Wall art for your living room

The wall above the sofa is the one everyone looks at. Here is how to size it, where to hang it, and what tends to work, with real pieces we made for two living rooms.

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Size and placement

Above a sofa up to 150 cm: 18 × 24 in (45 × 60 cm)
Above a wider sofa: 20 × 28 in, or two prints side by side
Gap above the sofa back: About 20 cm
Gap between two prints: 8 to 10 cm

Size it to the sofa

One print should feel anchored to the furniture below it, not floating on its own. Over a sofa of up to about 150 cm, an 18 × 24 in print holds the wall. Over a three-seater, choose the 20 × 28 in with its white mount, or hang two pieces side by side with a narrow gap so they read as one.

We measure the sofa in your photo and suggest the size that fits it.

Hang it lower than you think

Most prints go up too high. Leave about 20 cm between the top of the sofa back and the bottom of the frame, so the two read together. Over a chimney breast or a sideboard, the same rule applies to the mantel or the top.

With no furniture below it, hang the centre of the print about 145 to 150 cm from the floor, which is roughly eye level.

Let the room choose the colours

A living room already has a palette: the wall, the sofa, the rug, the wood. Art that borrows two or three of those colours sits in the room; art that brings five new ones fights it. We measure those colours from your photo and make every piece from them.

Styles that suit a living room

Warm Abstract
Shapes that settle a room
Painterly Landscape
A view to step into
Colour Field
Somewhere for the eye to rest
Mid-century & Deco
Shapes with intention

Examples made for other rooms. Yours are made new, from the colours in your photo.

Made for real living rooms

Each set below came from one photo. The curator's reason for each pick is underneath it.

Lone tree on a hill on the wall of a victorian living room — Victorian living room. Wall measured as #6C6A59. Hung to scale at 18 × 24 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Lone tree on a hill — Victorian living room. Wall measured as #6C6A59. Hung to scale at 18 × 24 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Highland loch under low cloud on the wall of a yellow living room — Yellow living room. Wall measured as #D39E1E. Hung to scale at 20 × 28 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Highland loch under low cloud — Yellow living room. Wall measured as #D39E1E. Hung to scale at 20 × 28 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Torn-paper shapes layered like a low horizon on the wall of a pale blue living room — Pale blue living room. Wall measured as #7D96A7. Hung to scale at 20 × 28 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Torn-paper shapes layered like a low horizon — Pale blue living room. Wall measured as #7D96A7. Hung to scale at 20 × 28 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Pressed leaves laid out in a loose grid on the wall of a pink sitting room — Pink sitting room. Wall measured as #9D715A. Hung to scale at 20 × 28 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Pressed leaves laid out in a loose grid — Pink sitting room. Wall measured as #9D715A. Hung to scale at 20 × 28 in. The room is illustrative; the pieces are real output.

Questions

What size art should go above a sofa?

For a sofa up to about 150 cm, an 18 × 24 in (45 × 60 cm) framed print. For a wider sofa, a 20 × 28 in (50 × 70 cm) print with a mount, or two prints side by side.

How high should art hang above a sofa?

About 20 cm above the top of the sofa back, measured to the bottom of the frame.

Can I see it on my own wall first?

Yes. Upload a photo of the room and we show each piece hanging on your wall at its real size, in the frame you choose.

Other rooms

By wall colour

See it on your wall

Send a photo of your living room. We read its colours, light and furniture, and show four new pieces hanging on your wall, at their real size.

Upload your room