Start with the space rather than the artwork. If the piece is going above a sofa, a bed or a sideboard, the usual advice is to span about two-thirds to three-quarters of that furniture's width, which reads as deliberate rather than stranded. On an empty wall, the same logic applies to the wall itself. Hang it so the centre of the image sits at roughly eye level. Our own rule of thumb, not a published standard: around 145-150cm from the floor, unless furniture below forces it higher.
In practice that means A3 for a desk, a shelf or one plate in a gallery wall; A2 as the safe default above most sofas and beds; and 50x70cm or 70x100cm when the piece is meant to be the thing you notice on entering the room. Cut the sizes out of newspaper and tape them up before ordering. It takes five minutes, and it'll settle the argument. Every plate in our astronomy print catalogue comes in all four, and the 2/3 rule is the shorthand version of the same idea.
Sizing questions are grouped in On the wall. The 2/3 rule is the arithmetic version of this answer, and can wall art be too big is the failure at the other end.
Written by Craig Fearn, Aphelion Prints. Last updated .