The wall beside a staircase is often the biggest uninterrupted wall in a house. It is tall, it is seen every day, and it is usually empty, because nobody is sure how to hang pictures on a wall where the floor is at an angle.
The answer is one idea. Once you have it, the rest is measuring.
The rule: follow the stairs
On a flat floor, pictures hang at a constant height, with their centres about 57 inches up. On a staircase, the floor rises. So the pictures rise with it.
Imagine a line on the wall that runs parallel to the stairs, 57 to 60 inches above the front edge of each step. That line is the eye level of a person walking up. The centre of your arrangement sits on that line. As the stairs climb, so does the art, at the same angle.
That is the whole principle. Each picture is hung level. The group as a whole runs up the slope.
Marking the line
- At the bottom step, measure 57 inches straight up from the front edge of the tread and make a light pencil mark on the wall.
- At the top step, do the same.
- Join the two marks with a length of string or a line of painter's tape.
That taped line is your guide. It will be parallel to the handrail and the skirting. Check it by measuring up from a step in the middle.
If the wall is very tall, or the people in the house are, use 60 inches. See the 57-inch rule.
Three layouts
1. The stepped row
Pictures of the same size, in a single row, each one a step higher than the last. The centre of each sits on the line.
- Use matching frames and equal gaps.
- Space them by the stairs: one picture for every two or three steps keeps the rhythm.
- The result is orderly and calm. It is the easiest layout to get right.
Three to five portrait pieces of 12 × 16 or 16 × 20 inches suit a normal flight. All our canvases and posters are portrait, which suits a stair wall well.
2. The gallery cluster
Pictures of mixed sizes, arranged as a band that runs up the stairs. The line passes through the middle of the band. Some pieces sit above it and some below.
- Start with the largest piece, near the middle of the flight, centred on the line.
- Build outwards, up and down the stairs, keeping the gaps even: 2 to 3 inches.
- Keep the outer edge of the whole group roughly parallel to the stairs, top and bottom, so that it forms a slanted band and not a cloud.
- Link the pieces by frame colour, palette or subject.
This is livelier and takes more planning. See building a gallery wall and mixing canvas, framed prints and posters.
3. The single statement
One large piece, or a pair, on the tallest part of the wall, usually at a landing or where the stairs turn. A big canvas or a tapestry suits the height.
- Centre it on the wall space, at a height where it is seen well from the stairs and from the hall below.
- It needs no line. Treat it as a picture on a tall wall.
This is the simplest of the three, and it is safer to hang than a wall of frames.
Plan it on paper first
A stair wall is hard to reach. You don't want to move a nail twice.
- Trace each frame on paper and cut it out. Mark on each where the hook or wire sits.
- Tape the paper shapes to the wall with painter's tape, following the line.
- Walk up and down. Look from the hall and from the landing. Move the shapes until it looks right.
- Nail through the mark on each paper, then tear the paper away.
It is slower. It saves a wall full of holes. See how to measure a wall for art.
Spacing
- Between frames: 2 to 4 inches, the same throughout.
- From the handrail or the skirting: at least 6 to 8 inches, so that hands and shoulders don't brush the frames.
- From the ceiling and corners: 6 inches or more.
- Don't stretch a few pictures along the whole flight with large gaps between. A tighter group, covering the middle two-thirds of the wall, looks better.
What to hang on a stair wall
- Light pieces. Canvas is the best choice. It weighs little, and it has no glass to break if it is knocked. Framed prints are fine if they are fixed firmly.
- Things that read quickly. People pass a staircase. They don't stand in front of it. Bold, clear pictures work better than fine detail.
- A set. A stairway suits a series: pieces in one palette, or on one theme.
A row of blue pieces makes a good stair set: Blue Mountain Fog, Frost Owl, Cosmic Deer, Blue Crow and Wolf Pack. Or a run of cities: Starlight City, Space Cityscape on the Shore and Cosmic Frosted City Skyline.
Fixing them so they stay put
A staircase is a place where people brush past, bags swing and feet thump.
- Two fixing points per picture. A frame on one nail will be crooked within a week on a stair wall.
- Bumpers at the bottom corners stop frames tilting and protect the paint. Our canvases come with them.
- Proper anchors. Use a screw in a stud, or a wall anchor rated well above the weight. Avoid adhesive strips here. See hanging a large canvas.
- A dab of removable putty behind each bottom corner holds a frame level.
- Nothing that sticks out into the stairway at shoulder or head height.
Working safely
This matters more than the art. A fall on a staircase is serious.
- Never stand an ordinary stepladder on the stairs. Its feet will be on different levels.
- Use a ladder made for stairs, with adjustable legs, or a multi-position ladder set up as its maker directs.
- Have a second person to hold the ladder and pass things up.
- Keep the stairs clear of tools and frames.
- For the high part of a tall stairwell, hire someone with the right equipment. It is a short job for them.
If you can't reach a section of wall safely, leave it bare, or use a single large piece at a height you can reach.
Lighting
Stairwells are often dim. A wall light or two, or a row of small spotlights on the ceiling above, lights the pictures and makes the stairs safer. Check that frames with a shiny cover don't catch the glare of a window or a bare bulb as you come down. Canvas and matte prints avoid the problem.
Landings and turns
- A landing is a flat floor, so the ordinary rule applies there: centres at 57 inches, level.
- Where the stairs turn, end one sloping group before the corner and start the next after it. Don't wrap frames tight into the corner.
- The wall facing you at the top of the stairs is the best spot in the house for a single strong piece. You walk straight towards it.
Common mistakes
- A level row on a sloping stair. The first picture is at knee height and the last is at the ceiling, relative to the steps.
- Frames hung at an angle to match the slope. Each frame must be level.
- Uneven gaps.
- Too small. A stair wall is big. Small frames look scattered.
- One nail each.
For other passages, see hallway and entryway wall art. Browse the canvas art and framed posters collections.