Hanging height and spacing for pictures

The usual advice is to hang a picture so that its middle, not its top or its hanger, is at about fifty-seven inches above the floor, near the average eye level; some guides give sixty and many people go lower in rooms where they sit. The nail is found from the top of the frame: top edge = middle + half the frame height, and nail = top edge - the drop from the top edge to the hanger.

The drop is the part people get wrong. A wire pulled tight rises above the line of the frame's top corners in the middle, so measure to the highest point of the taut wire, not to the hardware on the back. A sawtooth hanger sits close to the top and its drop is small.

Above furniture the rule changes: the bottom edge of the frame goes seven to ten inches above the top of a sofa or console, so the furniture sets the height. For a group, treat the frames as one big picture, give it one center line and keep the gaps between frames small and the same, about two to six inches. The width of the row is the frames plus the gaps, and the tool centers it on the line you give.

Chart: nail height for a picture centered at the usual height, by frame height and hanger drop

Each cell is the height of the nail above the floor for the frame height in its row and the distance from the top of the frame to the hanger in its column, with the middle of the picture at fifty-seven inches.

	Hanger drop from the top
Frame height	0.5 in	2 in	3 in	4 in
8 in	60.5 in	59.0 in	58.0 in	57.0 in
12 in	62.5 in	61.0 in	60.0 in	59.0 in
16 in	64.5 in	63.0 in	62.0 in	61.0 in
20 in	66.5 in	65.0 in	64.0 in	63.0 in
24 in	68.5 in	67.0 in	66.0 in	65.0 in
30 in	71.5 in	70.0 in	69.0 in	68.0 in
36 in	74.5 in	73.0 in	72.0 in	71.0 in
48 in	80.5 in	79.0 in	78.0 in	77.0 in

Work out your own numbers: Picture hanging height

Chart: width of a row of frames by number of frames and frame width (three inch gaps)

Each cell is the total width of the row for the number of frames in its row and the frame width in its column, with a gap of three inches between neighbours.

	Frame width
Number of frames	8 in	12 in	16 in	20 in	24 in
2 pcs	19.0 in	27.0 in	35.0 in	43.0 in	51.0 in
3 pcs	30.0 in	42.0 in	54.0 in	66.0 in	78.0 in
4 pcs	41.0 in	57.0 in	73.0 in	89.0 in	105.0 in
5 pcs	52.0 in	72.0 in	92.0 in	112.0 in	132.0 in
6 pcs	63.0 in	87.0 in	111.0 in	135.0 in	159.0 in

Work out your own numbers: Gallery wall spacing

Used by

• Picture hanging heightThe height of the nail for a framed picture.
• Gallery wall spacingGaps and positions for a row of frames on a wall.

Sources

• Framebridge: how to hang your art, centre height, distance above furniture, groups as one piece
• The Arts Commission: hanging artwork, a centre line and small consistent gaps for groups