Pro tip: I stopped using a level for picture frames and it looks way better

For years, I'd hang a picture by getting it perfectly level with my little 9-inch tool. Then I noticed all my frames looked a bit off because my old house floors and ceilings aren't straight (built in 1952, you know how it is). About six months ago, I started just hanging them by eye, lining them up with a door frame or a shelf instead of the bubble. The visual line matters more than the true level. Now my gallery wall actually looks right. Anyone else ditch the level for hanging stuff in a crooked room?

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.ruby1mo ago

Wait you used a level for single picture frames? I mean I get it for a gallery wall but idk that seems like a lot of work for one thing. Maybe it's just me but I always just eyeball it.

fionaf191mo ago

Honestly, it's the only way. My eyes are liars, especially on old plaster walls. I'll stare at a frame for ten minutes, step back, and it's clearly sloping. The level takes thirty seconds and saves me from that slow, annoying tilt that drives me crazy later. It's less work than redoing it three times.

gonzalez.vera2d ago

My dad was a carpenter and he always said your eyeball is the worst tool in the box. I hung a frame once without a level and it drove me nuts for three years until I finally fixed it. The tilt was maybe half a degree but every time I walked past I could see it. Now I use a little 6 inch level that lives in my junk drawer and it takes literally 10 seconds. Honestly the whole "eyeballing it" thing works great until the ONE time it doesn't and then you're staring at a crooked picture forever. I'd rather spend the extra 10 seconds than have that nagging feeling every morning with my coffee.