Sample 2

Tips for Hanging Pictures

How do you hang a picture? Do you just hammer a nail into the center of a wall and place the picture on it? If you want to display pictures attractively, don’t swing that hammer just yet.

• Choose the right size picture for the room. If you hang a small picture on a wall in a large room, it will look lost. Hang larger pictures in living rooms, bedrooms, and dining rooms, and smaller pictures in tight areas such as hallways and bathrooms.


• Hang pictures at eye level. Perhaps the biggest mistake people make when hanging pictures is to hang them too high. Pictures should be hung at eye level, about 60 inches from the floor to the center of the picture. Keep in mind that eye level is different in the living room, where people usually sit, than in a hallway, where they stand. And, when you hang pictures over a sofa, leave only about three to six inches between the bottom of the frames and the sofa. The art and the sofa should look as if they go together.
• Group together pictures with a similar theme. Pictures that are hung together on the same wall should be alike in some way. Consider grouping together pictures by the same artist, that have the same color frame, or that are of the same subject. Choose one picture as the focal point - the wall’s centerpiece. While this picture is often the largest, it doesn’t have to be. Arrange the other pictures around the centerpiece. Consider separating two same-sized pictures with a smaller one.


• Experiment with spacing. Framed pictures look better closer together. Leave only a few inches between them. However, leave ample space between unframed pieces. While the tops and bottoms of the frames don’t need to form a straight line, the centers of the pictures do. This straight line might be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. To better understand this concept, imagine art hung along a staircase - the center of the pictures often forms a diagonal line. Place art on the floor to experiment with arrangement and spacing.


• Stay away from the corners. Don’t hang pictures close to a corner of the wall. Pictures hung this way looked squashed and unattractive.


• Hang pictures correctly. Use a pencil to mark the wall, so you know where to hang your pictures. While it is acceptable to use a nail to hang very small, light pictures, picture hooks are a better option for most art. These hooks are designed to evenly distribute a picture’s weight - and you don’t need to find a stud first. Use one hook for small pictures and two hooks for larger pictures. Use wood screws to hang very heavy art. If in doubt as to what kind of hardware to use, ask a salesperson in a home-improvement store.