What size art should go above my sofa?

by Deb Presutto

I get asked ALL the time what size art should go above a sofa and above a bed. I love helping customers figure out the scale they need for their space but I thought I'd write a post that gives a general rule to follow and show examples so you can compare it to the size sofa you have. The general rule is about 2/3 the width of your sofa, however, there is some give and take with that. In some cases you can get away with a little over 1/2 but I like around 2/3. 

Also, make sure that you hang your art somewhere around 8" above the sofa trying not to float it too high just to fill the space. It will look disconnected from the rest of the room. 

See below for a few examples to scale so you can get an idea how they look:

 

109" W OVERSIZED SOFA

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A great way to fill a large wall is with a gallery wall because it makes such a statement. Many people have sofas that are between 108" - 120" so this option works well for that (but you will need to have slightly higher than average ceilings). These are each 25" x 25" (including 5" matting so the prints are 15" x 15"). 
Set of 3 art prints above sofa, statement art above sofa, size art above sofa
Art: Glimmer (split into 3)
Another great way to create a statement on a large wall is to use a set of 3 24" x 36"s. It can be hard to find 3 different pieces of art that you like to work well together so often times, I will split a piece of my artwork into 3 to create this look. If you are interested in doing this to a piece of artwork, send me a chat or email me!

 

103" W LARGE SOFA

Art above large sofa, what size art above large sofa, art above large sofa
In the above example, the sofa is large but not too oversized so 2 30" x 40"s will work well. If you have lower ceilings, you can always drop down the height a bit. 

 

76" W SMALL SOFA

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Art: Misty River  
As you can see above, the art is not quite 2/3 but still works to fill the space well. Once you go over 44", many shipping carriers charge oversized fees so if you are looking to stay within a budget I would consider 44" or below. 

 

 

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