How to Hang Art in your Home- Tips and Tricks

How to Properly Hang Art in your Home

Trouble hanging a really heavy piece?

Unsure what height to hang your picture frame, or how high above the couch your art should go?

Is your frame too big or too small for the space you want to hang it?

How do I make hanging art in my home easier?

All of these questions will be answered!

I had all of these questions myself when first starting to hang art in my apartment. So I enlisted the help of google, my fiancé, and an amazing interior designer (and my future mother-in-law), Sarah Larson. Thankfully for you I am going to share some of this highly coveted knowledge.

The Height of your Art

If you’re having a hard time finding the right placement for a piece of art there are some guidelines that can help!

Your art can best be seen at eye level, or around 57-64 inches from the floor to the middle of your piece.

57 inches
10 inches above
60 inches from the floor

When hanging above the couch, a desk, or bar cart try measuring 8-10 inches from the top of the furniture and having the bottom of the art hit there.

Depending on lamps, table decor, surrounding art, exedra these measurements may vary! Remember it’s all up to you, these are just some helpful guidelines to get the ball rolling.

Heavy Art

This goes for any type of wall decor really! I am going to be talking about heavy frames and mirrors.

Studs

Your best bet for hanging anything heavy on your wall is going to be to screw into a stud. This is going to provide the best support for your wall and the hanger or hook.

Use a stud finder to be sure you’re going in the right place. Drag the stud finder across your wall and mark the edges of the stud you plan to drill into.

Depending on the width of your item you may have two hooks that need to be put in the wall. This was the case for both of the large mirrors in our apartment. It is better to have one stud than no studs. You can use a regular screw for the side with a stud, and a drywall anchor for the other. This will provide maximum stability.

Especially if you are moving to a new place where you will be hanging a lot of art it’s easiest to buy a pack of picture hangers. The pack I bought was graded from 30-100 pounds. These angled hangers are going to provide more stability for heavier art.

In Summary

-Find a stud

-Use a drywall anchor if there isn’t a stud

-Use angled picture hangers properly graded to the weight of your frame

Sizing

There is no magic number you can use to determine if your art is too big or too small for the space. A lot of this will have to do with your personal taste, but…

proportions are key!

In general it is better have a piece be too big for the space, than too small.

If you’re hanging on an empty wall your art should take up 60-70% of the available space. If you’re hanging above a piece of furniture there are a few different calculations you can do detailed here at bigwalldecor.com.

Remember these are guidelines, not rules set in stone!

Tips & Tricks

Some of your art may come without hooks. Find d-ring hangers and screw them into either side of your painting. Then tie on picture wire that is graded to the weight of your painting.

If you do not have picture wire, depending on the frame you can attach the d-ring hooks directly to the screws or nails in your wall.

Don’t Hang Them At All!

This is a trend I have been seeing more and more of. Simply lean your frame against any wall you choose. I find it looks best on top of a bar cart, floating shelve, desk, or just on the floor.

Measurements

When hanging a frame using a wire, be sure to measure the length from the top of the frame to the hanging point (as shown below).

If this measurement is seven inches, your nail should go in 7 inches below where you want the top of your frame to hit.

It can be helpful to write any measurements you take on the back of the frame. This way you have them ready for your next move.

OXOX Cassidy

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One Comment

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