hats, dolls, etc. can look terrific. An American hand-made quilt or an antique Japanese kimono can both become inspired visual destinations. Even an assortment of empty frames from a flea market can make an unusual and attractive arrangement. Do yourself a favor and edit out the "filler," the "fakes," and anything that by another name would be called "clutter." You will like your arrangement much better.

To hang any kind of collection on a wall attractively, first lay it out on the floor in the exact dimensions of the wall space you want to fill. Use what's underneath the proposed composition to determine length. For example, if you want to hang a grouping over a sofa that's 86 inches in length, then the overall width of your composition shouldn't exceed that. Just in case of the odd wildly gesturing arm, leave a 10 inch margin between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the art. A level is a must for placing frames, mirrors, and brackets.

While in general you want to hang a picture so that the picture's center of gravity is about eye level, don't forget that you have an opportunity to create a composition and a relationship with the rest of the furnishings and the room's architecture. Creating a composition might mean that you set a picture on a table off center to lean against the wall, then arrange objects and/or lighting next to and around it to create balance and interest. Hang a picture too high, and it no longer relates to the scene you are decorating.

Put larger pieces with heavier frames at the bottom of your picture composition, as these naturally appear "heavier." When the frames of a series of pictures are the same in size and color, all of the art can be hung together to form a giant composition, as a rectangular grid for example. Consider color from another perspective as well. Darker colored frames "seem" heavier than lighter ones. These suggestions are by no means rules, just concepts to be mindful of, so that the overall effect doesn't appear "top heavy" by accident.

Organize groupings attractively by subject, size or color. Organize the family photos as a grouping, not spread all around the room. More impact, less clutter.

Make your measurements between frames equal, and not too far apart, or the pictures will no longer relate to each other.

Pay attention to scale. A small picture swimming by itself on a lot of wall space looks silly. Remember to step back and notice you are creating a big composition in three-dimensional space. The walls are probably at least eight feet high. Think of the width and height of a wall as a large canvas. Err on the side of "big," or create volume with quantity for this reason. It's all about proportion and balance in relationship to the size of the room and the wall you are decorating.

If you are unsure of how something will look on any given wall or how high to position it, here is an invaluable tip well worth the extra time. Make an exact measure template of the piece in craft paper (available in rolls at art supply stores and probably your local drug store too). Use blue painter's tape (sticks without pulling up the paint when you remove it), and try a few different positions and locations first.

Whatever you are hanging, short of hiring someone to do it for you, it's more fun and best done with a friend. An extra pair of eyes and hands makes it easier.