COLUMN: Gail Mayhugh

DEAR GAIL: How high do I hang my pictures on the wall? I like to have them at eye level, but my husband thinks they should be higher up. Is there a rule? -- Roberta H.

DEAR ROBERTA: You are right that pictures should be hung at eye level. But where that presents a problem is whose eye level should be used.

In most homes, I find that the artwork is normally hung too high versus too low. Honestly, I can't recall ever saying that art needed to hang higher.

There are, however, a couple of guidelines that you can follow to help you decide.

First, when hanging art over furniture, it shouldn't be any higher than 8 to 10 inches above the piece. The reason is to make a connection between the art and piece it hangs over. If you go beyond 10 to 12 inches, the art will look like a separate item on the wall and need something below it to fill the space between.

The 8-to-10-inch guideline applies no matter how high the ceiling. I see art hung high up on walls when there are vaulted ceilings. Just because the ceilings are higher doesn't mean that art gets hung higher. If you have to tip your head up to view the piece, it is hung too high.

With every rule there are exceptions.

If you are hanging multiple pieces -- let's say over a fireplace -- and you want to create a vertical image, the art can be hung higher on the wall. The first piece, however, still should be no more than 8 to 10 inches above the fireplace mantel it hangs over.

Also, when hanging multiple pieces of art, the most space you should have between them is 3 to 8 inches. The reason behind this spacing is that if you are more than this distance apart, the pieces begin to look unconnected and ungrouped. Visually, it will look as if something needs to be hung between the pieces.

Another guideline is that art shouldn't just float on the wall. By this I mean that the art should be connected to something visually, grounding it to the floor. It can be grounded with a piece of furniture, floor plant or group of accessories.

When art just floats on a wall, it gives a feeling of being unbalanced. Sometimes, especially with a large or heavy piece, you get a feeling that it is not stable because there is nothing underneath to catch it if it were to fall.

Where this rule can be broken is in hallways and stairwells, where there isn't enough room to place anything beneath the art. You won't get the same feeling because you are not walking up to the piece, but are instead viewing it next to you as you walk through the hall. Plus, you can't stand back and look at the piece because you can't get too far away from it.

Now the question is, how high should you hang a piece of art in a hallway when it can't be grounded. Even if members of your family are tall, you shouldn't hang the art so high up that it makes the room feel unbalanced. You don't want the wall to look top heavy. You also don't want to hang it so low that you have to look down to see it.

Keeping this in mind and realizing that every family will have members of various heights, I recommend that art be hung so that the middle of the piece is between 55 to 59 inches off the floor. Taller pieces should be closer to the 55-inch mark so they aren't too high on the wall, while smaller pieces should be closer to the 59-inch mark so they aren't too low.

I hope this will help and remember to always use the proper tools and hooks.

Gail Mayhugh, owner of GMJ Interiors, is a professional interior designer and author of a book on the subject. Questions may be sent by e-mail to: gail@gmjinteriors.com. Or, mail to: 8170 S. Eastern Ave., Box 4-275, Las Vegas, NV 89123. Her Web address is: www.GMJinteriors.com.

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