The wall in Mixtures puts a 96 inch sofa under the works, drawn in the same inches as the prints. It is there because a size on a product page is only a number. 16x24 sounds generous in a menu. Hung over a sofa that long, it reads as a postcard.
Scale is part of the image. The wall of fire in Mercy Stallion is a wall at 30x45. At 8x12 it is a flicker. Getting the size right is arithmetic, and the arithmetic starts with the furniture, not the wall.
What size art goes over a couch?
The working rule: art over a couch should span two thirds to three quarters of the couch's width. Measure the art at its outside edge, frame included. A 72 inch sofa wants art 48 to 54 inches across. An 84 inch sofa wants 56 to 63. A 96 inch sofa wants 64 to 72. On a sectional, measure the main run of the sofa, not the whole L.
Stop at three quarters. Past that the art crowds the sofa, and art wider than the sofa under it looks like it is about to slide off the ends.
This is why so many walls over sofas look underdressed. No single work in the shop reaches 48 inches across. All but one stand portrait: an open edition at 30x45 is 30 inches wide, and Series 001 at 40x50 is 40. Above a sofa 72 inches or longer, a pair or a row of three at the same size, hung as one block, does the work. A group counts as one piece, measured edge to edge with the gaps included. Keep those gaps at 2 to 3 inches; the table below uses 3.
How high should art hang above a couch?
Leave 6 to 10 inches between the top of the sofa back and the bottom edge of the art. Closer and the art looks pinned to the sofa. Much higher and the art floats loose of the sofa.
Over furniture, this gap sets the height, not the eye level rule further down, so a tall portrait can sit with its centre above 60 inches. Check the ceiling before you order. With a sofa back at 33 inches and an 8 inch gap, a 30x45 portrait runs from 41 to 86 inches, 10 inches under an 8 foot ceiling. That works. Anything taller crowds it.
What size art goes above a bed?
The same two thirds to three quarters, measured against the bed. A queen mattress is 60 inches wide, so art over a queen bed runs 40 to 45 inches across. A king is 76 inches wide, so art over a king bed runs 51 to 57. Measure the headboard too. It is usually wider than the mattress, and it is what the eye compares the art to.
Hang the bottom edge 6 to 10 inches above the top of the headboard. Without a headboard, start 10 to 12 inches above the top of the pillows.
A pair suits a bed, which is already symmetrical. Two 20x30 portraits with a 3 inch gap come to 43 inches, inside the queen range. The Culmination, a burning knight with wings of flame and a sword before a great green tree among planets, is a 2:3 portrait, so it pairs at 20x30 with another portrait from dark fantasy wall art. Over a king, step up to two 24x36 portraits, 51 inches together.
What size art goes over a console table or dresser?
Two thirds to three quarters of the furniture again, with a tighter gap, 6 to 8 inches. A 48 inch console wants art 32 to 36 inches wide. A 60 inch dresser or sideboard wants 40 to 45.
Here one large piece earns its place. Series 001 at 36x45 is 36 inches wide, the top of the range for a 48 inch console. Take a console 30 inches high and leave a 6 inch gap, and the art runs from 36 to 81 inches. Its centre lands at 58.5 inches, inside the band galleries hang to. ARRIVAL, a haloed figure in a long coat before vast wings of red and blue light on black, hangs that way at 36x45 as a print or a canvas. It is a limited edition of 85, one count shared across every size and format. More work in that register lives in dark surreal wall art.
How high should you hang art on an empty wall?
Centre it 57 inches from the floor; anywhere from 57 to 60 holds. Galleries and museums hang to the same band, which puts the middle of the work at a standing adult's eye level, whatever the ceiling. In centimetres, that is 145 to 152 from the floor.
To find where the nail goes: take 57, add half the height of the work, then subtract the distance from the top of the work down to its hanging point with the wire pulled taut. For a 24x36 portrait, 36 inches tall, with its wire pulling taut 4 inches below the top, that is 57 plus 18 minus 4: a nail at 71 inches. For a group, centre the whole group at 57, not each piece.
What size art for a large empty wall?
On a wall with no furniture against it, art should fill two thirds to three quarters of the open width. Measure the open span between doors, windows or corners. A 60 inch span between two windows takes art 40 to 45 inches across: Series 001 at 40x50 as a print, 40 inches wide, or two 20x30 portraits, 43 inches together. A 100 inch span takes 67 to 75 inches: two Series 001 works at 36x45, print or canvas, side by side come to 75.
One large piece, a pair, or a grid?
One large piece when a single work can reach two thirds of the span, which means up to about 60 inches of wall or furniture.
A pair when the furniture is long or symmetrical: sofas from 72 inches up, beds, a sideboard with a lamp at each end. Keep both works the same size and orientation so the pair reads as one decision. Mercy Stallion, a dark horse among wildflowers before a wall of fire, a ruined white tower in blue sky, is a 2:3 portrait. It pairs with another work of the same heat from fire wall art or dark fantasy wall art.
A grid of four when the wall is closer to square, or the furniture is short and the ceiling is tall. Four 16x24 portraits in two rows, 3 inches apart, make a block 35 inches wide and 51 inches tall.
Portrait or landscape?
Portrait adds height. Landscape follows long furniture. All but one of the XPRMTS works stand portrait. Open editions run 2:3 and Series 001 runs 4:5, and that is why pairs and rows of three fill most of the table below: two portraits side by side make a landscape shape without cropping either image.
How much does a frame add to the size?
The listed size is the image. A framed print adds satin black solid wood moulding on all four sides, so it hangs a little wider and taller than its listed size. A framed canvas floats inside its frame and grows the same way. A canvas is stretched 1.5 inches deep, which changes how far it stands off the wall, not how wide it is. Plan every width in this guide to the outside edge.
Framing runs to 24x36 for open editions and 24x30 for Series 001. The larger sizes come as a print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, 100% cotton, or as canvas; Series 001 at 40x50 comes as a print. If you frame Photo Rag yourself, what an archival pigment print needs on the wall covers the glazing and light that keep it. Every size is made to order in the United States, with free US shipping.
XPRMTS sizes by furniture width
Widths are the art at its listed size, with 3 inches between works. Portrait sizes are width by height.
| Furniture | Width | Art width to aim for | XPRMTS sizes that fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Console table | 48 in | 32 to 36 in | One Series 001 at 36x45, print or canvas (36 in). Two 16x24 portraits (35 in). |
| Queen bed | 60 in | 40 to 45 in | Two 20x30 portraits (43 in). One Series 001 at 40x50, print (40 in). |
| Dresser or sideboard | 60 in | 40 to 45 in | One Series 001 at 40x50, print (40 in). Two 20x30 portraits (43 in). |
| Sofa | 72 in | 48 to 54 in | Two 24x36 portraits (51 in). Three 16x24 portraits (54 in). |
| King bed | 76 in | 51 to 57 in | Two 24x36 portraits (51 in). Two Series 001 at 24x30, framed or unframed (51 in, a little more framed). Three 16x24 portraits (54 in). |
| Sofa | 78 in | 52 to 58 in | Three 16x24 portraits (54 in). Two 24x36 portraits, framed (51 in plus frames). |
| Sofa | 84 in | 56 to 63 in | Two 30x45 portraits, print or canvas (63 in). |
| Sofa | 96 in | 64 to 72 in | Three 20x30 portraits, framed or unframed (66 in, a little more framed). |
Still unsure? Outline the size on the wall in painter's tape and look at it from where you sit. Or open Mixtures, choose the works and sizes, and see them to scale over a 96 inch sofa, 3 inches apart.
Frequently asked questions
Can art be too big for a wall?
Yes. Over furniture, art wider than three quarters of the piece below starts to overpower it, and art wider than the furniture looks unanchored. On an open wall the same limit applies: three quarters of the open span, with bare wall left on every side.
What are the XPRMTS sizes in centimetres?
Open editions: 8x12 in is 20x30 cm, 12x18 is 30x46, 16x24 is 41x61, 20x30 is 51x76, 24x36 is 61x91, and 30x45 is 76x114. Series 001: 16x20 is 41x51 cm, 24x30 is 61x76, 36x45 is 91x114, and 40x50 is 102x127.
How far apart should a pair or a set of three hang?
2 to 3 inches, the same gap everywhere in the set. Under 1.5 inches the works blur into one block; much wider and the set falls apart. Centre the whole group at 57 inches on an open wall, or set its bottom edge 6 to 10 inches above the furniture.
If I am between two sizes, should I go bigger or smaller?
Bigger, as long as it stays under three quarters of the furniture width and clears the ceiling. Too small leaves the wall bare and the art an afterthought.