The gallery wall: height, spacing, size and lighting

Height: the centre at eye level

Galleries and museums often follow the convention that the centre of a picture sits about 145 to 152 cm above the floor (57 to 60 inches in English-speaking practice). That matches the eye level of an adult. The advantage of the convention: pictures of different sizes share a common centre line and the wall looks calm.

It is a convention, not a rule. Adjust it to the room:

• in a dining room or sitting room, where people mostly sit, the centre can be lower,
• on a staircase the height moves with the stairs,
• above furniture the furniture decides (see below).

Hanging at the right height

1. Measure the height of the framed picture and halve it.
2. Measure how far the hook or the taut hanging wire sits below the top of the frame.
3. Point on the wall = 148 cm + half the picture height − the distance from hook to top edge.

Example: a frame 70 cm high, wire pulled taut 8 cm below the top edge → 148 + 35 − 8 = 175 cm from the floor.

Above furniture

For a picture above a sofa, chest of drawers or bed, the usual advice is:

• a gap of 15–25 cm between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the frame, so that picture and furniture read as one,
• a picture or group width of about two thirds of the furniture width (roughly 60–75%). A much narrower picture looks lost; one wider than the furniture overloads the wall.

A sofa 200 cm wide can therefore take a picture or group 120 to 150 cm wide. A single 50 × 70 cm photograph (50 cm wide in portrait orientation) is too small above it; two or three side by side, or a 70 × 100 cm print in landscape, work better. Try it in the Size on the wall tool.

The gallery wall

Grid — identical frames with identical spacing. It looks calm and architectural, and suits a series of photographs.

Salon hang — different sizes and frames in a looser arrangement. It holds together if:

• the group has a shared outer outline (an imaginary rectangle) hung to the same height convention as a single picture,
• the gaps between frames are equal, typically 5 to 8 cm,
• the largest or darkest picture is not at the edge but nearer the middle,
• the frames share one element: colour, material or mount.

Without unnecessary holes

1. Lay the frames out on the floor and photograph the arrangement.
2. Cut templates the size of the frames from wrapping paper and mark the hook position on them.
3. Stick the templates to the wall with masking tape and leave them for a day or two.
4. Drill through the marked points on the templates.

Lighting

Light must show the photograph, not damage it.

• No direct sunlight. The Library of Congress recommends limiting exposure to light; the sun is the most intense source of both light and UV radiation in a home.
• Not on an outside wall, above a radiator or fireplace, or in a bathroom. The NEDCC warns of condensation, heat and swings in humidity.
• Light angle: position the light so that it falls from above at an angle (galleries often cite about 30° from the vertical). The reflection then goes towards the floor, not into your eyes.
• Colour rendering: choose a source with a high colour rendering index (CRI 90 or above) and the same colour temperature for the whole wall.
• Glare from a window opposite is solved by anti-reflective glass, or by a matt print without glass (canvas).

Before you hang an original

Display irreplaceable family originals behind UV-filtering glass and out of the sun — or hang a copy and keep the original in an archival box. The method is in Storing photographs.