Dewit: Hang Your Art At the Correct Height

I almost didn't do this one, because I thought, "Oh, people know about this. It's an old trick, and everyone surely knows not to hang their art too high." But a quick look at a few house tours on Apartment Therapy made me see that I was wrong. And these are some adorable house tours, y'all.  Most every detail is right. But their art is all too high.

Clockwise from top left: Haley and Ted; Joanna and Gerry; Hannah

I'm so excited to tell you about this DEWIT, because it is something that you can go fix in your house RIGHT NOW. Do you have a hammer? No? Do you have a SHOE? Then you can go hang your art correctly.

The standard height that art should be hung is something like 57 inches from the floor, but I can never remember if that is from the bottom or the center of the piece. So I have a mnemonic device to help me remember, and it is this: center at sixty. That's easy enough, right? The center of your hanging should be right around 60 inches (conveniently, my personal height) from the floor. Now, if you have a piece of art that is 6 x 8 feet, things will obviously change, but it is a pretty good general rule of thumb. Check out this perfectly hung portrait:

via Lonny

Another thing to remember is the scale of your hanging. Are you hanging an 8 x 10-inch item in your living room, over your sofa? Maybe you should re-think that. Very few people can get away with it, although it can be done. My friend Lori Andrews is actually the master of this, but she is a professional and you should not attempt this trick without her assistance.

Photo by Lori Andrews

The rest of us need to make sure that the scale of our art is in line with the scale of our furniture. Go big. Even go overboard, as I did here, with this painting/settee combo:

Photo by Jen Siska

I'm not a big fan of gallery walls -- I'm much too much of a symmetrical girl for that. But if you must hang one, make sure it hangs BIG and LOW. (You be quiet, dirty.)

via Lonny, AGAIN

Oh, you don't like that "For Like Ever" poster? You think it's over? Fine. I don't love it either. But it looks great here, and the reason for that is because it is a) to scale, and b) hung at the correct height with a bunch of other awesome stuff.

One more tangentially-related thing: don't hang your mirrors horizontally. My boyfriend Nick Olsen also despises this, and you should too. See here for more information.

In sum: go get a shoe and lower those nails. You won't regret it.

Comments

[Lora]

"Center at Sixty"....my question is 60 inches from what? The floor? Ceiling? Top of whatever you're hanging it over? (headboard, table, couch?)
Thanks! I love your blog! I have been a TWOP reader for like 7-8 years and found you through there a while ago. :)

[abchao]

From the floor! I have updated the post to reflect that. Sorry for the misinformation. :)

[CapreeK]

I second the 60 inches! I've taken a few framing classes that were taught by a guy who does all the framing and installation at a local art museum here and he was sure to hammer in that point. (Did you like that pun?) The center should be at or around 60", barring any rare exceptions, if you don't want your art to look weird. And why would you want your art to look weird? Unless it's suppose to, of course.

[abchao]

I LOVE that pun, Capree. You nerd.

[erin@designcrisis]

You need to discuss this with Karly, who is always convinced that my art is too low. Well, that's what she gets for being 6 feet tall. The end.

[Dona]

Great timing! I was hanging a painting last night and I looked up the formula on Apartment Therapy. You put the nail at 57" plus half the height of the picture minus the distance from the top of the picture to the wire. I can never remember it either, though, so I have this page bookmarked.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/fall-cure-2010/day-19-hang-artwork-the-2020-home-cure-129709

[rebecca]

OK, totally feel you on badly hung art. However, the mirror thing: what about above a fireplace? When I look at mirrors hung vertically over them, it just looks...weird. Am I alone here?

[cloud]

These "rules" always crack me up, because when things are hung by the "rules" they look totally incorrect to me. I have friends who tell me that my art is hung incorrectly, but you know what? It's hung as *I* like it, and I'm the one who looks at it all day every day - so I'll keep hanging it as I like it. :) And that includes horizontal mirrors! Hee hee. (Besides, if the mirror was MADE to be a horizontal rectangle, how else WOULD you hang it?!)

[Jacqueline]

just came across your blog -- awesome. just awesome. i'm only just starting to get into design and so posts like these are super helpful. bookmarked!

[Sivy]

I was always told, by my very southern, very formal, very proper grandmother that the art in a home should be hung no higher than the lady of the houses head. Which, is generally in the 57 to 60 inch area, interestingly enough. Not that I think about it, that sheds some light on why taller people feel my art is too low...

[jodi]

hear, hear!

[ALH]

I am, of course, in agreement, even though I routinely hang things too high, because I am so tall. My mother says it should be "at eye level." Well, I'm 6-feet-tall, so eye level is way up there. She ammended it to: "eye level for NORMAL people." I hate y'all both.

[Cassie]

I had a small panic attack when I saw the first few pictures. See, I'm on the shorter side, and my family are all giant, over six-feet-tall people, so for the LONGEST time, I hung all my artwork WAY TOO HIGH. Until I met my husband and he rightly corrected me. Now my art is lower - though maybe not low enough, I'll have to go home and check.

BUT, when I saw those first pictures, my first thought was "My god, I was right all along, and now it looks wrong to me!"

Center at sixty will be my new mantra.

[Trude]

Heh. Big and low. But seriously thanks for sharing this, I've always done things so haphazardly and now with a move to a new condo imminent I can't wait to start with blank walls!

[Stancie]

I love you more and more with every DEWIT post. Drives me nuts when people hang their art too high. Nuts. Great post!

[AEB]

What about hanging art over a sofa when you have v. tall people that sit on said sofa and bump their heads on the art when they lean back if the art is hung 60" at the center? No art? No tall people on the sofa? I thought I solved the problem by hanging the art over the sofa in my den slightly above where the people's heads would be, but it looks a little off.

Also, what about hanging art over a credenza or table, should it still be 60" at the center if that puts the art way high above the furniture? Isn't there another rule that states the art should be x number of inches above the furniture?

[Shana]

Oh, for goodness' sake. Maybe the people with the "For Like Ever" poster like it and would prefer to surround themselves with things they love than be unfailingly, slavishly of-the-moment so as not to run afoul of Those In The Know. If everybody got rid of everything that went out of style, we wouldn't have any MCM/retro/vintage/whatever goodies.

[AnnaN]

Hah! I have a tendency to do this. I am short and over compensate by hanging art a little higher on the wall so taller folk don't have to stoop to admire. Which makes me the decorating equivalent of that hard-of-hearing woman who shouts everything.

(I try to cover by saying " oh, I'm trying to draw the eye upward" and then rehanging the piece once I'm alone.)

[Paulina J!]

Thanks for the very informational post! Have you done one on hanging curtains? If not, can you? Pretty please? :)

[Natalie]

Good tip, especially since I am 60" high too. I was actually one of the guilty culprits for an Apt Therapy House Call. One of the commenters called me out on that, but I personally like my art hung higher. Its good to know the rules though. Thanks.

[Nicole]

Too high art is a pet peeve so I just spent 20 minutes looking for a tape measure so I could measure some of the art I'd hung by eye-balling it. I'm an inch too low. I'll take it.

[Anon]

Totally agree on the art height and totally disagree on the horizontal mirror.

[Torrie @ a place to share...]

So glad to be catching up... an unfortunately, I am finding just how much I don't know (over the course of a year of blogging)!

So, thank you for sharing!

[tiffany]

I still love that poster.