This is one of the biggest challenges for many readers and it is critical that it be done properly to achieve the right balance in the design of a room. What I see happen most often when hanging pictures is placing them too high.
Here are a few easy tips:
If you have a big wall and you only have small art pieces, group them by subject and try to use similar frame colors. They can be in different sizes of frames, and you can also use multiple mats to enlarge the size of the picture.
Always think about the typical view of the wall. Will the viewer be seated, walking by, or typically be standing? I tend to use a lower hanging height where the viewer is seated. The exception is the dining room. You can have the lowest part of the image partially obscured by the seated heads, but try to keep it to a minimum.
As a rule, I like to use approximately 62 - 65″ as the centerpoint of the pictures. If you are doing a grouping, I like to keep the grouping fairly close together - somewhere between 2 - 5.” It also works well to group similar colors.
If you are struggling with hanging many different sized frames, go to your favorite office supply store and purchase some 1/4″ graph paper. Use the 1/4″ = 1′ - 0″ scale and draw the size of your wall. Take another piece of paper and cut out pieces that are the size of the pictures you are hanging. Move them around until you find a layout that is pleasing.
The biggest challenge hanging a grouping of art is getting them hung correctly. One of my biggest pet peaves is when two pictures that are supposed to be the same height (using an implied line of the bottoms or tops of the frames) and one is off at least 1/16.” That is an extreme opinion to some people, but it is important to me.
Here are the tools you need: Hammer, nails with hooks, pencil, level, clear tape, blue hanging putty, and if you can a laser level that suctions to the wall, it is extremely helpful.
Be aware that few shops place the hooks on the back at exactly the same height. When you need two nails, you need to measure very carefully to keep the picture level. To keep the picture level, make a ball of the blue putty and put a ball behind the bottom two corners of the picture and push the picture into the ball to make it firm against the wall. If you are off slightly, you can often tap the nail upward, or use blue putty on top of the nail to make a slight adjustment.
Start with the central piece and work outward. Once you hang the first piece, measure the next piece and divide the dimension in half and add the space you want to the first piece (this is assuming you only need one hook). Continue the same process. This takes practice and patience. I do not hang artwork with my husband!
The reason I use tape, especially with plaster walls, is to mark the wall for the location of the nail and to keep the plaster from cracking. It does help diffuse the impact. Fold over one end of the tape for easy removal, measure, start the nail and then remove the tape. Finish hammering the nail, hang the picture and check the level. It is very important that you level each piece before hanging the next or you might have a faulty measurement.
I hope that answers your question, reader. If not, please feel free to submit a comment on the About Gail page.
About the author: Gail will be offering consumer and To The Trade teleseminars starting Q1 2008. If you are interested, please keep watching for the postings. An Ask page for questions from the readers will be set up in the near future.
