How High Should I Hang Paintings?
Should the top of a painting be at 52 inches? Or something like that?
Comments
You need an electricaly driven pully system to alter the eye level automatically. That would be cool :-)
Well, that's a pretty good idea but I'm 59" so eye level would be like.. midwall for me. I say balance your arrangement nicely at least a third above the floor. I'd -hate- to dust pictures going down to the baseboard
In the case of my apartment. The women who had the place remodeled designed it like her house and had all the light switches, including the termastat placed at thigh level. That way all her artwork does not have the distraction of ugly switches. I will be in trouble if she ever came in to see how I have hung artwork on the walls! I am sure none of my laserprinter masterpieces are centered at 52 inches height.
I think pictures should be randomly dispersed unless the furniture of the room is very linear plus it saves you worrying if they are all hanging at the same hieght.
Dear DIY Maven,
Perhaps you should find art where he loves the top half and you love the bottom half.
Um, doesn't it depend on how high the ceiling is?
I try to hang my paintings in a variety of ways...
1. On an open wall (I have a gallery wall in my foyer) I hang them so the vertical center is at my eye hight (about 66").
2. Over my protruding fire place I hang them to horizontal center (leaving four or so inches on each side (depending on frame size) and then leave an equal amount of space below to the fire place.
3. If I have furniture below (for example, I have a painting on exposed brick over a wine cabinet), I raise the painting well above eye height to provide a vertical balance between furniture and ceiling.
So the answer is not a simple 52" measure. IMHO
I like "flying pictures". I'll be sure to use that one.
The problem with hanging art at eye level in my house is my man is a foot taller than I am ;)
I think paintings should be hung at eye level to how you view them. In a living room you are most likely sitting, so try to hang the painting centered on your eye when seated. In a hall or gallery you would hang them centered with your eye when standing. You will feel like you are hanging things very low but the room will look much better.
The term we use in the industry for how most paintings are typically hung is "flying pictues" (because most people hang them too high). Personally I like painting groups that go down to the base board.
Good question,
Lynne
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