How High To

Hang Pictures
(Guide For The
Perfect Height)
DECEMBER 7, 2023

I started my Design Mistakes series

many years ago. It began as a way to
showcase some of the mistakes I
made around my own home while
helping others learn the dos and
don’ts when it comes to home
design. Well, it quickly turned into
my most popular series here on the
blog!

Here are some fan-favorite posts

from the series. Or you can peruse
them all right here.

My Latest Videos

02:12

The Top 5 Most Common

Home Design Mistakes
Matching Furniture – A Big No-
No
Generic Decor
Buying the Wrong Size Rug
My Rules for Lighting
The Biggest Painting Mistakes
Matching Bathroom Decor

Design Mistake – Wall

Art Placement

This is one of the most common

design mistakes I see. Most people
hang their wall art WAY TOO HIGH.
It’s such a bummer because I’ve
seen some gorgeous art pieces in
homes, but you have to crane your
neck to actually see them. I’m all
about people displaying their
favorite pieces in their homes. Fill up
those blank walls, people! Let’s just
put those pieces in the right spot so
they make your space look better,
not worse.

Hopefully, after reading today’s post

you’ll have a better understanding of
WHERE exactly to hang your wall
art. With my tips, you’ll hang all of
your pieces of art at the perfect
height from here on out!

The Wrong Height

Many people go by the rule of

thumb to hang pieces at “eye level”,
but if you’re tall, that may be a bit
too high. Also, it doesn’t always
make sense to hang art at eye level if
you’re placing it over a couch or
dresser.

The Right Height

Here are two general guidelines to

get your picture frames and art
hung at the correct height on your
walls.

Ditch The Eye-Level Rule: This

doesn’t work if you’re tall or you
have high ceilings. Instead,
think of the wall in 4 sections
vertically (from the bottom to
the top). Then, place your art in
the 3rd section up from the
floor. Don’t work in the 2nd or
the 4th – that’s when you’ll be in
the too-low or too-high territory!
57-60 Inches Often Works: The
general rule of thumb is to
place the center of your picture
about 57″ to 60″ off the ground.
This formula doesn’t work for
every situation, but it’s a good
place to start when hanging
your piece. When in doubt,
follow the 57-inch rule for your
center point.

Hanging Artwork Above

Furniture

If you’re hanging a piece above a

sofa, dresser, or bed, you don’t want
it to feel like it’s floating up way too
high. If you go with the “eye level”
rule, then it will feel very disjointed.
Instead, I usually go about 4 to 8
inches above the top of the furniture
piece. This provides visual balance.

For example, the console table in

our front entryway is pretty low. If I
had hung the art at eye level, it
would be way too high and far away
from the console. Instead, I placed
the bottom of the frame about six
inches above the console. This is the
best way to make this entire area
work in harmony.

How High To Hang A

Gallery Wall

If you’re hanging a gallery wall, then

you want to think of the entire
collection as one piece of art.
Therefore, the very top and the very
bottom of the grouping shouldn’t be
hung too high or too low. Instead,
think about the center of the
grouping.

First, figure out the center of the

artwork collection and have that be
about 57″ off the floor. You then
want to space your frames about
two to three inches apart. If you
spread them out more, the entire
grouping will look disjointed.

Exceptions To My Rules

Of course, there are always

exceptions to these design rules. For
example, in my daughter’s room, I
added a chair rail on her walls that
covers the bottom portion of the
walls.

Typically, I would hang this large

piece of art lower, above the dresser
– about 4-8″ inches from the surface
of the dresser. However, using that
rule, it would hang right over the
chair rail. Here, I decided to hang the
bottom of the picture about 2-3″
above the chair rail.

I chose the same process with her

gallery wall. If the chair rail wasn’t
there, I would hang the whole
grouping lower on the wall. Instead, I
decided to go about 2-3″ above the
top of the chair rail.

The Wrong Scale

So, you now understand how high to

hang your pictures. But there’s still
another hurdle to overcome. Is your
piece too small? I know art and
frames can be pricey. And the bigger
you go, the bigger the price tag.
However, I see too many people
hanging small pieces on an empty
wall. Unless you’re hanging a gallery
wall, let’s ditch the small pictures.

Scale is so important when it comes

to wall art and it shouldn’t be taken
lightly. Look at how much better the
room above looks when the artwork
is the right size on that large wall! It’s
now the focal point of the space and
it’s hung at the ideal height.

How To Master Scale

With Artwork

An easy rule of thumb for hanging

art above a bed, or any piece of
furniture, is that it should fill at least
1/2 to 2/3 of the space.

For my mom’s bedroom, we needed

a big piece to go over her king-sized
bed. This oversized artwork worked
out beautifully. If you’re going with a
single piece of artwork, please make
sure it is large enough.

In this reader home tour, Lauren

and Kam chose three framed prints
over their bed. These smaller pieces
look fantastic, especially on that
dark wall! The three frames act as
one unified piece, taking up over
two-thirds of the bed. If they had
hung only one of these, it would
have been the wrong scale. They’re
also hung at the best height, a few
inches away from the top of the
headboard.

Tips To Choose The

Correct Scale Of Art

Here are some general tips when it

comes to scale.

Over Furniture: Make sure the

art (or grouping of art) takes up
at least 1/2 – 2/3 the width of the
piece of furniture.
Fill up the Wall: It’s important
to take up as much of the wall
space as possible when
hanging your pieces.
Bigger is Better: When in
doubt, try an oversized piece. It
will look much better than
putting a dinky piece on your
wall.
Take a Picture: Before you
actually hang the piece, I
suggest having someone hold it
up and take a photo. Then look
at the picture with fresh eyes
and decide if the piece really
works for the space. Make the
 proper adjustments until it
looks perfect! You could also use
painter’s tape to see it before
you put any holes in your walls.
Group Closely: If you are
hanging a group of 2-4
symmetrical frames or even a
gallery wall, then make sure you
hang the pieces closely. A
couple of inches between
frames will ensure that the
grouping looks cohesive.

Hang Your Art With

Confidence!

These small tweaks will make your

walls look so much better. Trust me!
You may have to go around your
home and make a few adjustments
(and fill some nail holes), but I
promise you won’t regret hanging
your art correctly.

It doesn’t matter if it’s your

bedroom, bathroom, or living room.
When you correctly place the frames
and art on your walls, those pieces
will shine and make your home look
much more polished.

Casey

More Wall Art Ideas

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Now that you know how to hang art

properly, get inspired by these blog
posts.

Tips to hang a symmetrical

gallery wall
Design mistakes when framing
photos and art
Our hallway gallery wall
Our living room wall of art
The easiest way to hang a
gallery wall
Our daughter’s special wall of
art
How to find and frame vintage
art prints
Inexpensive art ideas for your
home
My favorite places to shop for
online art
How to fix nail holes
Wall anchors 101 (choose the
correct hanging hardware for
your project!)

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11 Comments 
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Best Newest Oldest

Karen − ⚑
K 3 months ago

How high would you hang framed art above a

hand towel ring? The top of my ring sits at 54".

0 0 Reply ⥅

Karen − ⚑
K 3 months ago

How high would you hang framed art above a

hand towel ring? The top of the ring is at 54".

0 0 Reply ⥅

Casey Finn >

… Karen − ⚑
3 months ago

I would place the bottom of the frame about 2-

4" above the towel ring

0 0 Reply ⥅

Sylvia − ⚑
S 2 years ago

Hi there, I am thinking about hanging art on our

dining room wall, as the parsons chairs will be up
against the wall, I know this is not recommended,
but this is the space I have. The question I have
is how high above the top of the chairs should I
be placing the bottom edge of the art? I look
forward to hearing your comments. Many thanks

0 0 Reply ⥅

Casey Finn >

… Sylvia − ⚑
2 years ago

I would probably go 4-8" over them. You just

don't want to hang the art too high.

0 0 Reply ⥅

Anna Costantini − ⚑
A 5 years ago

I'm a new subscriber to your blog and came

across this older post, which was a very helpful
and timely read on how to scale and hang art. I
have a question about the frame for the art itself
though. How does one determine what color
frame to use? Should it match the art or should it
coordinate with the wall color or furniture in the
room? I recently bought 5 botanical prints to
hang in my dining room and they were already
framed in a gold colored narrow metal frame. My
dining room walls are a Tuscan yellow so the
frames look nice on the wall but my furniture and
other decorative accents are darker, more bronze
colored so it looks "off" to me. I was thinking of
spraying the frames darker but thought perhaps
that would be too stark for botanical prints? Any
suggestions?

0 0 Reply ⥅

Casey Finn > −

… Anna Costantini ⚑
5 years ago

Such a good question, Anna! I think you can

coordinate with the prints or with the
room...either work. Gold on a yellow wall might
blend in a bit much, so maybe going with a
darker color would work better and coordinate
with the room? I'd just stay away from mixing
too many metallics (2 in a space are good).

0 0 Reply ⥅

Anna Costantini − ⚑
A
>
… Casey Finn
5 years ago

Thank you for your prompt reply! I am going

to go with the darker frames as you
suggest.. You're absolutely right about the
gold frames blending in too much with the
yellow walls--it doesn't make the prints the
feature I'd like them to be. Also, thanks for
the tip about mixing metallics. The gold
frames were the 3rd metallic in here which
was another thing feeling "off." You are a
wealth of decorating knowledge!

0 0 Reply ⥅

Casey Finn > − ⚑

… Anna Costantini
5 years ago

That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks,

Anna! Good luck with your project.

0 0 Reply ⥅

Kerri @ Little Nest Design… − ⚑

7 years ago

I have deUnitely made some rookie mistakes

when it comes to hanging pictures/art and have
the holes in my walls to prove it, lol! One thing
that was pointed out to me by an interior
designer was that I had too much space between
the frames of a gallery wall in my living room. I
hadn't thought of that, but now that she has
pointed it out, it does bother me, not that I have
Uxed it yet! My current struggle is that most of
my current picture frames are black and a bit
more traditional and now as my style is evolving,
I Und myself drawn to white frames with clean
lines. It would be so costly to change out all the
frames in my house, so I thought about spray
painting them white? What do you think, good
idea or waste of time?

0 0 Reply ⥅

Casey Finn > −

… Kerri @ Little Nest⚑
Design
7 years ago

Kerri, we feel ya! The struggle is real! And once

you notice something like that, it's so hard to
not notice it. It's always staring back at you.
Love the idea to spray paint them white..what
do you have to lose? Plus it will give you a
chance to re-hang them the way you want
them.

0 0 Reply ⥅

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