Tips for Hanging Art

A number of years ago I read about a great tip that to this day has made picture hanging a simple, pleasurable task. The tip was to always hang your art at 60" on center, that includes hanging a cluster of art. "On center" means that the middle of the picture or cluster of art is at 60" (obviously, the hook will be higher). Interestingly, the 60" standard represents the average human eye-height and is regularly used as a standard in many galleries and museums...

What WE have discovered is that if you stick to this standard, you create a harmony among ALL the pictures in your home, as they will always hang in relationship to one another from their centers, not their sides. Additionally, we have also found that this helps solve the problem many people have, which is that they hang their pictures too high.

Step By Step:

1. Measure and lightly mark

60" on the wall
2. Measure top of your picture to the middle (or take height and divide by 2)
3. Measure top of your picture to the tightened wire (a small amount)
4. Subtract this last amount to tell you how far above 60" your hook should go
5. Measure up from 60" with this last amount and lightly mark on the wall

Example:

1. Picture is 20" tall
2. Middle is 10" down from top (this should rest at 60")
3. Wire comes to 2" below the top
4. 10" - 2" = 8"
5. Lightly mark 8" above your first mark OR 68" on the wall

Though this may seem complicated to read, it is quite simple when you do it. The thing to always remember is that the CENTER of all your pictures are hanging at the same 60", and you are just figuring out where the hook goes above it.

This 60" also applies to groups of pictures. Think of a group as ONE picture. After you arrange how you want them all to hang (doing this on the floor makes it easier), start with the center picture/pictures and get them at 60" on center. Then surround them with the rest of the group.