Living Room Wall Art Ideas
The best living room wall art is sized to the furniture beneath it: aim for art roughly two thirds the width of your sofa, hung with its centre at eye level, about 145 to 150 cm from the floor. Pick one colour from your cushions or rug and repeat it in the print, and the room will feel finished.
Below: how to choose size and placement, the styles that work best in living rooms, and prints chosen for the job.
Prints for this look
Start with the wall above the sofa
The sofa wall is the one everybody sees, so start there. Measure the sofa, then plan art that covers about two thirds of that width. On a 200 cm sofa that means roughly 130 cm of art: one A0, one A1 with room to breathe, or a pair of A1 prints with a 5 to 8 cm gap.
Leave 15 to 25 cm between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame. Any higher and the art floats away from the furniture; any lower and heads will knock it.
One large print, a pair, or a gallery wall?
- One large print suits minimal and modern rooms. It is the calmest option and the easiest to hang.
- A pair or set of three in matching sizes suits symmetrical rooms and long sofas. Keep the frames the same and the gaps equal.
- A gallery wall suits eclectic rooms and anyone who likes to add pieces over time. Start with one A2 anchor and build out with A3 and A4 prints.
The 3-5-7 rule is a useful shortcut: groups of odd numbers tend to look more relaxed than even ones. Three prints is the easiest place to start.
Choosing a style for your living room
Let the room lead. Calm, neutral rooms suit wabi sabi and soft abstracts. Colourful rooms can take Bauhaus shapes or bold botanicals. If you have a lot of pattern already, a single-colour print gives the eye somewhere to rest.
Matching the sofa exactly rarely works. Matching an accent does: a rust cushion, a green plant, the blue of a rug. Our sage green, terracotta and navy collections are a good place to start.
Sizes at a glance
| Size | Centimetres | Inches | Works for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 21 x 29.7 | 8.3 x 11.7 | Shelves, desks, small gaps, sets of 3 |
| A3 | 29.7 x 42 | 11.7 x 16.5 | Hallways, side walls, pairs |
| A2 | 42 x 59.4 | 16.5 x 23.4 | Above a sideboard or small sofa, the anchor of a gallery wall |
| A1 | 59.4 x 84.1 | 23.4 x 33.1 | Above a standard sofa or bed |
| A0 | 84.1 x 118.9 | 33.1 x 46.8 | Large walls, open-plan rooms, statement pieces |
All our A sizes fit standard off-the-shelf frames. Every print is made to order on museum-grade matte paper, and UK orders over £50 ship free.
Plain wall, no sofa?
A blank living room wall with no furniture in front of it can take more height. Go for an A0, or two A1 prints stacked, and hang the centre at 145 to 150 cm as usual. For a wall beside a doorway or window, a tall A2 or a vertical pair of A3 prints fills the space without crowding it.
Not sure what suits your room? The Art Match quiz suggests prints in about a minute, and the gallery wall planner lets you try layouts before you buy.
