The Secret to Hanging Art

Hanging art is more science than art but pay attention to these simple steps and you’ll nail this task.  You don’t need an expert to hang your favorite pictures, just a little time and a good measuring tape.

The most common mistake is art that is hung too high above the sofa. In addition, make sure that your art (single picture or grouping of pictures) is at least half the width of the sofa, this will create a more balanced look.

Tools Needed:

A good tape measure.
A proper hammer. There are a variety of household items that may be used in a pinch, but trust me on this one, the bottom of your shoe is not one of them.
A bag of hooks.  Make sure they can hold the weight of the piece.
A pair of snips.
Small finish nails.

Step by Step Guide: 

1. First, you’ll want to eyeball where you’d like to see the picture hung.
2. When hanging over a sofa, the bottom of the picture should fall just about six to seven inches above the back of the sofa.  Any lower and you will run the risk of bumping your head and any higher is just plain wrong.
3. For hanging art when nothing is below, measure up 57” from the floor and mark the spot on the wall.
4. Flip the art over and with the wire at full tension, measure distance to top of frame.  Write this number down on the back of the art (We are not talking museum pieces here).
5.  Now measure the height of your art and divide it in half.  Write that number down on the back of the piece.
6. Find your 57” mark and add to it the number you got in step 4, mark it with a pencil on the wall.
7. Go to that mark and subtract the number you wrote down in step   3.  Remember to subtract not add.
8. Put a big fat X right there on the wall.  It’s time to use that hammer.

The Designer Secret:

Once you have hammered your hook, flip your picture over so that the back of the art is facing you.  Take a small finish nail and hammer it into the bottom portion of the frame.  Then using wire snips clip off the head of the finish nail.  When you hang this piece, hook the picture wire onto the hook on the wall and place your level on the top of the art piece, once it reads level – push the lower portion of the art piece against the wall and presto – you now have a level, secure piece of art that will not move!