How to Hang Two Picture Frames Over a Desk

Hanging pictures is easy when you have the right tools and some handy tips and help. We’re here to help you recreate the kind of beautiful wall displays you’ve seen in your favorite design magazines or TV shows, right in your own home!

Here, we’re showing how to hang two identical picture frames above a desk. The same how-to steps could be used to hang two frames above a hutch, a console table, a dresser, or any other similar piece of furniture.

For this example, we’ve started with a long narrow table desk. The first step is to make sure that your desk is placed exactly where you want it before you start hammering nails in walls. You’ll be using the furniture to center your artwork, so be sure that it is placed properly, otherwise your frames will no longer be aligned.

We played around with the spacing by sitting the frames directly on the table. We started by placing the frames close together but it didn’t look quite right, so we moved them around a bit and found that the spacing looked best when we centered each frame in relation to the desk’s drawers.

The next task is to determine how much space to leave between the bottom of the frames and the top of the table. Decide what kind of items you’ll be displaying on your desk and then test drive the height by sitting at the desk while someone holds one the pictures up for you. We knew that we’d have a computer, plants and a lamp sitting on the desk and we wanted to be able to appreciate the artwork from a sitting position without having to look up. The frames looked best when placed approximately 9 inches from the table to the bottom of the frames, so we marked that length with a piece of painter’s tape.

My partner placed the first frame on Hang & Level, centered it with the middle of the drawer, and hung it so its bottom would be right over the spot marked with painter’s tape for the height. I stood back and guided him as he hung the frame.  We first put up the frame on the left simply because I’m right-handed and it made it easier to use Hang & Level to hang the second frame.

We then placed Anchor Points on the bottom corners of the frame, leveled it with the small vial sitting on top, and pushed the bottom of the frame to anchor the points into the wall so it will stay nice and straight.

Next, I held the second frame using Hang & Level and visually lined it up with the other frame already on the wall.

Once the tops of the two frames are lined up, remove the frame from the tool while keeping the tool in place and push the two buttons to mark exactly where the nails should go.  We used two Déco Nails to hold the picture wire as it makes it easier to adjust the frames and is also safer as it’s able to support more weight.

We placed Anchor Points on the bottom of the second frame, just like what we did with the first frame.

Voilà! Done! And it looks perfect the first time, without any extra holes in the wall.

Was this helpful?  If you have any questions regarding this “how to” or other picture hanging situations, please contact us. We’re here to help!

At Under The Roof Decorating, we make picture hanging easy. Our innovative products and helpful tips make it simple to hang almost anything wherever you want – and get it right the first time!