A big empty wall is the one people put off longest, because anything that would fill it feels like a big commitment. The good news is that the arithmetic is simple, and there are four ways to reach the size you need, at four different price points.
How big should art be on a large, empty wall?
About half to three-fifths of the wall's width: 50 to 60%. On a 12 foot (144″, 366 cm) wall, that's 72 to 86″ (183 to 220 cm) of art, measured across the whole arrangement. On a 10 foot (120″) wall, 60 to 72″ (152 to 183 cm).
This is the rule for a wall with no furniture against it. Once a sofa, bed or sideboard sits in front, size to the furniture instead: two-thirds to three-quarters of its width, as in the sofa guide.
Centre the arrangement at 57″ (145 cm) off the floor, the same as any piece on a bare wall. The hanging guide explains why it shouldn't go higher just because the wall is big.
What are the ways to fill a big wall?
- One oversized piece. The calmest result and the strongest statement. The catch is that large pieces cost more per inch than small ones, because big prints and frames don't scale linearly, and they need two people and two hooks to hang.
- A pair. Two matching pieces side by side with a 3″ (8 cm) gap, measured as one width. Two 36″ pieces make 75″: right for a 12 foot wall.
- A triptych or a grid. Three in a row, or four or six in a grid, all the same size and frame with the same 3″ gap. A grid of six 24″ square pieces is 78″ wide and 51″ tall. It reads as one large piece from across the room.
- A gallery wall. Mixed sizes inside one outer rectangle. It fills the most wall for the money, and takes the most planning: our measured gallery wall templates do the planning for you.
What about a tall wall?
A wall that's tall rather than wide, like a stairwell, a double-height living room or a narrow wall under a 10 foot (305 cm) ceiling, wants art that's taller than it is wide, not art hung higher.
- Keep the centre at 57″, or the bottom 8″ (20 cm) above furniture. People don't get taller in a loft.
- Go vertical, or stack. One vertical piece, or two pieces stacked one above the other with a 3″ gap, fills the height while staying at a human level.
- Double-height walls are the exception. A two-storey wall can take a second piece or group higher up, sized to be read from the floor above or from across the room.
To find the tallest piece that fits above furniture: ceiling height, minus the furniture, minus 8″ below the art, minus at least 12″ (30 cm) of clear wall above. Under a 10 foot ceiling above a 34″ sofa back, that's 120 − 34 − 8 − 12 = 66″ (168 cm).
How do I know I'm not going too big?
Two checks. First, painter's tape: mark the outside edges on the wall at the height you'd hang it and live with it for a day. Big rectangles of tape look bigger than the art will, so if the tape looks right, the art will too.
Second, Your Blank Wall: photograph the wall, give it the width and height, and it shows the piece at approximate scale, so a 60″ piece covers about what a 60″ piece would. You can try one large piece against a pair against a grid in a few minutes.
If you're between two sizes on an empty wall, go up. Almost nobody tells me their art is too big.
Next step
Statement pieces collects everything 48″ wide and over. For a pair, a triptych or a series made to hang together, see Pairs and series.
Questions we get asked
The largest uninterrupted stretch. Measure from the window or door trim to the corner, or between two openings, and apply the 50 to 60% rule to that stretch. Keep at least 6″ (15 cm) between the art and any trim.
You can, and in a very minimal room it can look deliberate. But it reads as a choice only if the piece is centred and the rest of the room is spare. In most homes, a small piece on a big wall looks like it's waiting for company.
Yes: 50 to 60% of the wall, centred at 145 cm, with 8 cm between pieces in a group.