Wall art is an important part of a room’s décor. As such, it has the power to make a room feel much more inviting, engaging, and interesting. On the other hand, it also has the potential to make a room seem uncomfortable, chaotic, or just off. There are some common mistakes when hanging wall art that usually account for the latter.

So, look over these mistakes when hanging wall art so you can avoid them. And, you can inspect your rooms as they are now to see if there are any issues you could address.

Wall Art Hanging Mistakes

• Not planning – You can save yourself some trouble and unforeseen results by planning out how you hang your wall art. Simply cut pieces of paper or poster board and tape them up where you intend to hang your pieces. Then, step back and take it in. Does it look and feel right?

• Not paying attention to scale – Hanging art should be proportional to the room and furniture around it. If you hang a piece that’s too big for the space, it will be overwhelming. Hang pieces that are too small, and they’ll just get lost, and maybe look a bit silly.

• Creating wall clutter – A cluttered look is never good. While you might think of clutter as having too much stuff laying around or piled on surfaces or clogging up shelves, hanging too many pieces of art on your walls is another form of visual clutter. This can be a particular risk if you’re attempting to fill in a large wall. Art is great, but so is blank space and giving pieces room to breathe and stand on their own.

• Not using a level – Art should hang straight. Seriously. Use a level.

• Placing pieces too high or too low – Art should be hung so that its center is approximately at eye level for someone standing in the room. While there’s no definitive eye level, about 60 inches up from the floor is good. Also, art should hang closer to the backs of furniture—its bottom about 10 inches up, usually—than to the ceiling.

• Using clashing styles – While all the art in a room certainly doesn’t have to be of the same style, the pieces should at least all complement each other. If you’re mixing and matching styles, find a way to create unity. That could be with common colors, patterns, shapes, themes, etc.