The way you have the pictures arranged (in front of the sofa) is the way they should be hung. The open space of each pic meeting in the middle.

Be sure the back seat cushions of your sofa are fluffed to be as even as possible, because if one cushion is a little lower your pictures will never look even. Hang one and then expect to fiddle with the wire on the back of the second one, or Check Pinterest for lots of ideas in how to hang them evenly.

Just measure from either the floor or ceiling to hanger and put it up where you want. Then, use that as a guide for the second. You can measure the and add the one inch difference No big deal if you do not get it right the first time. The holes will be covered by the canvases. I always hang my art that way. I just eyeball it.

Lovely prints and they go with your room so nicely!!

I do it just like artillery. Use a 4' level (or even a yard stick or similar straight edge) across the tops to make sure they are perfectly straight, then a gob of poster putty behind the bottom of the frames to keep them that way :)

Super nice prints.

You can also trace their outline on brown paper--or any kind of paper, tack that up and play w/placement.

Another thing, you want to hang them low enough so they visually connect w/the sofa below.

This post was edited by chijim on Sun, Jan 11, 15 at 17:46

maddielee - Thanks for your insight on keeping the tree trunks to the outer sides of the prints. Also, good tip on keeping the attached upper back pillows on the sofa fluffed to keep them as even as possible.

aktillery - I agree, the holes will be covered if I make a mistake.
Glad to hear you think these go nicely with the room. I really like the colors & the calm feeling of them. Also, I feel there needed to be something larger/wider up there above the sofa.

Errant - I do have a long level that will be very important for doing this. Yes, when I'm done, I've got to put something behind those bottom corners to keep the prints from shifting.

nightowlrn - Thank you. I'm excited to have something new up there. Little girl with geese will be used somewhere else in the house.

chijim - Yes. Before I purchased these, I did just what you suggested (using paper) and it was a big help.
I am so glad that you mentioned bringing them lower towards the top of the sofa. In my previous post where I show pics of the paper mock up placement, it was mentioned to bring them lower.
I value your opinion in confirming this for me. Thank you!

Still waiting to see if anyone has ever tried adjustable picture hanging hooks.

Nope, I've never used the adjustable hooks. Why not just Horton the wire on the one?

I'd adjust the wire so it's the same distance from the top (or bottom) of each picture. That makes hanging easy.

Lazygardens is right. Is there some reason you cannot make the wire of one print match the other?

I love the prints.

I don't worry about the wire, where it hangs, Find the dead center on the prints and mark with white pencil (the edge is painted black), line the prints against the wall exactly how you want them, level and all, and mark a dot with a pencil at the center top where you drew the white mark. (Use a rubber eraser when you are all done to remove the dot.)

Measure like you did from the top to the wire held very taut. Then put another dot below the first dot at that point. This is where the hook goes (not where the nails go). hang the paintings and give each a good firm tug downward, to set the wire (it is going to sag after a time, better to get it done with now). Adjust one of the hooks if need be.

I honestly believe the prints were meant to go either way, and the branches do not have to 'line up'. In the way you have it, it is like looking out of the cabin window at a misty lake in the a.m. Hung the other way, you are peeking out through a copses at the unending fields. One emphasizes the mist in the distance, the other the trees are brought into focus, though in the second one I would hang them a little further apart. Your choice, really.

This is a diptych, or two separate paintings meant to go together, not a panorama photograph that happened to be cut in two and that is suppose to line up. I rather prefer it the second way, because it is an infinity, the other is closed in, or cozy, if you like.

This post was edited by Lilylore on Mon, Jan 12, 15 at 3:55

I like them with the trees together- it draws my eye to the center.
I find the "bookend effect" with them farther apart to be distracting- my eye wants to go to the center but there's nothing there..

Errant, lazygardens, & emmarene - Thanks. Yes, I think I will need to make the wire match the one on the other print. I will need to unscrew the D-rings & move them up or down so that both prints can be hung the same.

cearbhaill - Thank you for expressing your preference of having the trees closer together (trunks towards center). You & Lilylore seem to prefer them that way & a few people on my original post agreed.

Lilylore - I appreciate your detailed & thoughtful response. It gives me a lot to think about. I am glad you posted the prints in the two configurations. Thank you!

I will read your post several times and apply your measuring technique.
Your visual descriptions of each configuration inspires me.

If I understand correctly, you suggest that if I choose to have both prints so that the trunks are towards the center, it would look better for the prints to be slightly more apart. I would tend to agree with you on that. My thoughts were: it looks like a very small mound of soil/leaves at the bottom when the prints are only 2" apart. If I make them 3-4" apart, the mound looks wider and more natural.

Nothing to add except that I hung 3 pictures side by side and behind those 3 pictures are 11 holes that I hammered into the wall while trying to even them. No one except me knows they are there (not even DH) but the pictures are there until we sell the house so the holes will be the new owners problem.

Good Luck. It can be a frustrating job.

I like the pictures the second way that Lilylore posted. That way seems to be more encompassing of the wall and the rest of the room.

Do you want to post a pic of them that way against your sofa? Have you tried them that way? It probably is personal preferance.

You might consider mounting a narrow shelf above the sofa and resting both pictures on the shelf.

graywings - That's an idea I have not thought of. Thanks for bringing that option to consider. Very creative thinking on your part.

blfenton - Thanks, you are right. A few extra holes won't be so terrible. Here are some photos against the sofa with the trunks toward center.
The first pic shows 2" apart. The last three pics show 4" apart.

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I prefer closer together with trunks inside.

One piece of advice: hang them each with two hooks, not one!

I don't think there is a right way to hang them. Only that either way offers a different perspective and the owner has to decide which works best for her. I find the second way slightly disturbing, and yes a little further apart is how I would hang them (3"). That "disturbing" factor would keep them more interesting for me, like I am going to find something different about them some day. In the first way, they are more resolved and therefore calming. That is the more charming arrangement.

You shouldn't have to change the hardware or wires, just measure right for each one.

I hang like maryanne3 suggests, two hooks each. It's far easier to get it to hang level that way.

:)

What an interesting discussion about the effect of the trees! If you put them on a narrow shelf above the sofa you could change the placement whenever you want, to fit your mood, and have both effects. We have an abstract print in our living room that we hung above the fireplace, turned upside down from what the artist intended.

I agree the prints need to be low enough to visually connect with the sofa. Just be sure they're not so low someone will hit their head on them.

Unframed stretched canvas pictures are light. You could remove the existing hanging mechanism and use a saw tooth hanger at the center top of the back of the wood stretcher.

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Here is a link that might be useful: saw tootch hanger

western pa luann - I'm starting to prefer the trunks in the center, too. Thank you for your response.

maryanne3 and rob333 - Thanks for letting me know about using two hooks per print. For these 27" prints, how far apart should the two hooks be?

graywings - another good suggestion from you! I could forget about using the wires and use one sawtooth hanger at the top.
You are correct that these canvas prints are MUCH lighter than prints in a regular frame with glass. These 27" prints weigh about 4 lbs. each.
Thank you for the pic and for the link. If I go this route, I'll probably want to get the large size.

robin4444 - Thanks for the pic of the abstract print in your living room. I love your bookshelves, fireplace, and the way the colors in the print pick up the colors in your room.
Whether I end up doing a shelf or hanging, I can see the value of being able to swap the tree prints depending on what mood makes me feel best.

I do wonder what the artist intended. These prints were not sold as a "set". There was no photo example of them together on the site I purchased from. The print with the trunks on the left is titled Golden Birch I With Blue Sky. The print with the trunks on the right is titled Golden Birch II With Blue Sky. If using "the way we would sequence and read" thought...one could say that the print titled with I should be on the left side. Print titled II should be on the right side. If hanging them with that logic, it would put the tree trunks on the outside.
But sometimes logic needs to be set aside and how one feels relating to art should be the guide.

I feel like trying to contact the artist James Wiens. Is that possible?
I'm so curious, now.

Lilylore - I like the way you describe how each orientation makes you feel.
Trunks inside - disturbing, interesting, possibilities.
Trunks outside - resolved, calming, charming.

Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful insights.

Glad to hear your considering hanging the canvases with the trees inside, more pleasing to my eye, and I also like the idea of leaning them on a very narrow shelf, changing them as the mood strikes!

Loving the chickadee canvas!

They don't have to be all that far apart, but the farther the better. With nice long wires like that, I'd go as far as 2-3 inches. It gives you a lot of room to move along the wire. Other pictures can still benefit even if it's a shorter wire; it'd be more like an inch, but it still works.

Luck!

CarolT924 - I love the chickadee canvas that is on the far end of my FR wall. I will always be grateful that I saw it above your fireplace on a previous posting you did. Viewing your photo prompted me to find out from you where to buy it. I am so happy to see those two cute little birds everyday : )

From my original post about these new prints, I remember that you were preferring the tree trunks to be in the middle. It's good to know you still feel that way and that you like the shelf idea.

rob333 - Thanks for getting back to me about the spacing of the hooks. If I decide to use hooks, you are suggesting to use two hooks per canvas print and to space those two hooks about 2 - 3 inches apart.

On Saturday, I will start working on this project.

Another thing I'll need to do is patch & paint the hole where the "girl with geese" picture is located. That hole will be right in the center between these two new prints : /