Deutsche Version: Welche Bildgröße passt an meine Wand? Ein praktischer Ratgeber
The most common mistake with art at home is not the wrong painting. It is the wrong size. A painting that is too small floats lost on a big wall, and one that is too large crowds a narrow hallway. The good news: a few simple rules, a tape measure and ten minutes with some paper solve almost every case.
All measurements below are in centimetres, and the examples are original paintings from Lena Krashevka’s studio in Cologne that are available now.
Above a sofa, a sideboard or a bed, a painting looks right when it is roughly two thirds as wide as the furniture below it. Narrower than half and it looks lost. Wider than the furniture and it looks top-heavy.
Leave 15 to 25 cm between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the frame. Higher than that and the painting loses its connection to the furniture.
Without furniture to relate to, measure the wall section the painting will own (between a door and a corner, for example) and aim for a painting, or group, that covers about 60 to 75 percent of that width. On a 2 m wall that means about 120 to 150 cm of art.
Large walls are where people most often go too small. If in doubt, choose the larger size: a big painting on its own wall gives a room calm and a clear focus. One strong work usually beats five small ones. See all large original paintings from 80 cm.
A large work for a wall of its own. At 80×100 cm, Breath of the Sea holds a living room wall or a wall above a long sideboard without needing anything around it.
Breath of the Sea, 80×100 cm, oil on canvas, 2024, €5,400
Museums hang paintings so that their centre sits at about eye level, roughly 145 to 155 cm above the floor. At home this works on any open wall and keeps a series of rooms looking calm and consistent. Above furniture the furniture rule wins: hang from the furniture up, not from the floor.
In rooms where you mostly sit, such as a dining room or a reading corner, you can hang a little lower.
Small works from 13 to 30 cm are wonderful, but they need the right place. They come alive:
A small format for a narrow wall, a bedside or a study.
Can’t Sleep, 20×30 cm, oil on wood, 2021, €1,500
Square formats are especially easy to group. Lena’s Reflection paintings are mostly 40×40 cm: a pair above a bench or three in a row above a sofa make a calm, strong line.
40×40 cm works alone or in a group. On its own it suits a narrow wall; with one or two other Reflection works it fills a wall above a sofa.
Reflection #45, 40×40 cm, oil on canvas, 2026, €2,400
Cut a piece of paper or cardboard (wrapping paper or an opened box works fine) to the exact size of the painting and tape it to the wall with painter’s tape. Leave it there for a day. Walk past it, sit on the sofa, look at it in the evening. You will know very quickly if it is too small, too large or exactly right.
Also check the viewing distance: stand back about twice the width of the painting. That is roughly where it will be seen most of the time. Large works need room to step back; small works reward a close look.
In Lena’s studio, the price of an original depends on its size, not on the subject or the series. Ranges for the works available today:
All available works are listed by size and price, so you can go straight to the format that fits your wall.
60×60 cm is the size that fits most places: above a sideboard, in a hallway, beside a window.
Our Amsterdam, 60×60 cm, oil on canvas, 2015, €3,600
A queen bed is about 152 cm wide (60 in), in Europe usually 160 cm. Two thirds of that is about 100 to 110 cm of art: one landscape work around 100×70 or 100×80, or two 50×50 side by side with 5 to 10 cm between them.
A king bed is about 193 cm wide (76 in), in Europe 180 or 200 cm. Aim for about 120 to 135 cm of art: one large work around 120 cm wide, two 60×60, or three 40×40 in a row. See the large original paintings for single works of this size.
Leave 15 to 25 cm between the top of the sofa back and the bottom of the painting. With a typical back height of 85 to 90 cm, the bottom edge sits at about 105 to 110 cm and the centre of a 70 cm tall painting at about 140 to 145 cm, close to the museum rule of 150 cm.
Leave 15 to 30 cm above the headboard, or about 50 to 60 cm above the mattress if there is no headboard. Use two hooks so the painting stays level and cannot slip.
Landscape and square formats follow the long line of a sofa or bed. A tall portrait format looks best above narrow furniture, or as a pair side by side.
Take a photo of the wall, note its width and the furniture in front of it, and send it to Lena with the works you are considering. She will tell you honestly which size works. In Cologne you can also see the paintings in the studio by appointment, and pick up your painting yourself; elsewhere it travels by insured shipping.
Use the “Acquire This Artwork” button on any work, get in touch or write to Lena. More reading: Original painting or print? What you really get for your money.