When we are installing pictures we get asked one question more than any other – why don’t you line up the tops or bottoms of the pictures? I will try to explain.

We have all heard it said that when hanging pictures the tops or the bottoms of the pictures should be aligned. My experience is that if you do install like this it all looks wrong. The only time that it looks right is when the pictures are all the same height.

From my experience it is best to line up the centres of all the pictures. Our eyes are very good at reading things lined up in this way. If the pictures in a line vary by the same amount to the top and to the bottom then we will interpret this as being in balance and generally we will interpret this as looking right.

This also applies to pictures in the same room/area not just in a line. Our eyes are very good at assessing when pictures near to each other are hung at the same height.

To calculate the height of the hanger above the floor, first decide on the height of the centre line – say 1550 mm above the floor to this add half the height of the picture and then take off the distance from the top of the frame to the hanger. I will be explaining more about how to install pictures in another news item in the future.

I hope that you have found this helpful.