In a lot of Canadian living rooms the fireplace is the wall everyone faces, so it's the wall that gets looked at most. It's also the one with the most rules attached: a mantel to size to, a chimney breast that may be narrower than the wall, and heat. Here's how I'd work through it.
How big should art above a fireplace be?
Two-thirds to three-quarters of the mantel's width. For a 60″ (152 cm) mantel shelf that's 40 to 45″ (102 to 114 cm) of art; for a 72″ (183 cm) mantel, 48 to 54″ (122 to 137 cm). With no mantel shelf, size to the fireplace surround, the stone, tile or trim around the opening, not the opening itself.
If the fireplace sits on a chimney breast that projects into the room, the breast is your wall. Keep at least 6″ (15 cm) of breast showing on each side of the art, so it doesn't look jammed into the corners.
How high should art hang above a mantel?
The bottom of the frame sits 8″ (20 cm) above the mantel shelf, the same rule as above a sofa or a sideboard; 6 to 10″ (15 to 25 cm) works. Closer than that and anything you put on the mantel crowds the frame. Higher, and the two stop reading as one composition.
A mantel usually sits well above a sofa back, so the art's centre often ends up above the 57″ eye-level rule. That's fine and expected: the mantel is the piece of furniture, and the art belongs to it. Check the space above, though. Under an 8 foot (244 cm) ceiling with a 54″ mantel, 96 − 54 − 8 − 12 = 22″ (56 cm) is all the height you have with a foot of clear wall above. That's a horizontal piece, or a square one on a taller ceiling.
Can you hang art above a fireplace you use?
Usually, yes, but check first. Heat and soot rise from a working fireplace, and some of it reaches the wall above, which is hard on paper and on glazed frames over the years. The simple check: after the fire has been going for an hour, put the back of your hand flat on the wall where the art will hang. If you can't hold it there comfortably, don't hang art there.
A deep mantel shelf deflects a lot of the heat away from the wall; a flush surround with no shelf deflects none. Your fireplace's manual gives its clearances to anything combustible above the opening, and they apply to a frame too. With a gas or electric insert, the same check applies; some run hotter at the top than you'd guess.
If the wall passes the check, I'd still lean toward a canvas, framed or wrapped, over a glass framed print above a working fireplace: nothing to fog, nothing to crack. If it doesn't pass, hang the art on the wall beside the chimney breast instead and leave the mantel to candles and plants.
Should you lean art on a mantel?
It's my favourite way to do it. A piece leaning on the mantel shelf, set back against the wall, looks relaxed and lets you change it with the seasons, with no hole at all. It works when the shelf is at least 4″ (10 cm) deep.
- Size it as above: two-thirds to three-quarters of the mantel.
- Push the bottom edge to the back of the shelf, with a non-slip pad under it, and lean the top against the wall.
- Layer a smaller piece in front, off centre, if you like the collected look.
- Keep glass off the mantel in a home with small children, and secure anything large with a small hook at the top so it can't tip forward.
What about a TV above the fireplace?
If the TV lives there, the art moves to the walls either side. Hang a matching pair, one on each side of the chimney breast, centred at 57″ (145 cm), the same size and the same frame. It balances the black rectangle of the screen better than one piece on one side.
Next step
Measure the mantel and the wall above it, then try the piece at approximate scale in Your Blank Wall. For a big chimney breast, Statement pieces is where the larger sizes are.
Questions we get asked
On the fireplace. The art and the mantel form one group; the rest of the wall is background.
Either. A square piece suits a narrow chimney breast and a tall wall; a horizontal piece suits a wide, low mantel and an 8 foot ceiling. Horizontal, vertical or square? has more.
Yes. Let a candle or a vase overlap the bottom of the frame a little rather than lifting the art to clear it.