These are typical supplies for this project — double-check sizes and quantities for your space.
The reason gallery walls look wrong is almost always that they are hung too high. This puts the nail exactly where it needs to go, using the same rule galleries and museums use.
How it works
Art is hung so that its center sits at 57 inches from the floor — average eye level, and the standard that museums use. The nail, though, does not go at the center of the picture: it goes at the center height, plus half the frame's height, minus the distance the wire or hanger drops below the top of the frame. So nail height = 57 + (frame height ÷ 2) − hanger drop.
Example
A 24-inch-tall frame whose wire pulls 3 inches below the top: the top of the frame lands at 69 inches, and the nail goes at 66 inches.
Tips & common mistakes
Hang art at 57 inches to the center, not to the top of the frame, and not 'about level with the top of the sofa'. Almost every DIY gallery wall in existence is hung too high, and this is why.
Over furniture, leave 6 to 8 inches between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame so the art relates to the furniture rather than floating above it.
Pull the wire taut with your finger before measuring the drop. The distance it hangs when slack is not the distance it will hang when the picture is on the wall.
Lay the whole arrangement out on the floor first, and cut paper templates to tape up before you touch a hammer. Nail holes are cheap to make and tedious to hide.
Frequently asked questions
How high should you hang pictures?
So the center of the picture is 57 inches from the floor. That is average eye level and the standard used by galleries and museums.
How high do you hang art above a sofa?
Leave 6 to 8 inches between the top of the sofa back and the bottom of the frame. Any higher and the art stops feeling connected to the furniture.
How far apart should gallery wall frames be?
Two to three inches between frames, kept consistent. The eye reads the whole arrangement as one piece when the gaps match, and as clutter when they do not.