How high should you hang art?

Centre it 57″ (145 cm) off the floor, measured to the middle of the piece, not to its top edge and not to the nail. That's roughly the eye height of an adult standing, and it's what most galleries use, so the art sits where you naturally look as you walk past.

You'll see 60″ (152 cm) in some guides. I use 57″ because most homes have 8 foot ceilings, and the lower number keeps the art connected to the furniture. It's also the number our visualizer uses on a bare wall.

The rule doesn't change with the size of the piece. A 16″ print and a 48″ canvas both centre at 57″. What changes is where the top and bottom edges land.

The nail goes at 57″ plus half the piece's height, minus the drop from the top of the frame to the hanging point. For a 30″ tall piece with a 3″ drop: 57 + 15 − 3 = 69″ (175 cm) off the floor. The centre is where the art goes; the hook sits lower than the top edge.

You need three numbers:

• The piece's height, outside the frame.
• The drop to the hanging point. For a wire, pull it taut toward the top as it would hang and measure to the peak.
• The 57″ centre.

Mark it, check it once more, then drill. For anything over about 36″ (91 cm) wide, use two hooks, level with each other, so the piece can't tilt.

The bottom edge sits 8″ (20 cm) above the top of the furniture. Anywhere from 6 to 10″ (15 to 25 cm) looks right; 8″ is where I start. Once there's a sofa, bed, sideboard or console underneath, the art relates to the furniture rather than to a standing eye line, so the 57″ rule steps aside.

• Sofa: measure to the top of the back, or the top of the cushions if they sit higher.
• Bed: measure to the top of the headboard. With no headboard, measure to the top of the pillows when the bed is made.
• Sideboard or console: measure to the top surface. If a lamp stands on it, let the art overlap the lamp a little rather than lifting the art above it.

Closer than 6″ and heads and lamps bump the frame. Further than 10″ and the two stop reading as one composition.

For the width, art above furniture spans two-thirds to three-quarters of it: How big should art be above a sofa? has the numbers, and How to measure your wall the tape work.

Measure 57″ (145 cm) up from the front edge of the step directly below the centre of each piece, not from the floor at the bottom. A staircase has no single floor, so each piece takes its height from its own step, and the marks together make a line parallel to the handrail.

For a run of pieces up a staircase:

1. Mark the centre of each piece on the wall at 57″ above its own step.
2. Join the marks and check the line runs parallel to the handrail.
3. Keep the gaps between pieces equal, measured along that line.

Same-size pieces make this easy. Mixed sizes work too if every piece is centred on the line. On a landing, go back to 57″ from the landing floor.

No. Keep the centre at 57″, or the bottom edge 8″ above the furniture, even under 10 foot (305 cm) ceilings. People and sofas are the same height in a loft as in a condo, and art lifted to fill the space floats away from both. Fill the height with a taller piece, or two stacked, instead.

A rough check for the tallest piece that fits above furniture: ceiling height, minus the furniture height, minus 8″ below the art, minus at least 12″ (30 cm) of clear wall above it. With a 120″ ceiling and a 34″ sofa back, that's 120 − 34 − 8 − 12 = 66″ (168 cm) of usable height. On an 8 foot ceiling the same sum gives 42″ (107 cm), which is why a piece that looks large in a condo looks modest in a loft. Statement pieces are where to look for that height.

A double-height wall, like a stairwell or a two-storey living room, is the one place to break this rule: hang a second piece or group higher up, sized to be read from the floor above.

Treat the group as one piece. Measure it from outside edge to outside edge, then centre the whole group at 57″ (145 cm) on a bare wall, or put the bottom of the lowest frame 8″ (20 cm) above the furniture. Inside the group, keep one gap between every pair of frames: I use 3″ (8 cm).

Anywhere from 2 to 4″ (5 to 10 cm) works, as long as it's the same everywhere.

The mistake to avoid is hanging the first piece at 57″ and building the rest of the group around it. The group ends up too high, every time.

Pairs and triptychs have their own guide, and so do gallery walls, with measured templates. For pieces made to hang together, see Pairs and series.

Tape a paper template to the wall first. Cut kraft paper to the outside size of the frame, mark the hanging point on it, and tape it up at the height these rules give you. Leave it for a day; if it still looks right tomorrow, nail through the mark.

Or skip the tape. Upload a photo of your wall to Your Blank Wall, give it the wall's width and floor-to-ceiling height, mark the corners, and it places any piece at approximate scale, centred at 57″ on a bare wall or 8″ above the furniture. You can try three sizes in the time it takes to find the pencil.