How High to Hang Pictures: Simple Tips For Getting it Right!

Hanging art can be tricky! I’m sharing my easy tips for how high to hang pictures so you get it right every time!

Some people have a great eye for hanging pictures and can throw a piece of art up on the wall perfectly while others struggle to get it right. If you’re one of the strugglers and can use help figuring out how high to hang pictures on the wall, tricks for hanging groups of pictures, and other tips for hanging art, this post’s for you!

I’m sharing all of my must-have tips that will make hanging your next picture a breeze! (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})

How High Should I Hang a Single Picture?

When you’re hanging a single picture on the wall with nothing under it, it should be hung so that the center of the picture is 57-60″ from the floor. This is roughly eye level for the average person. Simply grab your measuring tape and measure the height of the picture you’re hanging, divide it in two, and then add 57-60″ to that measurement to arrive at the exact height the top of the picture should be on the wall.

Using {this 34″ high floral bouquet picture} that I hung during our kitchen remodel as an example, dividing that height in half is 17″. Then adding 57-60″, it should be hung so the top of the picture is 74-77″ from the floor:

Picture hung on wall in kitchen - shows the best height to hang a picture

Kitchen Sources: Gray geometric rug | Black & white dish towel | Kitchen sink | Cabinet pulls | Cup pulls

You may want to err more toward the 60″ measurement if your family is on the taller side, it’s a space people are typically standing in such as a hallway or entryway, you have high ceilings, or if that higher height just looks better to your naked eye. Consider hanging pictures closer to 57″ on center in rooms where people are most often sitting (like dining rooms), where your ceilings are 8 foot high or less, and/or if your family is on the short side.

I hung {this large art print} (30″ x 40″) on the DIY shiplap walls in the bedroom of our previous home centered at 57″ since the ceilings were a low 7’6″:

Bedroom with large picture hung on shiplap wall - shows how high to hang a single picture

You can use the same rule of thumb when hanging two pictures with one directly above the other. Simply treat the two art pieces as one large picture with the center point between them being 57 – 60″ from the floor.

How high to hang two pictures on the wall

When hanging a larger collection of pictures on the wall with no furniture pieces under them, treat them as one large piece, centering the grouping at that same 57-60″ measurement. The same holds true if you’re hanging other objects such as this arrangement of plates I hung in our dining room – the center of the grouping was 57″ off the floor:

Dining room with large plate wall - shows how high to hang a grouping of pictures or plates on the wall

Check out my post on how to hang plates on the wall for more details on how I planned out our plate arrangement and the plate holders I used to hang them.

How High Should I Hang Art Above A Bed, Sofa, or Dresser?

What if your pictures aren’t simply hung on a blank wall but are instead hung over a bed, sofa, dresser, or other furnishings? Instead of following the 57-60″ rule, hang your picture so the bottom of the frame is between 3-8″ above the furniture piece. As an example, I chose to hang {this large piece of framed canvas art} (40″ x 30″) about 4″ above the headboard in my daughter’s room but would have hung it in inch or two higher if I had chosen a smaller piece of art:

Large beach picture hung over a queen bed - shows how high to hang it

Room Sources: Blue grasscloth wallpaper | Gold quatrefoil pendant | Canvas surf scene art | Leather weave bench | Urn lamp

The two abstract art prints ({this Sorento I print} and {this Sorento II print} (24″ x 30″)) that I just above the beds in my girls’ bedroom are hung a little over 3″ above the peak of each bed’s arch and 8″ above the bed at the frame’s ends:

Two pictures hung over twin beds - hung about 3" over bed

When I hung {this square floral art print} (30″ x 30″) that’s also in my girls’ bedroom, I left about 5″ of wall space between the art print and the dresser:

Floral picture hung over dresser to show how high you should hang art over furniture

If you’re wondering about the best width for a picture over a dresser or sideboard, about ⅔ the width of the furniture piece is a good rule of thumb for how wide your picture should be (I wouldn’t go much narrower than ⅔, but a bit wider than ⅔ works too!).

So what about spacing when you’re hanging multiple pictures?…

How Far Apart Should I Hang a Group of Pictures?

When hanging multiple pictures in a grouping such as a gallery wall, a good rule of thumb is to leave spacing of about 1 ½ – 4″ between pictures. Smaller pieces of art can be hung a little closer together (1 ½ -2″) than larger pieces (2-4″ apart). When hanging a gallery wall of same size pictures in a grid, the spacing between them should be consistent such as in my family room:

Large grouping of pictures around TV in family room - shows how high to hang a group of pictures

Family Room Sources: Chandelier (satin bronze) | White tasseled pillow cover | Blue linen pillow cover | Green & blue block print pillow cover | Faux fiddle leaf fig tree | Rug | Pair of floor poufs | Art prints (details in {this post} | Acrylic coffee table (similar) | Coffee table tray (28″ square) | Black and white striped box (on coffee table) | Wood beads | Rattan chair

However when you’re hanging an eclectic gallery wall like this one in our home office, the spacing doesn’t need to be consistent. A spacing of around 2-3″ between pictures is a good place to start but some can be closer and others farther apart depending upon what looks right to your eye.

Grouping of pictures in a gallery wall over a console - shows how high and far apart to hang pictures

The best way I’ve found to hang an eclectic grouping of art like this without putting a ton of holes in the wall is to plan your whole wall out before hanging anything. Lay all of your pictures/objects out on the floor and move them around until the arrangement and spacing seems right. You can find more tips for creating and hanging gallery walls in my post on gallery wall ideas.

What Are the Best Shops For Buying Art Prints Online?

My favorite and most used source for art prints is Minted {here}. You can buy prints unframed and frame them yourself or you can have your artwork matted and framed and delivered to your doorstep completely ready to hang on the wall! I have Minted artwork in several rooms of my home including our family room, my daughter’s bedroom in our previous home, the girls’ room in our current home, and our primary bedroom.

{This gorgeous art piece} that we’ve used in the entryway of our previous and current homes is also from Minted (see my post on entryway decor ideas for more details about this space):

Home remodel: Our entryway after remodeling!

Entryway Sources: Wallpaper | Linen console (also see {this similar console}) | White table lamp | 30″ x 40″ Framed art print | Decorative snail | Wave coral – HomeGoods | Shallow wood bowl | Glass beads | Cube ottomans

Minted even has a pretty awesome new feature that allows you to change up the colors in some of their art prints (you can find their customizable art prints {here})! For example, you’ll see that under the size options for {this art print}, there is a clickable option to “Customize this print to fit your decor”. It allows you to rotate the art print, zoom in on it, or completely change the colors in it.

How to customize your art print - crop, rotate, zoom, or change colors

Simply click “Customize” to zoom/crop it yourself and add notes on any changes in color that you want made by Minted’s art specialist. You can even give them specific paint colors (for ex., say “Please match color to Sherwin Williams Lucky Green”) or send them photos of a fabric piece, rug, or whatever else you’d like your art to match with.

Once you place your order, an Art Specialist will email you a proof of your revised artwork – you can accept it or make any further revisions needed.

Another great online source for art is Artfully Walls {here}. I used a grouping of three Artfully Wall pieces on our kitchen eat-in wall:

Group of three pictures hung by kitchen table - shows how high to hang them

A lot of the art on Artfully Walls has an Anthropologie-esk vibe. You can actually find many of the art prints sold at Anthropologie on Artfully Walls’ site, often at a lower price and in more size options.

I also love shopping on Etsy {here} – it’s full of independent artists selling original art pieces and prints like {this floral print} I bought for the shelving in our bathroom:

Vase of flowers art print from Etsy on wall shelf

And I hung {this tropical bird art print} in our hall bathroom:

Colorful bird art print for over the bathroom toilet

Show how high to hang art over a toilet in a powder room

I share all of the other sources for our powder room remodel in my post on our powder room shiplap.

What Hangers Should I Use?

The type of hanger to use for hanging pictures depends on whether it’s going into drywall or a stud, how much your picture weighs, and the type of hardware that’s on the back of your framed art. The hangers I use most often are {these OOK picture hangers} because the nails are thin so they don’t make huge holes in the wall and they’re really stable, even when they’re going into drywall rather than a stud.

For pictures that are meant to hang on the end of a screw, I use {these self drilling zinc anchors} if I’m hanging a picture on drywall without hitting a stud. For extremely heavy pictures, it’s best if you can drill your hanger into a stud but if not, toggle bolts are the way to go.

And with that… you’re ready to hang artwork like the pros! If you’d like to keep this info handy for the next time you need to hang a picture, Pin the image below:

If you found this post helpful, you’d also probably enjoy some of my other must-have measurement posts including my post on the pendant light height over your island and my post on must-have bathroom measurements.

I hope you all have a great week!

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