When hanging 2 pictures in the bathroom, do I center them on the wall with the door opened or closed?

We love getting questions from our customers about decorating their walls. Here’s a great question Wanda recently asked us, “when I’m hanging 2 pictures on the bathroom wall do I center them in the space with the door opened or closed?”

Here are a couple of things we would consider when deciding where to hang those pictures.

If the door is kept closed

If the door to the bathroom is normally kept closed, then we’d probably hang the pictures so they are centered on the wall with the door closed. This way you are primarily seeing them inside the space and it will feel balanced when you are in the room.

If the door is kept opened

If the door is usually kept open then here are a couple of other questions to consider. How visible is the wall from the rest of the area? And, how often do people go by the doorway in the course of a day? For example, say it’s a powder room that is kept open and in a high traffic area that is passed by people multiple times per day. In this case, you’d want it to look best in this situation, so then you’d make sure that the entire picture is exposed and that it’s centered in the space on the wall that is visible when the door is open. 

If the bathroom is in a less exposed place, for example at the end of a hallway or only visible when you enter from a specific direction, then perhaps centering it on the full wall is a better option.

How do you use the space

Finally, consider how you use the space. For example, if you are in and out of the room, like in a powder room or half bath, then it may be more important that it looks good from the outside. If you spend more time in the space, for example if there is a tub and you could be sitting in it looking at that wall for a period of time, then we’d hang the pictures in the center of the wall. 

Don’t forget the mirror

Consider how the artwork looks reflected in the mirror, whether you see the mirror from outside the room or when you are using the sink. If hanging it off center would mean the reflection in the mirror would be cut off, then perhaps you’d prefer it hung in the center where you’d see the whole thing in the mirror. 

Tip - try different looks

One quick way to visualize your hanging space is to cut out two pieces of paper or card stock the same size as your frames. You can use some pieces of cardboard from a shipping box or table paper. Using painter’s tape so it won’t leave a mark, tape them on the wall in different positions and see what they look like when you walk by the room, you are standing or sitting in the room with the door closed and using the sink. This will help you decide where you want those pictures to end up.

At the end of the day, there is no single right or wrong answer, what makes sense to you is the way to go. Hopefully, these tips will give you a place to start and you will have your pictures up in no time. Happy decorating!

We love designing products to make decorating easy and help people create spaces that bring them joy. Click on the live chat below or email us at: questions@utrdecorating.com, and we’ll do our best to help you Create the home you love™

-The UTR Team