Orientation is the decision people make last and should make first. A piece you love in the wrong shape will never quite fit the wall, whatever its size. The rule is simple: look at the shape of the space the art will fill, and choose a piece with roughly the same shape.
When should art be horizontal?
Above anything wide and low: a sofa, a bed, a sideboard, a console, a mantel. Those spaces are wider than they are tall, so a horizontal piece repeats their shape and the two read as one. On a standard 8 foot ceiling, the space above a sofa is often only about 42″ (107 cm) tall but 60″ or more wide, so horizontal is almost always right. The sofa guide has the sizes.
When should art be vertical?
On walls that are taller than they are wide:
- Narrow walls, between two doors, beside a window, at the end of a hall.
- Tall walls, under ceilings of 10 feet (305 cm) or more, where a horizontal piece leaves a lot of empty wall above it.
- Above narrow furniture, like a slim console or a chair.
- In pairs above wide furniture. Two vertical pieces side by side with a 3″ (8 cm) gap make a group that's wider than it's tall, so a pair of verticals works above a sofa or bed where a single vertical wouldn't.
A single vertical piece above a wide sofa usually looks too narrow for the sofa and too tall for the wall at the same time.
When should art be square?
Square pieces suit square spaces: above a square table, on a chimney breast, in the middle of a short wall, or in a grid. They're also the easiest shape to group, because a row or a grid of squares always lines up. Above a sofa, a square works under a taller ceiling or as a pair.
What does "hangs both ways" mean?
Some pieces work in either orientation, usually abstracts with no up or down. On our product pages, Orientation in Product details says whether a piece hangs both ways. If it does, it counts in both directions in our size filters: a 60″ × 40″ piece shows under 60″ wide and under 60″ tall. You decide which way it hangs when it arrives.
On our product pages, the rendered room shows the orientation we'd hang; the flat view shows the piece as the artist made it.
Can a group change the shape?
Yes, and it's a useful trick when the piece you love is the wrong shape:
- Two verticals side by side make a horizontal group.
- Two horizontals stacked make a vertical group, for a tall narrow wall.
- Four squares in a grid make a larger square.
Keep the same gap between pieces everywhere, 3″ (8 cm) is my default, and measure the group as one shape. Pairs and triptychs covers the spacing.
How do I check before I buy?
Tape the outline on the wall. Cut a sheet of kraft paper to the outside size of the piece, horizontal or vertical as it would hang, and tape it up at the right height: 57″ (145 cm) to the centre on a bare wall, or 8″ (20 cm) above furniture. If you're choosing between two shapes, tape up both, one after the other, and look from the doorway. The right one is usually obvious within a minute.
Or upload a photo of the wall to Your Blank Wall, which places the piece at approximate scale so you can compare sizes without the tape.
Next step
Filter by width and height together in Shop art to find pieces that fit the shape of your space, and check the result at approximate scale in Your Blank Wall.
Questions we get asked
Only if it's small enough to leave about 6″ (15 cm) of wall each side. Otherwise it looks wedged in.
Vertical or square pieces, in a line that follows the handrail. The hanging guide shows how.