Author: Jenny Shepherd
How To Hang Your Art
You’ve bought a beautiful new piece of art and now it’s staring at you across the room from its position on the floor propped against the wall (we’ve all been there). You've read our how to care for your art at home guide, so you’ve learned where to best position your work, but how do you get it on the wall? Read on to learn about the best ways to hang your artworks, and you’ll never need to draft in help again.
THE PERFECT SPACE
I move the art around my home as often as I buy a new piece, which is to say… probably too often. I’ve learned there is sometimes immediately a ‘perfect’ placement, or sometimes it takes a little time to sit with a picture to figure out how you want to live with it. There is no pressure to get it right the first time, and sometimes half the fun is re-curating your home as you go.
Once you know which room your new picture is going to make its new home in, take a minute to think about which wall it’s going to go on (Direct sunlight? Best not. Above a radiator? Make sure you leave a big gap!) Thinking about this in advance is well worth a couple of minutes of your time, and can really increase its lifespan.
HOW HIGH IS TOO HIGH?
You’ve seen it before. You walk into a room and it looks as if all the pictures are in a race to reach the ceiling first. This is a really common mistake when hanging pictures, and is so easy to avoid - just follow our tips!
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Aim for eye level - this is of course dependent on your height but the middle of the work should be around eye level. If in doubt, aim for around 150cm for the centre of the work, and then adjust from there.
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Fitting around furniture - keep in mind the eye level (as above), and then make sure you have around 20cm gap between a piece of furniture and the bottom of the artwork. This will give the picture room to breathe but still tie it to that space in the room.
HANG TIME
All our frames come with appropriate fixings and hanging mechanisms. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our client services team, or visit your local framer. Once you’re happy, you’ll need to look out the following basic tools.
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Hammer
- Picture hanging hooks
- Appropriate nails/pins depending on your wall and the weight of the picture. [if the picture is really big/heavy, you may need a drill and wall plugs]
- A willing assistant!
THE STEPS (these may vary depending on your wall, and your frame)
- Once you’re happy with where you’re going to hang your picture, ask your willing assistant to hold the picture up for you and double check placement by moving around the room and checking how it feels. Now is the time to make adjustments
- Using your pencil, lightly draw a small mark at the top of the frame
- Turn the artwork over, and measure the distance between the top of the frame and the middle of the wire/cord/string/D-ring when it’s taut (you will need to pull it tight as if it’s holding the weight of the artwork). If, for example, the distance is 10cm, now mark 10cm down from your mark on the wall where the top of the frame is. You should now have two pencil marks on the wall
- You now have the location for where your hook will go! Use the hammer to make sure the hook is securely in the wall. If it’s very heavy you may need to now drill a hole and place a wall plug, and screw a strong hook into the wall. If it’s on the light-medium weight scale, picture hooks are usually the best option.
- Hang your picture on the hook, and step back to proudly admire your handiwork. If you take a photograph, don’t forget to tag us #ArtRepublicAtHome (if we repost your image, we’ll even send you a gift voucher).
