Donna O'Donoghue

1. Introduction: Stop Making “Swiss Cheese” Walls

I’ve seen a lot of people hang art by “feel” and end up with what I call a Swiss cheese wall — holes everywhere, frames that aren’t straight, and pieces scattered so the whole room feels a bit unsettled.

The fix isn’t complicated. Hanging art is mostly about a few simple measurements and doing things in the right order. Once you’ve got those down, your walls instantly look more intentional — like you meant it — and your art gets to be the hero.

Here are five rules I use over and over.

2. Takeaway 1: The Magic Number is 150cm

The most common mistake in homes is hanging art too high. When it floats up near the ceiling it feels disconnected from the furniture, and the room never quite looks “finished”.

Use this as your baseline:

Measure 150cm from the floor to the centre of the artwork. Not the top of the frame — the centre.

That one rule fixes most hanging issues straight away because it anchors the art to human eye level.

If you’re hanging a gallery wall or a group of frames, use the same rule — but apply it to the centre of the whole arrangement, not each frame individually.

3. Takeaway 2: Use Two Hooks So It Doesn’t Go Wonky

If you hang a frame from one hook, it will move. People walk past, doors close, the wall vibrates, you dust it… and suddenly it’s crooked again.

For anything more than a small, lightweight piece, use two hooks. It keeps the frame level and stops it twisting over time. It also spreads the load so you’re not relying on one fixing point.

A simple way to set this up:

• Pull the wire up as if the frame is hanging (so it’s under tension).

• Find two equal points on the wire (same distance out from the centre).

• Measure from the top of the frame down to the wire while it’s pulled tight.

• Use that measurement to place your two hooks evenly.

It’s a little more effort upfront, but you’ll stop fighting with crooked art forever.

4. Takeaway 3: The Floor is Your Dress Rehearsal

If you’re hanging more than one piece, don’t start on the wall.

Lay everything out on the floor first. This is where you work out the balance, spacing, and the overall “feel” without making holes.

Start with your main piece (your anchor) and build outward from there.

Once you’ve got a layout you like:

• Mark the outside edges on the wall with masking tape (top, bottom, left, right).

• Make sure there’s roughly even breathing space around the group so it doesn’t feel shoved to one side.

This step is what makes a gallery wall look curated instead of chaotic.

5. Takeaway 4: Wire Drop and Hook Placement (Where Most People Mess It Up)

This is the part that catches people out.

When you hang from wire, you need to measure the wire drop — the distance from the top of the frame down to where the wire sits when it’s pulled tight.

If you don’t account for that, you’ll mark your wall, hang the frame… and it’ll land lower than you planned.

Also, remember this:

Your pencil mark represents where the wire will sit — but the nail doesn’t go there.

With a picture hook, the nail hole is above the hook itself. So when you’re placing the hook:

• Line the bottom of the hook up with your pencil mark

• Then hammer the nail through the hole above it

That keeps your centre-point accurate and stops the “why is it sitting low?” problem.

6. Takeaway 5: The 2/3 Rule for Scale

Even perfectly hung art can look wrong if it’s the wrong size for what’s under it.

A simple proportion rule that works:

Your artwork (or your grouping) should be about two-thirds the width of the furniture it’s sitting above.

So if you’ve got a large couch and one small frame, it’ll look lost. Either go bigger, or group pieces so they read as one solid “block” of art.

Spacing matters too. Keep the gaps consistent — around 7cm to 15cm — so the group reads as one intentional collection.

7. Conclusion: A Few Centimeters Changes Everything

When art is hung properly, you stop noticing the mechanics. The room feels calmer, more finished, and the art has space to do its job.

If something in your home feels “off”, don’t assume you need new decor. Often it’s just placement.

Walk through your space and look for the usual culprits:

• art sitting too high

• a piece floating with nothing anchoring it

• frames that keep twisting

• a grouping that’s too tight on one side

Sometimes moving a frame a few centimeters is the difference between “cluttered” and “curated”.

At the end of the day, the art you’ve bought is yours to enjoy however you want.

These guidelines will help if you want your walls to feel more balanced and pulled together, but they’re not rules you have to follow. If you love a piece sitting higher, lower, off-center, or layered in with other treasures, that’s the right choice too.

Your home isn’t a gallery. It’s your space. Hang your art in a way that makes you feel good every time you walk past it.