The Edit — Art & Décor
How to Hang a Gallery Wall, Step by Step
The arithmetic is the easy half. The order of operations is what stops you from putting 14 holes in a wall to hang 9 frames, and the paper template method is the reason professionals only drill once.
This guide is research-led: we have not handled these units ourselves. If you buy through our links we may earn a commission — it never changes a pick.Research-led, nothing handled. We may earn from links; it never changes a pick. How we choose
This is the paper-template method as published in hanging-hardware instructions and standard gallery practice, read against where people consistently report going wrong. It is ordered so that the number of holes equals the number of frames, and the 2 products shown are ranked as how we choose describes. Nothing here was performed.
Stepcool 225 Piece Picture Hanging Kit
Good fit You are hanging a group rather than one frame
Not for You have 1 picture and a hook already
upsimples 16x20 Picture Frames, Gallery Set of 5
Good fit A uniform grid is the look you want
Not for The arrangement is meant to look collected over time
Step 1: Lay the whole group out on the floor
Clear a floor area the size of the wall and arrange all 9 frames on it. The floor is the only stage where moving a picture costs nothing, so it is where every decision belongs.
Two arrangements work and a third does not. A grid uses identical frames at identical gaps and reads as deliberate. A salon hang uses mixed sizes around a strong central axis and reads as collected. A scatter of mixed sizes at varying gaps reads as a mistake, because the eye looks for an organising rule and finds none.
Photograph the layout from directly above once you like it. That photograph is the reference for the rest of the procedure, and you will need it after the frames come off the floor.
Step 2: Fix the gap and keep it constant
Set the gap between frames at 2 to 3 inches and use the same figure everywhere. Tighter than 2 and the group reads as a single crowded block; wider than 3 and it stops reading as one object.
Cut a spacer to that width from cardboard rather than measuring each gap. A physical spacer is faster than a tape measure and it does not accumulate error across 9 frames the way repeated measuring does.
For a salon hang, hold the gap constant even when the frames are not. Uniform spacing is what makes mixed sizes look intentional.
upsimples 16x20 Picture Frames, Gallery Set of 5
72,652 ratings at 4.6, sold as a matched set of 5, which removes the hardest decision in step 1.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Size | 16x20 in |
|---|---|
| Set | 5 frames |
| Evidence | 72,652 ratings |
72,652 ratings at 4.6 is the deeper owner record of the 2 here, and buying 5 matching frames at once removes the step-1 decision most people find hardest.
The trade is deliberate uniformity. A matched grid is a strong, calm look, and it is the opposite of the collected-over-years effect a salon hang produces.
Buy it if
- A uniform grid is the look you want
- You would rather not source 5 matching frames
Don't buy it if
- The arrangement is meant to look collected over time
Step 3: Cut a paper template for every frame
Trace each frame onto kraft paper or newspaper and cut it out. Write the frame’s name on the template, because 9 rectangles of similar size become indistinguishable within about 2 minutes.
This is the step people skip and it is the step that saves the wall. Templates let you test the arrangement at eye level, where it will actually live, without a single hole.
Step 4: Find the hook offset on each frame, one at a time
The hook offset is where most gallery walls go wrong. A hook does not sit where the top of the frame sits; it sits lower by the 1 to 2 inches the hanging wire drops when pulled taut.
Turn the frame over, pull the wire up toward the top edge as tightly as it will go, and measure from the taut wire down to the top of the frame. That figure is the offset, and it differs on every frame even within a matched set.
Write each offset on that frame’s template. Then mark a cross on the template that distance below its top edge, which is where the drill goes.
Step 5: Centre the arrangement at 57 inches
Treat the whole group as 1 rectangle and find its centre. That centre sits 57 inches from the floor, which is the standard gallery and museum eye line.
Above a sofa or a console the wall stops being the reference. Leave 6 to 8 inches between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the lowest frame, and let the group rise from there.
Step 6: Tape the templates up and live with them for a day
Use low-tack painter’s tape and put every template on the wall in position. Then leave the room and come back to it.
Two things surface overnight that do not surface in the first 5 minutes. One is that the group sits low, which is the most common error and comes from working while standing close to the wall. The other is that a doorway or a light switch is fighting the arrangement.
Adjust the paper, not your memory of what looked right on the floor.
Step 7: Drill through the paper, then tear it away
Drive the fixing straight through the cross on the template. The paper holds the position while you work and it catches most of the dust.
Tear the template away afterward and hang that frame before moving to the next. Working frame by frame means an error costs 1 hole rather than 9.
Stepcool 225 Piece Picture Hanging Kit
4.7 across 7,161 ratings, and 225 pieces is the right order of magnitude for a 9-frame group with spares.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Pieces | 225 |
|---|---|
| Watch | Weight ratings are per hook |
| Evidence | 7,161 ratings |
4.7 across 7,161 ratings, and the reason a 225-piece kit suits this job is that a gallery wall consumes hardware in a way a single picture does not.
Check the weight rating per fixing rather than for the kit. Ratings in these kits are per hook and they are stated for drywall, so a heavy frame in plaster needs a different fixing entirely.
Buy it if
- You are hanging a group rather than one frame
- You want spares for the fixings you get wrong
Don't buy it if
- You have 1 picture and a hook already
The 4 errors that account for most of them
Hung too low is the most common, and 57 inches to the centre is the fix. Gaps that vary turn a group into a scatter, and a cardboard spacer prevents it. Hook offset ignored puts every frame 1 to 2 inches below where the template said, which is visible immediately across a group. And drilling before living with the templates is what makes the other three permanent.
The arithmetic behind the 57-inch convention, the formula for a single picture and what the weight ratings actually cover is in hanging art, by the measurements. The frames themselves are ranked in the picture frame shortlist, and scented candles as gifts covers the other thing that ends up on the shelf below a finished wall.
Prices, savings and deal badges are Amazon's own, read from Amazon within the last hour. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Keep reading
Compared
Best Picture Frames 2026: Glass vs Acrylic, Ranked5 of these 6 frames ship with plastic where buyers expect glass.
Explainer
Hanging Art: The Measurements Nobody Gives YouHang the centre of the picture 57 inches from the floor, and 6 to 8 inches above a sofa back rather than centred on the wall.
Explainer
Framing: What Actually Protects a PrintThree things decide whether a print survives: ultraviolet-filtering glazing, an acid-free and lignin-free mount, and a gap so the paper never touches the glass.