There’s No Such Thing as Eye Level

By Nanette Catarinella

One of the decorating dilemmas that I encounter regularly is the improper use of wall art. Generally, I find that art is hung too high and does not relate to the space. You may have heard that pictures should be hung at “eye level”. But, whose eye level are we referring to…the six foot two husband or the five foot two wife?

Positioning wall art depends on a variety of factors including the size and shape of the wall, the ceiling height, the focal point in the room and the size of the furniture. Here are a few tips for hanging art in your home:

Relate Art to Wall – Choose small with small, wide with wide, tall with tall. In other words, keep the size and shape of the art consistent to the wall on which it will be hung. If you have a large, wide wall, do not hang a small, narrow picture.

Relate Art to Furniture – In general, artwork should take up approximately 2/3 of the space above a piece of furniture. If you have a 90 inch sofa, for example, one large piece or a grouping of several smaller pieces, should take up about 60 inches of the space above it.

Keep It Low – Visually connect furniture and artwork by hanging art about 6 – 10 inches above the furniture. If you have very tall ceilings, consider hanging another coordinating piece above the lower piece to bring the eye up

Increase the Size – If one picture is too small, group several pictures together. To unify the grouping, keep the matting and frames alike. Keep the width between the artwork visually connected by hanging approximately a palms width apart.

Gallery Height: When hanging art in a hallway, the center of the art should be approximately 56 inches from the floor. Unite different sizes and shapes of artwork by keeping the bottom of the frames even.

You don’t need to own a Picasso or buy expensive pieces to decorate your walls. Create unique, one-of-a-kind works of art by framing just about anything….a child’s drawing, an antique hankie, a series of postcards. Hanging wall art is a great way to add color and personality to any room.
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Nanette Catarinella, owner of Room Styles Interiors, is an interior decorator, award winning re-designer and home staging expert. For more information, please call, 412-351-2525 or visit the web site at: www.roomstylesinteriors.com