4.9/5
What Size Art for Your Wall? Free Wall Art Size Calculator
Tell us what sits below the wall and how wide it is. You get three sizes we actually paint, the height to hang them at, a scale drawing, and the paintings that come in that size. No email, no upload, nothing to install.
Paintings that fit
Above a sofa
A sofa is the easiest wall in the house to get right, because the sofa itself gives you the measurement. The rule every framer uses is two-thirds: the painting should span roughly 56% to 76% of the furniture below it. On a standard 84-inch three-seater that is 47 to 64 inches wide, and the three sizes we paint that land in and around that band are 48 × 36, 60 × 40 and 72 × 48 inches. Under a 9-foot ceiling all three fit, and the centre of the canvas lands about 61 inches from the floor, leaving 9 inches of wall between the sofa back and the frame.
Err larger. A painting slightly too big reads as confident; one slightly too small reads as an accident, and it is the mistake that costs a return. If you are between two sizes on an 84-inch sofa, take the 60 × 40. Load the sofa preset.
Above a queen bed
A queen bed is 60 inches wide, so the target band is 34 to 46 inches and the three sizes are 30 × 24, 40 × 30 and 48 × 36. A bed brings one complication a sofa does not: the headboard. We assume a 48-inch headboard, so the painting has to clear it by 6 to 8 inches, which pushes the centre of the canvas to about 70 inches from the floor, deliberately above the 57-inch museum line, because that line is written for an empty wall, not for a wall with four feet of oak already on it. Load the queen preset.
Above a king bed
A king is 76 inches wide. The band is 43 to 58 inches and the sizes are 40 × 30, 48 × 36 and 60 × 40, with the centre at roughly 73 inches from the floor over a 48-inch headboard. A king wall is also the one wall where a pair works better than a single canvas: two 30 × 24 landscapes with a 4-inch gap span 64 inches and read as one piece. Load the king preset.
Above a fireplace
Measure the mantel, not the chimney breast. A typical mantel is 54 inches wide and sits 48 inches off the floor, which gives a band of 30 to 41 inches and the sizes 30 × 24, 40 × 30 and 48 × 36. A mantel tolerates more air than a sofa, 6 to 12 inches above the shelf, so the centre lands near 72 inches. Two practical notes: leave the bottom edge clear of anything standing on the mantel, and if the fireplace is in regular use, hang the painting high enough that rising heat does not sit on the canvas. Load the fireplace preset.
On an open wall
With nothing below it, the wall itself becomes the anchor and the fractions drop: a single canvas should cover 46% to 72% of the wall, not two-thirds of it. On a 120-inch wall that is a target of 55 to 86 inches wide, and in landscape the sizes are 48 × 36, 60 × 40 and 72 × 48. In portrait the ceiling takes over: a portrait canvas wide enough to hold 58% of a 120-inch wall would be over seven feet tall, so under a 9-foot ceiling the honest answer is 24 × 30, 30 × 40 and 36 × 48, or a pair side by side. The calculator says so when it happens instead of printing a size that cannot exist. Load the open-wall preset.
How high to hang art
Museums hang the centre of the work at 57 to 60 inches from the floor, because that is average eye level for a standing adult. It is the single most useful number in this page, and it is also the one most often printed wrong: it is the centre of the painting, not the top edge and not the hook.
There are two honest exceptions. First, furniture. Above a 48-inch headboard or mantel, holding the centre at 57 inches would put the frame inside the furniture, so the gap wins and the centre rises. Second, seating. In a room where people are mostly sitting, dropping the centre by 2 to 3 inches reads better. The gap between furniture and frame is what your eye actually judges: 8 to 10 inches above a sofa back, 6 to 8 inches above a headboard, 6 to 12 inches above a mantel.
The hook goes higher than the centre. Take the centre, add half the height of the painting, then subtract however far the wire drops when you pull it taut, about 3 inches on a typical canvas. The calculator prints that number for you and labels it an estimate, because the wire is the one variable we cannot see. Before you drill, cut a sheet of paper to the size on screen and tape it to the wall for a day. It costs nothing and it settles the argument.
Landscape vs portrait vs square
Orientation is not decoration, it is geometry. Landscape widens a wall and is the default above anything horizontal, a sofa, a bed, a sideboard. Our landscape canvases run 20×16, 24×20, 30×24, 40×30, 48×36, 60×40, 72×48 inches. Portrait lifts a low ceiling and is the right answer for narrow walls, the space beside a door, or a stairwell; our portrait canvases run 16×20, 20×24, 24×30, 30×40, 36×48, 40×60, 48×72 inches. Square is the quiet one, it neither stretches nor lifts, which makes it the safest choice above a console or in a corner where two walls meet; ours run 16×16, 20×20, 24×24, 30×30, 36×36, 48×48, 60×60 inches.
One rule overrides taste: a painting can never be taller than about 52% of your ceiling. At 8 feet that is 50 inches, at 9 feet 56 inches, at 10 feet 62 inches. This is why a tall portrait on a wide wall so often fails, and why the calculator will tell you to change orientation rather than recommend a canvas that will not fit between the skirting and the cornice.
Questions people ask before they buy
What size art should go above a sofa?
Between 56% and 76% of the sofa width. On a standard 84-inch sofa that is 47 to 64 inches wide, which in our sizes is 48 × 36, 60 × 40 or 72 × 48 inches. Leave 8 to 10 inches between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame.
How high should I hang a painting?
Centre of the painting 57 to 60 inches from the floor, the museum convention, based on standing eye level. Above a tall headboard or a mantel the centre goes higher, because clearing the furniture by 6 to 12 inches matters more than the rule.
Is one big painting better than a gallery wall?
Over a sofa or a bed, one painting at the right size is easier to get right and easier to live with. A pair works well over a king bed, where a single canvas would have to be nearly six feet wide. Gallery walls suit corridors and stairs, where you walk past rather than sit under them.
Does the size change the price?
Yes. Every painting is hand-painted to order, so the canvas price rises with the size. The calculator shows the starting price for each of the three sizes, and each painting in the grid links to its own page with that size pre-selected.
Can I work in centimetres?
Yes. The in/cm switch converts the number you typed, not just the label, and every result is printed in both inches and centimetres. The brief you copy carries both too.
What if my wall is an odd size?
Type the real measurement. The calculator maps the result to the sizes we actually paint rather than inventing one, and it tells you when the ceiling, not the furniture, is what is limiting you. For a truly custom size, ask for a quote on the custom orders page.