Step1
Coordinate your furnishings with good art and see what happens!
A few good ideas before we start. Your room already has color in it. Does the painting(s) blend and harmonize with these colors? If not, go find some that accent harmoniously.
Ditch the glaring contrast if you want a peacful feeling in your home or office. Also, do you remember visiting Grandma and how she always hung her pictures and paintings nearer the ceiling?...don't do this! Good Art should be comfortable to view. This means centered for an average person to see when standing. It also means not having to strain when seated causing a "crick" in the neck as grandma would say.
Most art should have it's center "centered" at the eye-level of someone about 5' 8" tall to accommodate most people's comfortable visual sphere. Knowing this, we can measure to the center of a painting and see where it should land on our wall. You can hang single paintings for drama, or you can create a "gallery" wall with several pieces of art. This is personal preference.
Step2
Don't do THIS! A beautiful painting--floating by itself.
Now we select the wall where the work will be displayed. Does it already have furniture against it? Measure the width and height of the wall. Convert this wall to inches (example...a 12 foot by 8 foot wall will convert on your drawing paper to a 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle).
This is where graph paper will come in handy, but you can make your own by measuring out the inches on your paper and drawing lines to make your own graph.
Measure the furniture (Height and width only) and convert it to your drawing sketch as well. This gives you an idea of the space you need to balance with your art work. (For instance, you wouldn't hang a painting behind a tall lamp which would obscure it!) Usually, when you see your wall and furniture down in black and white, you can instantly see what would look balanced and what won't.
A few more helpful tips: Don't hang paintings (unless they are huge) so they "float" by themselves on the wall. Most paintings look best when "anchored" above furniture, couches, tables, etc.. You need to look at your furnishings as part of the whole canvas you are creating on your wall...the painting or art itself is only a small piece of this whole.
If you can, try to visualize your wall spaces as "blocks" and fill in the "blanks" with your art work to create a coordinated block. This keeps you from having lonely little paintings floating off by themselves which can be distracting. A good example would be an 8 foot long couch. This could have a large painting across the length of it, or it could have two medium size paintings that stretch across the same length, or you could place 3 narrower pieces of art that still fill that same gap on the wall above the couch. So, now measure your art work into inches and cut these pieces out of a second piece of paper. Now you can move them around on your paper "wall" to your heart's content until you have a pleasing arrangement. Once you have the design selected you can move to step 3
Step3
"Codger's Cabin" oil painting looks good when utilizing the "rule of odd numbers."
Another tip...the rule of ODD numbers. Most artists use this a lot. It simply means that things look better in groups of odd numbers. A cluster of 3 flowers or 5 flowers looks better than 4. Remember this when arranging things. See the photo for a design using three things with the painting "Codger's Cabin," as one of the three.
You are now ready to implement your design. Measure where your paintings should go on the actual wall by calculating how many inches from the floor the bottom of the art should be and how many inches from the nearest wall...then continue by converting your inches back into feet. Remember not to hang them too high--a common error. Make sure your art work has sturdy wire across the back (not the sawtooth hangers which are not as durable and are more difficult to adjust). You can mark softly on your wall with a pencil (this mark can be erased later) to help you in centering each painting. If your marks land on a stud, great--but with toggle bolts you can hang some rather hefty art work and not worry about it. You may need someone to hold the art on your marks while you stand to the side and mark the spot where the hanging wire will need support. Once you have this mark, simply follow the instructions on the toggle bolts (this assumes you have wallboard and stud construction as in 90% of most homes). Drill the hole, slip the toggle bolt in until it clicks against the wallboard, hang your art on it and voila! Great job! Sit back and admire your handiwork and your beautiful new acquisition.
A professional Artist, Darla shows you how!
Coordinate your furnishings with good art and see what happens!
A few good ideas before we start. Your room already has color in it. Does the painting(s) blend and harmonize with these colors? If not, go find some that accent harmoniously. 
Don't do THIS! A beautiful painting--floating by itself.
Now we select the wall where the work will be displayed. Does it already have furniture against it? Measure the width and height of the wall. Convert this wall to inches (example...a 12 foot by 8 foot wall will convert on your drawing paper to a 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle). 
"Codger's Cabin" oil painting looks good when utilizing the "rule of odd numbers."
Another tip...the rule of ODD numbers. Most artists use this a lot. It simply means that things look better in groups of odd numbers. A cluster of 3 flowers or 5 flowers looks better than 4. Remember this when arranging things. See the photo for a design using three things with the painting "Codger's Cabin," as one of the three.
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