Most hesitation over a painting has little to do with the painting. The buyer likes the work and then stops at one question: will it fit the wall? A few measurements taken before buying answer it, and they take about ten minutes.
Start with the wall, not the painting
Measure the width of the empty wall, or of the piece of furniture the painting will hang above: a sofa, a bed, a console. Write the number down. Everything else follows from it.
Above furniture: about two thirds of its width
A common rule among interior designers is that a painting above furniture should cover between two thirds and three quarters of the furniture’s width. Above a 210 cm sofa, that is a painting roughly 140 to 160 cm wide, or two or three smaller works that add up to that width with the gaps between them.
A painting much narrower than that tends to look lost, and one wider than the furniture looks heavy above it.
On an empty wall
Where nothing stands beneath the painting, the same proportion applies to the wall itself: the work should take up somewhere between half and three quarters of the free width. A narrow wall between two doors suits an upright painting; a long wall in a hallway or dining room suits a wide one.
Height: the centre at eye level
Galleries hang works so that the centre of the painting sits about 145 to 150 cm from the floor, which is average eye level. The habit works at home too. Above a sofa, leave 15 to 25 cm between the top of its back and the lower edge of the painting, so the two read as one group.
Try it before you buy
Cut a sheet of paper or cardboard to the size of the painting, or mark its outline on the wall with masking tape, and leave it for a day. You will know quickly whether the size is right, and the test costs nothing.
Reading the sizes on Bo.Journal
Each of the paintings on Bo.Journal lists its dimensions in centimetres on its page. As a rough guide:
- Up to 60 cm: an entrance, a corner, a bookshelf, or part of a group.
- 60 to 100 cm: above a console, a desk or a single bed, or in a dining area.
- 100 to 150 cm and above: above a sofa or a double bed, or alone on a main wall.
The dimensions are those of the work itself. If you plan to add a frame, add its width on each side.
When the rules do not apply
These are proportions, not laws. A small work hung alone on a large wall can be a deliberate choice, and some paintings ask for more space around them than their size suggests. If the work stays in your mind, measure the wall, mark the size and see for yourself.
