Hanging Artwork : How High to Hang Art & More!
Whether you’re hanging a single picture on the wall or a a full gallery wall of art like in our home office:
Sources: Desk (similar) | Rug | Faux fiddle leaf fig tree (similar) | Console is thrifted | Elephant art print | Woven tray | Other sources no longer available
these tips for how high and far apart to hang art should help:
- For a single piece of art, the center of the image should be at 57″ – 60″ from the floor, which places it at eye level. The larger the piece of art, the closer to 57″ it should be.
- When hanging two pieces of artwork, one above another, treat them as one large picture – find the center point between them and use the 57″ – 60″ rule.
- For larger pieces of art hung on the same wall, use a spacing of about 2-3″ between them. Smaller pieces can be hung a little closer together.
- When hanging art pieces above a sofa or other piece of furniture, the grouping should ideally be about ⅔ the width of the furniture below it. (For example, if an art grouping is being hung over a 60″ sofa, the ideal grouping would about 40″ in length.)
- When hanging artwork over a sofa or other piece of furniture, leave 3″- 8″ of space between the top of the sofa/furniture and the bottom of the art.
Window Treatments: How High to Hang Drapes
If you’re not sure how high to hang your drapes above the window frame or how wide your drapes should be, these tips will help…
Sources: Drapes | Drapery rod | Drapery rings | Tripod lamp | Sectional sofa | Block print pillow | White tassel pillow | Rug | Acrylic coffee table (similar)
- Buy drapery panels that will either kiss the floor or puddle on it.
- To create the illusion of a taller window, mount drapery rods at least 4″ – 8″ above the window casing if space allows.
- To make your windows appear wider and let in extra light, extend the rods anywhere between 4″ and 10″ (excluding finials) beyond the window casing.
- Drapery panels should have a combined width of 2-3 times the width of the window so if you have two panels framing a window, each panel should be 1 to 1½ times the window width.
Light Fixtures: What Size Light is Best
If you want to know how high to hang your chandelier above your table or how wide of a dining room chandelier you should buy, here are the measurements you need to know…
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Dining Room Sources: Wood bead chandelier | Table & chairs – no longer available | 13″ Rattan chargers (similar) | Table runner (similar) | Glass hurricane vase Wood vases – no longer available | White wall plates | Patterned wall plates
- The width of the chandelier should be about ½ to ⅔ the width of the table it will be hanging over. Another rule of thumb to also consider is that the width of the chandelier should be about a foot less than the width of the table at its widest point.
- The bottom of the chandelier should hang between 30″ – 36″ above the surface of the table when there is an 8′ ceiling. For higher ceilings, you can hang the chandelier up to 3-4″ higher for each additional foot of ceiling.
- To determine a good width for your light fixture, measure the length and width of the room in feet and add those two measurements together – the number that you come up with is, in inches, a good approximate width (For example, if your room measures 10 feet x 15 feet, add 10 + 15 to get 25. A 25″ wide fixture would be appropriate for this space.) For rooms with high ceilings, you can add up to 6″ or more to the width of the chandelier.
- To determine a good height for your light fixture, multiply the height of your ceiling (in feet) by 2.5 and by 3. The height of your fixture should be, in inches, somewhere in this range. (For example, if you have 8 foot ceilings, 8 x 2.5 = 20 and 8 x 3 = 24. An appropriate height for your light fixture would be between 20″ and 24″ when measured from the ceiling to the bottom of the fixture).
- An overhead fixture that will be walked under, such as in the entry, should hang 7 feet or more above the floor.
Rugs: What Size Rug Should I Buy
If you’re trying to figure out the best size rug for your space, these tips should help you figure it out…
Sources: Sectional | Chandelier (satin bronze) | Tasseled pillow covers | Cream corner pillow | Rug | Acrylic coffee table (similar) | Coffee table tray (similar) | Rattan chair | Garden stool side table | Grasscloth wallpaper behind bookcase shelves (Charcoal) |
- Rugs under a dining room table should be at least 24-30″ wider and longer than the table, allowing the back legs of the chairs to stay on the rug even when the chairs are pushed out.
- Area rugs under a bed should extend at least 18-24″ beyond each side of the bed. For small bedrooms with a king bed, an 8 x 10 rug is usually best (with the longer 10′ side running in the same direction as the headboard) but if your bedroom is larger, a 9 x 12 can work too. For most rooms with a queen bed, an 8 x 10 rug is going to work best.
- For most typically sized rooms, there should be approximately 12″ – 18″ of bare floor between the edges of the area rug and the walls of the room. For small rooms, approximately 8″ of exposed floor is a good rule of thumb.
The last two (and maybe most important) rules:
- Take a few minutes to consider these measurements before purchasing drapes, lighting, or rugs – it may help you avoid making a purchase you’ll later regret. However….
- Don’t be afraid to break the rules! The rules are meant to help you, not to squash your creativity or the fun of decorating. If you’ve tried something with a room that doesn’t fit with these measurement “rules” but looks and feels right to you, go for it! Some of the most gorgeously designed rooms break every rule in the book!
Holly Irwin Fine Art says
Thank you so much!!! Awesome tips that we all need!
Holly
http://www.hollyirwin.com
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
So glad you found the tips to be helpful!
kelly arent-Copper Roof Interiors LLC says
Super duper tips….glad to have them all in 1 place….repinning asap! Thanks! Happy Monday all!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Thanks Kelly!
Kelly Kole says
Great post Kris:) My mom just emailed me from NY asking how high to install her new dining room chandelier. I walked her thru it but forwarded her this post for other great pointers for her new house. THANKS!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Glad you found it helpful Kelly!
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeet says
I have just entered the “finishing” stage of the house we are building and was installing a couple of light fixtures in my master bedroom. I see you didn’t mention how how over a bed a light should hang. Since it isn’t really being walked under but still “lived under”, is there an alternate rule for its placement? I have a tray ceiling above my bed area and installed a chandeliere.
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Hi Chantelle, I don’t think that there is a standard measurement for how high to hang a light over a bed but it is common to hang it lower than you would in a space where you would be walking under it. This is a situation where I would just “eyeball” it!
Mary says
Hi Kris, I would like to add a vintage barn light sconce over my bathroom vanity. Similar to this one: http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod691155&categoryId=cat1701019
Is there a rule of thumb regarding the diameter of lighting over a vanity? Does the size of the room matter? My vanity is 36″ wide. Would the 18″ size be the best choice? That seems big to me. There is other lighting in the room.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Hi Mary,
I’m not aware of a rule of thumb about the diameter of lighting over the vanity – the ideal vanity lighting is sconces on either side of the mirror and when there is not enough space for flanking sconces, most people opt for a fixture with multiple lights overhead. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do something different though (and I do love that RH sconce!)! I agree that 18″ seems a bit big if you’re going with a single barn light sconce – I remembered that “3 Men and a Lady” had a barn light sconce over their vanity – they used a 14″ sconce so check out their pics see how you think that looks!
Kris
InteriorGroupie says
Great post! Love those drapes in the living room…and that photo of the dining room is gorgeous!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Thanks so much!
{Hi Sugarplum!} says
These are great tips — thanks for rounding them up in one spot for us!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Thanks Cassie!
Anonymous says
Regarding the curtains puddling on the floor or kissing them. You might consider raising them off the floor 1/4 to 1/2 an inch if you have young children, especially if it’s a doorway. We’ve had to fix holes in the walls twice where the part holding the rod was pulled from the wall (anchor and all) by a child.
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Yikes! Thanks for the tip!
Anonymous says
ah! love this!
I have a question about curtains though. We live in an older home and have radiators under nearly every window. I worry about curtains having prolonged contact with the heat, but I want privacy at night. Not to mention needing that heat to stay in the room. The previous owners had shorter curtains over the windows – but I’m not so sure about that. What do you think?
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
I totally understand your concern and probably wouldn’t cover the radiators even if many people say it’s ok. If your radiators are directly below your window, the ideal solution would be to place floor length panels on either side of the window where they don’t cover the radiator and then also add blinds to use for privacy so that you don’t need to draw the panels closed over the radiator.
rMa says
Love love love this. Found it on Pinterest. It linked back to this FANTABULOUS blog, that everyone MUST follow…. I will be sure to pass YOU along to everyone I know and meet along the way….Thank you KRIS
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
So sweet of you!!
Becca says
I’ve been looking at light fixtures to replace the one currently over our dining room table. Thanks so much for sharing these “rules.” They will definitely help me narrow down the choices. Just one question about them, though. The first two points for chandeliers over a dining table both talk about the width of the chandelier. Should one of those be length, or am I just misunderstanding? Thanks!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Those two points are two different ways to arrive at the correct width for a chandelier. You will probably get a slightly different answer using the first “rule of thumb” versus the second – I used both rules to figure out a good size for my kitchen fixture and found that I arrived at different ranges but there was some overlap between the two!
Jenna says
This is excellent! I’ve heard some of these “rules” over the years, but can’t always remember them. It’s great to have them in one place! {I just read Anna’s comment above, and I found this via Pinterest :)}
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Thanks Jenna! I’m glad you find it useful!!
Anonymous says
what about rugs in living rooms. we have a sofa against a wall because it is a long narrow room and across from sofa two brown leather chairs. what parts should be on carpet and how much
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Ideally, all four legs of your sofa and of your chairs would be on the rug but at minimum the front legs.
Anna says
I predict that you’re going to have a pinterest gem on your hands with this post. Decor blogging can be kind of thankless, with lots of people profiting off of the bloggers creativity and hard work, so I wanted to be sure and let you know I appreciate the compilation. (Although, I’ve never been much on rule following, it can sure ease the stress having a general guideline, can’t it?)
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Thanks so much for the nice comment Anna!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
I’m glad this will be helpful with your clients! Have a great weekend!
Natalie | Make Today Great says
This. is. genius. Thank you!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Glad you find it helpful Natalie!
Ellen Bergherm says
Kris, I have 8 ft ceilings and want to hang a shell mirror from Pottery Barn that is 51″ x 37″ over my sofa? Will the mirror be too large or close to the sofa? I love large mirrors. I have beautiful crown molding also.
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Hi Ellen,
First of all I love the idea of hanging a large mirror over your sofa – I’m a complete mirror-holic! Whether or not it will be too large depends on how high the back of your sofa is and how low down your crown molding goes. You’d want an absolute minimum of 4″ between the top of the sofa back and the bottom of your mirror and also at least that much from the top of your mirror to the bottom of your crown. Hope it works!