Picture Hanging 101

Picture Hanging 101

You’ve moved into your great new home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or the Edmonton area.  The furniture is in place and you’re ready to add those personal decorative touches that will make this house reflect you in a unique way.

Most of us enjoy having artwork and family photos on the walls, but how many of us know the right way to place those items to show them off to their best advantage and to complement the other decorative elements in a space?  Some of the things we’re often guilty of is hanging artwork too high, or choosing artwork that is too big or too small in relation to the space it will be placed in, or the furniture it will be near.  There is an art to hanging art, and it’s more than banging a nail into a wall and then slapping a picture on the nail!

Like me, you've probably visited homes where the artwork on the walls just feels right.  The colors and dimensions of the pieces work well with the room and its furnishings, and your eye is drawn again and again to the pieces.  That’s the design part of the project, and you can learn how to do it!  Here are two websites that will help you to develop your artist’s eye:

Hanging art in your home – Design Lesson – Decorating & Design – Style at Home

28 Tips for Hanging Art

After you’ve decided what you want to hang, the science part of hanging stuff on walls enters the picture, so to speak!  Here are a few tips to give your artwork and photos gallery-like exposure:

Where?  Placement on the Wall:

The vertical center of a piece of artwork (or a group of pieces) should be at eye level, or between 56” and 60” from the floor.  This is the measurement that art galleries use to showcase artwork, and it works well in homes too.  A good discussion of what this means in practice can be found at the website How to Hang Pictures at Home: Tips for Hanging Pictures Properly.  See also the easy instructions on this website:  Step-by-Step Guide to Hanging Art.  

How?  Attaching it to the Wall:

Most artwork will have hanging wire attached to the back with screw eyes that go about 1/3 of the way down from the top edge of the painting.  The wire should be at least 2” from the top edge of the painting when pulled tight, and it should be coiled tightly and neatly so it’s secure.  See How to Hang a Painting for very clear instructions along with photographs on how to use the wire and the vertical center of artwork to position it perfectly on your wall.

But there are some picture hangers who prefer to use brackets instead of wire as they are less likely to slip out of level.  See How to Hang a Picture Frame: Skill Set.

Need more help?  See these step by step instructions with photos: Project Guide: Hanging and Arranging Pictures.

See also How to Hang a Picture for even more detailed and specific directions.

Two other good articles are How to Hang Your Artwork and Not Screw It Up and Learn 2 Hang a Picture.

Lots of articles to read through, but also lots of great information to make you an expert picture hanger!