How High to Hang Wall Art (and Other Rules Worth Breaking)

Most art is hung too high and bought too small. Fix those two things and your walls will quietly outperform most of the internet's interiors. Here is the short version.

The 145cm rule

Galleries hang work so the centre of the piece sits at average eye level — about 145cm from the floor. Not the top of the frame; the centre. This single habit is why gallery walls feel calm and most domestic walls feel slightly wrong. Measure once, pencil-mark, and stop hanging art at picture-rail height like a Victorian.

Above furniture, the rules change

Over a sofa, bed or console, forget eye level — the furniture sets the line. Leave 15–25cm between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the canvas. Closer than that feels crowded; further and the art appears to be floating away from the room.

The two-thirds rule

A piece above furniture should span roughly two-thirds of the furniture's width. A 70×100cm canvas over a standard sofa lands almost exactly right — which is not a coincidence in how we size our range.

Hanging a stretched canvas

Our canvases arrive ready to hang, with fixtures included. For most walls a single quality picture hook is enough; for larger sizes use two hooks set 10–15cm apart, level, which stops the piece drifting off-square every time someone closes a door. On plasterboard, use a fitting rated well above the canvas weight — canvases are light, but doors slam.

The rule that outranks all of the above

Hang it where you will actually see it. The reading corner beats the formal hallway; the wall you face from bed beats the one behind the headboard. Art is for the person who lives there, not for the estate agent's photographs.

Undecided between sizes? Our Size Guide covers all five, with honest guidance on where each one works — or write to us with a photo of the wall and we will tell you what it wants.