Small rooms with a door you close are some of the nicest places for art: a powder room is the one wall every guest sees alone. But bathrooms and kitchens are also where art gets damaged, by steam, splashes and heat. I'd rather tell you plainly where art does and doesn't belong than have you find out a year later.
Can you hang art in a bathroom?
In a powder room with no shower or bath, yes: treat it like any small room. In a bathroom with a shower, only where steam doesn't linger, and only if the room has a fan that clears it.
That's not caution for its own sake. Every finish we sell, paper under glass, canvas, metal, is better kept out of damp rooms; Our finishes says so for each one. Steam gets behind glass and ripples paper, it can mark metal, and it slackens canvas over time.
If you do hang art in a full bathroom:
- Not opposite or beside the shower, and not above the tub.
- A room with a fan that runs while you shower and for a while after, or a window you open.
- On an interior wall, not an exterior one that collects condensation in a Canadian winter.
- Pieces you'd be calm about replacing. A small piece is a small risk.
Where does art go in a kitchen?
Away from the stove and the sink. Heat and grease rise from the cooktop, and water splashes from the sink further than you think. The good spots:
- The end wall of a run of cabinets, or a short wall beside a doorway.
- Above a breakfast table or a banquette, sized to the table: two-thirds of its length, with the bottom 8″ (20 cm) above any furniture below.
- Leaning on an open shelf or at the back of a counter that isn't used for cooking. Easy to move, no hole, and it looks relaxed.
Avoid the backsplash behind the cooktop, the wall above the sink, and anywhere right next to the kettle or the oven door.
How do you hang art in a powder room?
A powder room is small, so you see everything from close up, and usually from one spot. Hang one piece on the wall you face when you walk in, or above the vanity, at 57″ (145 cm) to the centre on a bare wall. A glass framed print with a mat suits the close look well. If the door closes against that wall, use two hooks even on a small piece, so it stays straight.
Glass or canvas in a kitchen?
For a kitchen, a glass framed print is easier to keep clean: a cloth with a little cleaner sprayed on it, never sprayed on the glass, wipes off the film that builds up from cooking. A canvas can't be wiped; it can only be dusted with a dry brush. So I'd put glass near the working parts of the kitchen and canvas further away, by the table.
What size works in these rooms?
Small rooms have small walls, so the usual rules scale down:
- Above a vanity or a toilet: two-thirds to three-quarters of the width of the vanity or tank, with the bottom about 8″ (20 cm) above it. A 30″ vanity takes 20 to 22″ (51 to 56 cm) of art.
- On a bare wall: centre at 57″ (145 cm), as in any room.
- A narrow wall: one vertical piece, or two small ones stacked with a 3″ (8 cm) gap.
Small spaces collects pieces under three feet wide.
Next step
For the safest small room in the house, start with Small spaces, and check the size on your own wall in Your Blank Wall.
Questions we get asked
Not among ours. None of our finishes is sold as moisture-proof, so I treat every piece the same way: away from steam and splashes.
Over time, yes. Move the kettle or the art; a foot to the side is usually enough.
The same rules as a bathroom: fine if it's dry and ventilated, not above the washer or near the dryer vent.