Short answer: to work out what size poster you should buy, measure the furniture it will hang above, take two thirds of that width, and pick the poster size closest to it. A 60 inch loveseat or queen headboard wants roughly 40 inches of art, which is one 28" x 40" print hung landscape, or a pair of 18" x 24" prints hung 4 inches apart. An average 90 inch three seat sofa wants roughly 60 inches, and no single poster in this archive is that wide, so it needs a pair of 28" x 40" prints instead. Whatever you choose, hang the center of it 57 to 60 inches from the floor. Everything below does that math for you, across all eight poster sizes actually sold here, with the framed dimensions and the real prices.
In this article
- How do you work out the right poster size in one minute?
- What size poster goes above a sofa?
- What size wall art goes above a bed?
- What size prints work in a home bar, man cave or game room?
- What size fits a hallway, entry or bathroom?
- What size works above a desk or in a media room?
- Does the frame change the size you need?
- Which sizes come in which material?
- Frequently asked questions
How do you work out the right poster size in one minute?
There are only three numbers to remember, and interior designers have been using the same three for decades.
- Width: art hung above furniture should be about two thirds the width of the piece below it. Measure the sofa, the headboard, the credenza, then multiply by 0.66.
- Height: the center of the artwork belongs 57 to 60 inches off the floor, which is average eye height and the standard galleries hang to.
- Gaps: leave 6 to 8 inches between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the frame, and 3 to 6 inches between prints in a set.
One detail decides more of this than most size guides admit: every photograph in the archive is printed at a 2:3 ratio, so a single print hung portrait is always narrower than it is tall. A 24" x 36" print is only 24 inches wide. That is why the two thirds rule so often points to a pair rather than to one bigger piece, and why the honest answer above a large sofa is two prints, not one.
When the width rule and the height rule disagree, the gap wins. If centering a tall print at 57 inches would leave less than 6 inches of wall above the sofa back, raise the whole thing until it clears.
What size poster goes above a sofa?
Start with the width of the sofa, not the width of the wall. The table below runs the two thirds calculation for every common piece of furniture and matches it to a real size, both as a single print hung landscape and as a set. Gaps in the set column are 4 inches, in the middle of the recommended range.
| Hangs above | Typical width | Target width | One print | Or a set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nightstand or narrow shelf | 24 in | 16 in | 12" x 18" portrait (12 in wide) | Two 8" x 12" stacked vertically |
| Desk or small credenza | 48 in | 32 in | 20" x 28" landscape (28 in wide) | Two 12" x 18" portrait (28 in total) |
| Loveseat or queen headboard | 60 in | 40 in | 28" x 40" landscape (40 in, exact) | Two 18" x 24" portrait (40 in total) |
| King headboard | 76 in | 51 in | Nothing single reaches it | Two 24" x 36" portrait (52 in total) |
| Three seat sofa | 90 in | 60 in | Nothing single reaches it | Two 28" x 40" portrait (60 in, exact) or three 18" x 24" (62 in) |
| Sectional or back bar | 96 in | 64 in | 40" x 60" landscape, print only (60 in) | Two 28" x 40" portrait (60 in total) |
The row most people get wrong is the three seat sofa. An 18" x 24" print above a 90 inch sofa covers about a fifth of its width, which is why so many living rooms look unfinished even though there is art on the wall. Two 28" x 40" prints hung 4 inches apart land on 60 inches exactly, and two 24" x 36" prints get you to 52, which still reads as intentional. One 24" x 36" flanked by a pair of 12" x 18" prints works too, and costs less than either.
The most reviewed print in the archive. A wide, high energy stage frame that holds up at 24" x 36" and reads as a pair without competing with itself.
What size wall art goes above a bed?
Measure the headboard, not the mattress. A full bed headboard is about 54 inches, a queen about 60, a king about 76. Two thirds of those gives you 36, 40 and 51 inches of art, which lands on 24" x 36" hung landscape for a full, 28" x 40" landscape for a queen, and a pair of 24" x 36" portraits for a king.
The 57 inch rule needs one adjustment in a bedroom. Headboards are tall, and centering a large print at 57 inches can leave it almost touching the top rail. Keep the 6 to 8 inch gap and let the center drift upward. Nobody views bedroom art standing up anyway.
One more bedroom specific point: this is the room where a single print usually beats a set. You look at it from the doorway and from bed, at an angle, and a pair with a gap in the middle draws the eye to the gap. Browse the Bedroom Wall Art collection if you want to see how the quieter portraits in the archive sit at that scale.
A single figure against dark stage light, which is exactly the kind of composition that carries one large print instead of needing a pair.
What size prints work in a home bar, man cave or game room?
These rooms follow a different logic. A living room wants one focal point. A bar wall wants density, because you are standing close to it and moving along it rather than sitting in front of it.
The practical build is a grid of 12" x 18" or 16" x 24" prints, 3 to 6 inches apart, treated as one rectangle. Apply the two thirds rule to the whole block, not to each print. Six 12" x 18" prints in two rows of three, 4 inches apart, make a block 44 inches wide and 40 inches tall, which suits a back bar of about 66 inches. Nine of them in a 3 by 3 grid make a 44 inch square.
Above a bar counter specifically, drop the 57 inch rule entirely. Bottles, shelves and a raised counter all take wall space, so hang from the top down: leave 6 to 8 inches above the tallest thing on the counter and build upward. The Home Bar, Man Cave and Game Room collections are filtered for exactly these walls.
A bar scene above a bar. At 12" x 18" it works in a grid, and at 24" x 36" it carries a wall on its own.
What size fits a hallway, entry or bathroom?
Viewing distance decides these rooms, not furniture. In a hallway you are never more than about 3 feet from the wall, so a large print cannot be taken in at once. Stay at 8" x 12", 12" x 18" or 16" x 24", and use a run of the same size at equal spacing rather than one big piece.
Entryways take one size larger, since you usually see them from across a room first. An 18" x 24" or 20" x 28" above a console table is the reliable choice.
Bathrooms have a material problem before they have a size problem. Steam and paper are a bad combination, so a metal print is the sensible choice there, at 8" x 12" or 12" x 18". The reasoning is set out in full in our guide to poster, canvas, metal and acrylic prints.
What size works above a desk or in a media room?
A standard desk is 48 to 60 inches wide, which puts the target at 32 to 40 inches. One 20" x 28" or 28" x 40" hung landscape covers it, and a pair of 12" x 18" prints covers it in a way that survives a monitor arm being moved. Do not hang anything low enough to sit behind a screen. Measure from the top of the monitor, not the desk. See the Home Office and Study collection for prints that hold up at that scale.
Media rooms are the one place where the wall, not the furniture, sets the size. Art beside a television should be smaller than the screen so it does not compete, and art on the opposite wall can be as large as you like because nobody is looking at it while the screen is on. A pair of 18" x 24" prints flanking a 65 inch screen is the layout that works most often. The Media Room and Lounge collections are built for those walls.
Does the frame change the size you need?
Yes, and it is the step most size guides skip. Every size on this site refers to the printed image, not the finished object. The frames here use a 20 mm oak or ash profile, which is heavier than the 14 mm profile most ready made frames use, so it adds roughly 0.8 inches of wood on each side.
That means a framed 24" x 36" print hangs as roughly 25.6" x 37.6". The outer sizes below are approximate, calculated from the 20 mm frame profile, and they are what you should use when you are working to the inch. Gallery wrapped canvas needs no adjustment at all, since the printed edge is the edge of the object.
| Print size | Framed outer size, approximate | Print only | With frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8" x 12" | 9.6" x 13.6" | $39.99 | $117.59 |
| 12" x 18" | 13.6" x 19.6" | $55.19 | $160.79 |
| 16" x 24" | Print only, no frame offered | $59.99 | Not available |
| 18" x 24" | 19.6" x 25.6" | $65.59 | $219.19 |
| 20" x 28" | 21.6" x 29.6" | $70.39 | $263.99 |
| 24" x 36" | 25.6" x 37.6" | $79.99 | $327.99 |
| 28" x 40" | 29.6" x 41.6" | $90.39 | $423.19 |
| 40" x 60" | Print only, no frame offered | $139.99 | Not available |
Which sizes come in which material?
Pick the size first, then check it exists in the surface you want. Two sizes are print only, and framed canvas stops one size short of the others.
| Size | Poster | Poster and frame | Canvas | Canvas and frame | Metal | Acrylic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8" x 12" | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 12" x 18" | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 16" x 24" | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 18" x 24" | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 20" x 28" | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24" x 36" | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 28" x 40" | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| 40" x 60" | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
If you want the biggest possible piece and you want it framed, 28" x 40" is the ceiling. If you want the biggest piece full stop, 40" x 60" as a print only poster is the answer, and you frame it yourself.
Frequently asked questions
How high should you hang a poster?
Center it 57 to 60 inches above the floor, which is average eye height and the height galleries hang to. Above furniture, keep 6 to 8 inches between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the frame, and if the two rules conflict, keep the gap and let the center sit higher.
Should you buy one large print or a set of smaller ones?
One large print for a wall you sit in front of, a set for a wall you walk past or stand at. Because every print here is a 2:3 ratio, a single portrait print above furniture wider than about 60 inches will always look undersized, so large sofas and king beds are the two cases where a pair genuinely beats one piece.
Do the listed sizes include the frame?
No. Every size refers to the printed image. The frame adds roughly 0.8 inches of oak or ash on each side, so a framed 18" x 24" print measures about 19.6" x 25.6" on the wall. Gallery wrapped canvas is the exception, since the printed surface is the whole object.
What size poster is best for a small room?
Work from viewing distance rather than wall size. Under about 4 feet, stay at 12" x 18" or 16" x 24". A small room does not need small art on every wall, but it does need art you can take in from where you actually stand.
Can you mix sizes on the same wall?
Yes, and it usually looks better than a perfect grid. The reliable version is one large anchor piece with two smaller prints on one side, all sharing either a common top line or a common center line, with 3 to 6 inches between them. Keep the frame finish identical across the group so the sizes read as deliberate.
Does a bigger size cost more to ship?
No. Shipping is free on every order at every size. Every piece is made to order and hand finished, and the current production and delivery windows are listed on the Shipping and Delivery page.
Measure the wall, then pick the photograph
Every print in the archive is offered in every size it is made in, and in all four materials, on the same restored file. Still deciding between paper, canvas, metal and acrylic? Read the material comparison next.
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