Your work is not over if you purchased something already framed. You never know who decides to cut corners and use cheap materials or questionable methods; get the work inspected by a trusted professional. You bought your new art piece with emotion and considered intention, but you get home and realize the piece is heavier or bigger than anticipated, or it’s especially delicate and you’re worried it might fall.
Your objective is to place the center point of the art piece at between 56” to 62” (measuring from the floor to the midpoint of the image). In other words, at about eye level. If the artwork will be viewed within 5’ to 15’, then the 58″ to 60” center point should be just right. If the piece will be viewed from a further-away distance (more than 15’), the center point should be slightly higher (60” to 62”). If the piece will be viewed close up (within 1’ to 3”), the center point should be lower (56” to 58”).

The following recommendations are common best practices for installing artwork in your home.

Hire a Professional Installer.

Professional art hangers work with a multitude of hardware and have a system based on weight and size to hang your pieces.

If you have any doubts about where to install your piece, find a knowledgeable professional or contact the artist to help.

Hang Art Away from Doors and Ventilation

When planning your art display, assume it’s a beautiful day with your doors and windows open. If a breeze or sudden summer rain comes in through a screened door and damages your piece, it’s a good idea to brainstorm alternate locations.

You also want to keep artwork out of direct draft from your ventilation system.

Don’t Place Art In Direct Sunlight

Light damage is irreversible to your artwork, but you shouldn’t have to keep your blinds closed. You can still use natural lighting, but you will need to seek out the translucent protective film for your windows and skylights. Companies specialize in clear window protections that block UV light and heat.

Additionally, remember to protect your art from sunlight with specialty glass in the frame.

Don’t Hang Valuable Art Over a Fireplace

Keeping your art directly above a fireplace or radiator invites smoke and heat damage.

By Rise|Art Charlotte Broomfield | 29 May 2014

Kelly Fannon designs homes, apartments, flats, and all spaces to help you live or work in style with casual elegance. Kelly’s background is in art and textile design and all of her work is informed with a deep knowledge of the history of art, design, and architecture. Here are Kelly’s top tips on how to hang your art.

Example 1

If there is one change you can make to a space that will truly feel you like have re-decorated without a big budget, is to re-hang your art. Changing the placement, position, arrangements of pictures and paintings can make the world of difference.
One of the first things to consider is the whole space: is it too narrow? too long? no outstanding features? are the walls paneled? All of these factors can determine the arrangements, the sizes of the paintings, whether you should hang the picture’s portrait or landscape, etc. For example, you can make a narrow room feel wider if you hang a row of frames in a landscape position across the end wall. This creates the illusion of a wider space.
When you consider the space, look at the doors and windows, if you are hanging groups of pictures, paintings, and mirrors, don’t hang any higher than the height of the doorway. It will look more balanced and fit on the wall.
When grouping art, the arrangements of image examples 1, 2, and 3 are very well balanced.

Example 2

Example 3

Examples 5 or 6 can still look balanced if you position from the centers.

Example 5

Example 6

When you do select the paintings and pictures lay them on the floor and look for the patterns and colors, find what looks best next to one another and which colors work well. This often is better than arranged by theme, great if you can, but in large groups of pictures, patterns and colors can be a good guide.
All images were found on Pinterest
Paintings and pictures are best at eye level, but if you have a particularly large painting it needs space around it so keep it for your largest wall.
Hanging pictures is an art in itself, experiment and have fun with it.