Measure the sofa, multiply by two thirds, and buy art that spans close to that figure. Everything else is refinement. A 240 cm sofa wants roughly 160 cm of art above it, and the reason a wall looks wrong is almost always that the number came out at 50.
The calculation, sofa by sofa
Total span means the whole arrangement, frame edge to frame edge, including the gaps. Gaps of 4 to 8 cm are the working range; 6 cm is used below.
| Sofa width | Two-thirds target | What reaches it | Actual span | Of the sofa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 180 cm | 120 cm | one 100×140, landscape | 140 cm | 78% |
| 200 cm | 133 cm | one 100×140 landscape, or two 70×100 | 140 / 146 cm | 70% / 73% |
| 220 cm | 147 cm | two 70×100, portrait | 146 cm | 66% |
| 240 cm | 160 cm | three 50×70, portrait | 162 cm | 68% |
| 260 cm | 173 cm | three 70×100, portrait | 222 cm | 85% |
| 280 cm | 187 cm | three 70×100, portrait | 222 cm | 79% |
| 300 cm | 200 cm | two 100×140, portrait | 206 cm | 69% |
Two rows deserve comment. At 220 cm the pair of 70×100 lands on 146 against a target of 147, which is as exact as this range gets. At 260 cm nothing fits cleanly: two 70×100 give 56 per cent and three give 85, and this is the width where a mixed arrangement of unequal frames beats a row of identical ones. Twelve such arrangements with measurements are in the gallery wall layouts.
There is a floor as well as a target. Below half the sofa width, art reads as an accident regardless of what it is. A single 50×70 above a 220 cm sofa covers 23 per cent. Buy two, or buy bigger; the sizes and their exact dimensions are in the size guide.
Corner sofas
Do not measure the whole footprint. Measure only the straight back section that stands against the wall you are hanging on, and apply two thirds to that. A 300 cm corner sofa whose long back is 220 cm and whose chaise runs 160 cm along the next wall is, for this purpose, a 220 cm sofa.
Centre the art on that back section, not on the room and not on the sofa's overall centre — the corner pulls the visual middle sideways, and art centred on the room will look off by 30 or 40 cm. If the chaise runs along a second wall, treat that wall as its own problem and hang something smaller there rather than continuing the row round the corner.
HILMA AF KLINT - THE TEN LARGEST, ADULTHOOD, NO. 7 PLAKAT
Bauhaus orange on blue poster
A Retrospective - Mark Rothko Poster
Pumpkin Forever - Yayoi Kusama Poster
Yayoi Kusama - Red Dots Poster
Bauhaus Woman 02 - David Wolf
The vertical check
Width is only half of it. With the centre at the standard 145 cm, each format has a fixed bottom edge, and the sofa back has to sit clear of it.
| Format | Bottom edge at 145 cm centre | Clearance over a 75 cm back | Over a 90 cm back |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50×70 portrait | 110 cm | 35 cm | 20 cm |
| 70×100 portrait | 95 cm | 20 cm | 5 cm |
| 100×140 landscape | 95 cm | 20 cm | 5 cm |
Five centimetres is too little — the frame appears to rest on the cushions. Aim for 20 to 30 cm of visible wall, which above a high-backed sofa means raising the centre above 145. The standard and its exceptions are set out in how high to hang art.
When the rule does not apply
- The sofa floats in the room. Then the art belongs to the wall, not the furniture: size it to the wall and use the standard height.
- The wall is narrower than the sofa. Centre on the free wall, and accept that the arrangement will not be centred on the sofa.
- A door, radiator or window eats one side. Centre on the usable section, then keep that section's own margins equal.
- Shelving stands beside the sofa. The shelves are part of the composition; measure the wall that is left.
Frames in every size are in the frame range, and prints scaled for this wall are in the living room selection.