Sometimes it can be difficult to visualise the size of an artwork when buying online, especially with so many different sizes available, so knowing how to accurately measure a room and wall space will give you the confidence to purchase your favourite designs in the most suitable sizes. Here is a quick guide of simple tips and advice to ensure you choose the right size art which is proportional to your room, fixtures and furniture.
Measuring the wall
If in doubt, always measure the length and width of the wall where you want to hang your print. If it is going above a particular bit of furniture, only measure the open wall space (from the top of the furniture to the ceiling rather than from floor). Prints hung over furniture always look best centred above and should not be any larger than 75 percent of the width of the furniture. Similarly artwork placed above a fireplace tends to look best centred and should be as wide as the opening of the fireplace.
For gallery walls and other print sets make sure to measure the total area available and leave enough room for even spacing between frames. In our own hallway here at Southsea Studio HQ we have five of our favourite city map prints evenly spaced down a long hall to the bedroom. Here we measured the length of the hallway (300cm, minus 20cm either end) and divided by five, leaving us meaning we could easily fit five 50cm wide frames with 2cm spacing between.
The shape of the wall
Tall, narrow walls will work best for portraits or prints in a vertical shape, whilst horizontal wall spaces (often found above sofas) work best with landscape-oriented artwork, print sets of three or gallery walls. When considering the overall dimensions of a wall space as mentioned above, if you are in doubt, bigger is usually better as smaller prints can get slightly lost vast walls!
Draw a plan
If you plan to have more than one artwork on your walls, it can be worth sketching a layout and comparing the dimensions of the prints in relation to each other. All of our photography and graphic illustration prints come in a variety of sizes so you can incorporate more of your favourite designs without having to compromise. For more information, check out our guides here on how to create a gallery wall or how to hang your art. You can also look at gallery wall guides on pinterest or even try cardboard cutouts to get an idea.
Framing your print
While we recommend buying framed prints from Southsea Studio if buying online some customers choose to have their prints framed locally. If this is the case, you’ll need to consider the alternative style of framing. Frames available online will sometimes come with or without a mount with an opening for a print. If choosing frames with a mount, select the print sizes that fits within the advertised opening. With this, it is best to choose borderless as the print option on most of our photography/design. There usually will be some overlap but this is often better than having to exactly align a border within the mount.
If buying a frame without a mount, or if you wanted to make full use of the frame size, we offer all of our photography and most of our graphic designs with a white border. In this case a print in A2 size with a white border will fit snugly inside a A2 frame, with the image taking up ~85% of the frame as opposed to 50% with an A3 print within the typical mount included for that frame size.