There are certain places in the home that naturally lend themselves to, or even beg for, wall art. The areas usually offer a great big blank canvas, like a staircase or hallway, or serve as a natural focal point in a room, like the space directly above your sofa (or right behind it, if it’s not directly against the wall). Since we recently talked about how to hang art in a staircase, and we’ve covered creating a gallery wall in the hallway, today we’re going to tackle the space above the sofa, since what you hang there could make or break the design of your space.
Here, our expert team shares their advice for arranging art above your sofa.
1. “The art you choose should be smaller than the width of the sofa and tall enough to feel proportionate to the visual weight of the sofa and pillows. The height is variable based on the ceiling height, size of the art, if there are pillows or not. Honestly, the best method is to have someone hold it up there and follow your gut.” – Chris, ILevel Art Installer
2. “There isn’t an exact formula for determining a ratio or artwork size to sofa size, but the art should be centered on the sofa, and it (or the group of smaller pieces) should leave some space between the bottom of the art and the top of the sofa.We also almost always hang artwork on two points, and I would recommend that especially for hanging near active living areas—it’s more stable and less likely to be jostled out of its level position. So unless it’s an extremely heavy piece that would require extra reinforcement, two appropriately weight-rated hooks would work well above a sofa.” -David, ILevel Art Installer
3. “I typically suggest hanging pieces 8-14 inches above highest point on a couch, but it all depends how high the ceilings are. Usually, I like to keep the art closer to the sofa than the ceiling. In other words, there should be more space above the art to the ceiling, than below the art to the couch.” – Jeff, ILevel Art Installer
Need help hanging art in your space? Get in touch with ILevel at info@ilevel.biz.