How to hang your set

Two strips of tape. Five marks. About half an hour, and nothing to clean up afterwards.

1The layout

The five framed prints in two rows: two large pieces on top, three below, 45½ inches wide by 33 inches tall with four-inch gaps.

45½ inches wide, 33 tall. Four-inch gaps throughout.

Two things are deliberate: the wide landscape on the right extends four inches lower than the two small pieces, and the top row is inset at each end — which lines its gap up exactly with the one below it.

2How high

The set hung above a bed, its bottom edge six to eight inches above the headboard, spanning about three-quarters of the bed width.

The set is sized for a queen. At 45½ inches it spans about three-quarters of a 60-inch bed, which is the proportion that looks right. Above a full it will look wide, and above a twin it will be wider than the bed — both of those suit a dresser or a clear stretch of wall better.

Below the set Gap above it
A bed headboard 6–8 in
A console or dresser 6–10 in
Nothing centre the set 57 in above the floor

Two checks. Measure your headboard from the floor first. Under about 45 inches, the set clears a standard eight-foot ceiling comfortably — keep its top at least 10 inches below the ceiling. Above that, the set crowds the ceiling, and it will hang better over a dresser or a clear stretch of wall. And if it's a bed people sit up and read in, add an inch or two so nobody meets a frame with the back of their head.

3Mark it out

Two strips of painter's tape with five numbered nail marks: two on the upper strip, three on the lower, one of which sits lower than the others.

Nothing gets drawn on your wall. You mark two strips of 2-inch painter's tape — flat on a table, where measuring is easy — then stick them up.

  1. Tear two strips of tape, about 50 inches each. Lay them flat.
  2. Mark them as below. Along is measured from the left end of the tape, down from its top edge.
Mark Strip Along Down
1 1 14¾ in ¼ in
2 1 35¼ in ¼ in
3 2 5¼ in ¼ in
4 2 19¾ in ¼ in
5 2 37¼ in 1½ in
  1. Stick strip 1 on the wall with its top edge 3 inches below where you want the top of the set. Level it. Its left end is the left edge of the whole arrangement.
  2. Stick strip 2 with its top edge 19¼ inches below strip 1's top edge.
  3. Nail through the marks, biggest picture first.
  4. Peel the tape off.

Why mark 5 sits lower. The three larger frames hang 3¼ inches below their top edge; the two small ones hang 2 inches below theirs. Dropping that one nail by 1¼ inches is what brings all three bottom-row tops level.

Nailing through tape also stops paint and plaster chipping around the hole.

Good to know

Your set arrives in two parcels. Framed pieces travel in boxes of up to three, so the five come in two deliveries. Nothing is missing — check the second tracking number.

A wrong hole takes two minutes to fill. Everyone gets one.

Damaged in transit? Photograph the frame and the box and email hello@mauvegabriel.com. We'll replace it, and you keep the original.

Take your turn — $399 for the five, free shipping across the United States.

Mauve & Gabriel