Every sizing question I answer starts the same way: "What are your wall's measurements?" Most of the time the answer is a guess, or one number taken from somewhere that isn't quite the wall. Nobody tells you which two points to measure between.
This is the ten minutes I'd spend in your room with a tape measure. You'll end up with a short list of numbers and one photo: everything you need to choose a size, and everything our visualizer needs.
What do you need to measure a wall?
A metal tape measure at least 16 feet (5 m) long, so you can measure a wall in one pull; a pencil and paper or your phone's notes; and, for anything over about 10 feet (3 m), a second pair of hands so the tape sags less. That's all. Measure in inches throughout.
Every size on our site is the outside of the frame in inches, with centimetres in brackets, so inches are the numbers you'll compare.
1. Which two points should you measure between?
Between two fixed edges you can see clearly in a photo: two corners, or a corner and the outside edge of a window's trim, a door frame or a fireplace. The trim, not the glass, is where the usable wall ends. Choose the edges before you measure, because every size you pick depends on them.
- A wall between two corners: corner to corner.
- A wall with a window: from the corner to the outside edge of the window trim.
- A wall between two windows: trim to trim.
- A long open-plan wall with no corner nearby: two fixed points, like a door frame and the end of a kitchen cabinet.
This matters more than it sounds. In Your Blank Wall, the width you type has to be the distance between the two edges you mark in the photo. Measure corner to corner but mark the window, and every size will be off.
2. Where do you measure the width?
About 36″ (91 cm) off the floor, above the baseboards, which are thicker than the wall and shorten the reading. Then measure again about 60″ (152 cm) up. Walls are rarely square, and the two numbers can differ by half an inch or more, so write down the smaller one, rounded down to the inch.
Keep the tape level and flat against the wall for both readings.
3. How do you measure floor to ceiling?
From the finished floor you stand on (hardwood, tile or carpet) straight up to the ceiling, with the tape against the wall near where the art will hang. Most Canadian homes come out at 96″ (244 cm) or 108″ (274 cm). That's the number Your Blank Wall asks for.
If there's crown moulding, also write down floor to the bottom of the moulding, the real top of your hanging space. Art should stop at least 12″ (30 cm) below it.
Older houses and basements often have ceilings that slope or step. Measure where the art will go.
4. What size art fits above your furniture?
Art above furniture spans two-thirds to three-quarters of the furniture's width, with its bottom edge 8″ (20 cm) above the top. So measure three things: the furniture's width at its widest point, its height to the top of the back, headboard or surface, and its distance from your left edge.
- Width: arm to arm for a sofa.
- Height: for a sofa with cushions taller than the frame, measure to the cushions.
- Distance from the left edge: often the furniture isn't centred on the wall, and the art should follow the furniture, not the wall.
Worked through: 56 to 63″ (142 to 160 cm) of art above an 84″ sofa, 40 to 45″ (102 to 114 cm) above a 60″ queen bed, and 51 to 57″ (130 to 145 cm) above a 76″ king. The sofa guide has the exceptions.
5. What else should you note on the wall?
Anything art can't cover or shouldn't hang over, with its distance from the left edge and from the floor: light switches, thermostats, sconces and their cords, vents, radiators and baseboard heaters, outlets above furniture height, and doors that swing against the wall. Keep art at least 12″ (30 cm) above any heat source.
A thermostat at 60″ (152 cm) is the classic surprise: right where a large piece wants to go, and easier to spot on paper than after you've ordered.
6. How do you photograph a wall for a visualizer?
Stand on the far side of the room, as square on to the wall as you can, phone level and sideways, with both of your edges, the floor and the ceiling in frame. Lights on, curtains open, no flash; daytime is best. The photo turns your numbers into a picture you can judge.
- If everything won't fit, step back or switch to the wide lens.
- Take down anything on the wall you'd replace.
- Move anything hiding the bottom of the wall, like a plant or a floor lamp. The furniture can stay.
An angled photo is fine: our visualizer straightens it. What it can't do is find a corner it can't see.
Your list
When you're done, you should have this on one piece of paper:
- Wall width, between your two named edges.
- Floor to ceiling, and floor to moulding if there is one.
- Furniture width, height and distance from the left edge.
- Anything in the way, with its position.
- The photo.
Keep it. You'll use it again.
Put the numbers to work
Now open Your Blank Wall. Upload the photo, type in the width and the floor-to-ceiling height, and check the four corners: the dots go where your two edges meet the floor and the ceiling. From then on, every piece you try is shown at approximate scale: a 48″ piece covers about the span a 48″ piece would, hung at the height our hanging guide recommends.
If you'd rather browse first, use the width you worked out. Above an 84″ sofa, the 56 to 63″ band falls across two filters, 48 to 60″ wide and 60 to 72″ wide; Statement pieces covers the larger walls, and Small spaces the narrow ones. For more than one piece, the gallery wall templates give each layout's footprint.
And if the numbers don't add up to anything obvious, email me the list and the photo at diana@blankwall.ca, or send them through the contact page. I'll tell you what I'd hang there.
Questions we get asked
The smaller one. Art is hung level, so it has to fit the narrowest part of the space.
For a small wall, yes. Over about 60″ (152 cm) it stretches and sags, so measure twice and use the smaller number.