Things You’re Probably Hanging at the Wrong Height

When it comes to hanging common household items, do you actually know what guidelines to follow? If you’ve been playing it fast and loose, odds are that your space looks a little off-kilter.

Drapery

Curtain rods are “one of the biggest offenders.

Generally speaking, drapery should be hung close to the ceiling..

If your ceiling is 20 feet high, it won’t work there, generally, a foot or two above the window header is a good spot.

Drapery in Rooms With Two Different Window Sizes

Speaking of drapery, don’t fall victim to another common mistake, which is hanging rods at different heights based on each window.

Unless the architecture truly calls for it, that can make the room feel choppy and a little sloppy, your eye reads those horizontal lines very quickly, so consistency matters.

Televisions

When hanging a television, you should aim for it to sit at the eye level of the average person while sitting, Ward shares, noting that this usually means installing your screen 42 inches off the ground.

Often, when installing a TV above the fireplace, people go too high on the wall..

Artwork

People tend to hang it too high, almost as though they are trying to fill in the gaps on the wall above the furniture or designing for very tall imaginary people.

A general guideline is to hang artwork so that the center of a piece is 57 to 60 inches off the floor. Of course, one will need to use their judgment to determine what makes the most sense for their given space.

When art is above a sofa, bed, sideboard, or really any other piece of furniture, it needs to relate to what is below it.

Keep in mind that instances where walls are equipped with architectural molding require some extra care. In instances where a room has wainscoting, for example, people often assume that they should hang art centered between the top of the wainscoting and the ceiling.

Art should always feel grounded, not floating in space.

Gallery Walls

While hanging a single work of art requires careful planning, gallery walls can be even more complex.

The most common mistake is treating each piece individually instead of looking at the entire collection as one composition.

Lay out any gallery wall arrangement on the floor first to get a better sense of what will look best where.

You want the overall grouping to feel balanced, even if the individual pieces are not symmetrical.

Designating “the largest or most visually substantial piece” as the wall’s anchor is the best approach.

The anchor serves as “the reference line for the rest of the collection,” which may contain a mixture of works of all shapes and sizes.