Hanging Your Art

Let's start with some guidelines for art height. The "rule" is that on an open wall you typically want the CENTER of your piece of art to be 57"-60" off the floor. We wish we could tell you "just center it at 58.5 and walk away" but it's not that cut and dry. Some things to keep in mind:

  • Larger vertical pieces (40x60 and up) tend to look great a little lower.
  • You need to pay attention to the rest of the room so it flows with the space.
  • The height of the viewer matters, too (that's you).
  • If you are installing over a piece of furniture or other decoration, consider installing 6-8" over the top of it.

Aluminum pieces come either taped face down on cardboard or sandwiched and strapped within multiple pieces. Be careful handling it while removing and hanging. Use both hands and hold it by the mount as much as possible. At this stage, they are vulnerable to bending and creasing along the edges of the attached mount. You'll need to access the back of the piece, so lay it face down somewhere safe.

Step 1: Find the distance from the top edge of the art to the mount.

Aluminum with a Float Mount: On the back of your artwork, measure the distance from the top edge down to the mounting hole.

Aluminum with Inset or Flush Mount, Lumachrome with Gallery Mount: On the back, hold the cleat in place where/how it will tuck into the mount and measure the distance from the top edge of the artwork down to the middle of the hole in the mount (see image).

Framed Aluminum: Pull the hanging wire upwards until tight and measure the distance from the top of the frame to the wire at the highest point.

Framed Lumachrome: Measure from the top of the frame down to a d-ring on either side.

Write that down!

Step 2: Find the height for your art.

Using a pencil, find and mark the center of the wall, up 57" from the floor.

From that mark, go straight up half the height of your artwork and make another mark. Use a long level if you have it, or re-measure the wall to ensure you are still centered.

If you have help, have someone hold the art with the top edge at that 2nd mark and see what you think. If you don't have help, you can cut some of the shipping cardboard to the same size as your art and put it on the wall. This is the standard 57" on center location.

Go up or down to your desired height and make another mark on the wall at the top edge of the art (and ensure it's centered again). Leave the original centered and 57" high mark for now, but if you've adjusted the height, erase the now incorrect top height mark.

Step 3: Attach mount(s) to the wall.

From the final mark you just made in step 2, measure straight down the distance you wrote down from step 1. Stay centered!

Aluminum with a Float Mount: Drill hole, install anchor, install screw and hang. Don't use a picture hanging hook, they don't sit well between the teeth of the mount. Supplies are not included, but they are lightweight so any anchors and screws you have laying around will do.

Aluminum with Inset or Flush Mount, Lumachrome with Gallery Mount (up to 45" wide or so): Place a level on this new mark, find level and extend your mark into a line perhaps 6" wide. Hold the cleat on the wall (roughly centered, it doesn't have to be perfect) and align the holes in the cleat with this line on the wall. Using your level underneath the cleat, get your cleat level. Mark the center of the holes. Drill holes, install anchors, install cleat semi-tight to where you can still adjust it by hand, find level again with the level under the cleat and gently tighten. Supplies included!

Aluminum with Inset or Flush Mount, Lumachrome with Gallery Mount (over 45" wide): Place a longer level on this new mark, find level and extend your mark into a line 30" wide, roughly centered. From the center mark, measure 12" over both directions and mark. For each of these wider marks, hold the cleat on the wall (roughly centered, it doesn't have to be perfect) and align the holes in the cleat with this line on the wall. Using your level underneath the cleat, get your cleat level. Mark the center of the holes. Drill holes, install anchors, install cleats semi-tight to where you can still adjust them by hand. Now, using your longer level ensure the two cleats are level to one another. Hold the level in place and tighten the cleats down gently.

Aluminum or Lumachrome Multi Panel Arrangements: Place a long level on this new mark, find level and extend your mark into a line slightly less wide than your artwork, roughly centered. From the center mark, measure over the width of one panel PLUS the gap you want between two pieces and mark. I usually go for a 1.5" gap. Do this in both directions. For each of these wider marks, hold the cleat on the wall (roughly centered, it doesn't have to be perfect) and align the holes in the cleat with this line on the wall. Using your level underneath the cleat, get your cleat level. Mark the center of the holes. Drill holes, install anchors, install cleats semi-tight to where you can still adjust them by hand. Now, using your long level ensure all the cleats are level to one another. Hold the level in place and tighten the cleats down gently.

For all art mounted using wall cleats, you will have a good amount of side to side adjustability to get them centered, adjust your gaps, etc. For lumachromes, if you need more adjustment to get the art level, try layers or painters or masking tape on either end of the cleat.

Optional Inset Mount or Flush mount lock: Once your art is hung, mark the bottom of the art roughly center. Remove art and carefully lay flat face down. Measure from the bottom of the art up to the CENTER of the gap built into the mount. This is where the lock will engage with the mount to secure it. Measure up that distance from your mark and make one final mark. Erase the bottom mark. Drill, install anchor, screw in lock using the included wrench. Leave it proud of the wall approximately 1/2" and with the 'T' bar lock parallel to the floor. Hang your art. Using the wrench, reach it up behind the art from the bottom and gently turn the lock clockwise 1/8th of a turn. Be mindful that turning it too far can cause the art to lose level.

Framed Aluminum: Install appropriately sized hanging hook or anchor and screw at mark and hang from wire.

Framed Lumachrome: Precision is important here. Place a long level on your mark, find level and extend your mark into a line slightly less wide than your artwork, centered.

Accurately measure the distance between the two d-rings on the back of the frame, using the inside of the 'peak' of the ring where you the screw will sit and divide by two. Using this distance, make a small accurate mark in both directions out from center.

Carefully drill a small pilot hole on this mark for accuracy, then drill an appropriately sized hole for your anchor. Screw your anchor in perpendicular to the wall so it installs nice and flat and as close to the original mark as possible. Screw in screws and hang, d-rings onto the screws. They can be 'adjusted' slightly with a hammer if needed.

All done? Great work, how's it look? If you want to maximize its potential, check out our guide on Lighting Your Art.

If you get stuck or want me to install it for you, don't hesitate to email me!