What is the proper hanging height for oil paintings in a formal home dining room?

eye level

This is what I learned in interior design and told all my clients and others who own artwork:

The center of the picture should be approximately at eye level. When you’re hanging a group of pictures/paintings, the midpoint of the grouping should be at eye level also. This is *usually* about 55 to 57 inches from the floor.

If the art is small, hang it a little lower so it doesn’t get lost on the wall. If you’re hanging art in a kid’s room, remember that their eye level is a little lower so hang it a little lower for them!!! :)

If you’re hanging art over the sofa, above a bed or other piece of furniture, try to keep the art fairly close...about the width of your arm. This pulls the pieces together so they seem blended and work together well.

Good luck!

PROPER is what they said. Have heard it for years

Personally, I place things how and where I LIKE IT.

YOU have to look at it, make yourself happy.

Take the square root of the height of the artwork, times that by the length of your arm (tips of fingers to elbow), and subtract the width of the room (in inches of course) divided by the height of your ceilings. I work in a world famous museum and this is the most common formula we use. Trust me, it sounds absurd, but it really works in almost every application!

Actually even though eye level is acceptable, there is obviously a difference in hieght from person to person. In a gallery the standard height is 60" or 61" to the middle of the painting. That puts it right at about 5 feet making it an average height. If it is only you that enjoys the painting most of the time then hang it at eye level, but if you entertain and enjoy showing off your artwork then you may want to consider hanging at a height everyone can enjoy. By the way I work in an Art school and have had experience with art installations.

The propper way to hang a painting is 63 inches from the !!middle!! of a painting. That way no matter what size the other paintings you might hang they will all be staight ( same propotions from the floor) ..

Trust me mesuring from the middle of a painting is the way to go, I work at an Fine Art Gallery and this is how we hang all of our paintings ( ofcourse with different messurments since all our celings are crazy tall)

good luck use your common sense it should be eye level when standing( again middle of painting)

Precisely eye level. You also want to make sure that the size of the picture is the right size for that wall and whatever it may be hanging over.

I use a special formula based on the rule of thirds and avergae height of the adults in the family. It's a bit complicated to cover in this format, but all the details are available at our site- http://www.scotttribe.com. We have also posted a height hanging calculator to simplify the process - the page describing the principles and link to calculator can be found at http://www.scotttribe.com/content/index.php/Latest/What-height-to-hang-pictures.html

eye level...most people hang their pictures too high.

I heard on one of the many "DIY" shows that the center of the art should be set at 63 inches. Now how did they arrive at this they didnt say but if you follow the other suggestions already posted here and your're a male of average height, 63 would be close to eye level. Guess it depends on your own height some what.

The proper level, as tjatherton says, is eye level. That generally means standing eye level, with the middle of the picture at average eye-level. If the painting is particularly large, you'll need to hang it a little bit higher, so that up to 2/3rd of the painting is above standing eye-level, with about 1/3 below eye level.

The biggest mistake most people make is hanging things too high.

I don't like to say "eye-level" since it is so dependent on random heights and "how you like it" makes sense but does not really answer the question so I would say this:

The center of the paintings should fall between 57" - 63" since that is a fairly common eye level range. In our gallery we use 62" since our ceilings are at about 20 feet and there is plenty of room to stand back. This looks best here. In my home I tend to go more for 60" since the ceilings are lower but I am tall. 60" is still below my eye level but many of my ceilings are only 102" so larger works look funny if I hang too high. If your shorter you might want to hang lower. Also, I think that higher makes a more formal look and lower makes are more intimate/casual look which is another reason galleries and museums tend to hang on the high side.

I personally think there is no right way of doing it. Put it in a place you will see it, probably in the centre of a wall, and at eye level. You dont wanna hang it too low, or too high coz it'l just look wrong. Get someone to help you. Get them to hold it there for you, whilst you step back and admire it, then put it where you think it looks best.

somewhere between 65 and 70 inches

SHOuld be eye level as to how the room will be used. If it's a walking through room like a hall or entry, then it's eye level while standing. If it's in the living or dining room where people will be seated, then it's eye level seated. Doesn't work for the bedroom, though. I always pick how you want to look at it from the bed or to the side of the bed is standing eye level.

64 inches to ths middle of the picture.