Art above a sofa

We tried the small version in a living room we designed with real IKEA and B&Q products, so you can see what a too-small picture does before you buy one.

What does a too-small picture look like?

The first thing you notice is the wall. This is a boho living room we designed, photographed straight on to a wall painted in Dulux Heritage Inca Orange (B&Q, £49). A two-seat IKEA VIMLE sofa (£1,049) sits against it, and above the sofa hangs one small framed botanical print, a single blue flower, well up the wall and a fraction of the sofa's width.

It's neat and centred, and it still looks like an afterthought. A long stretch of orange wall surrounds it, and the print can't compete with the sofa's cushions, the plants either side or the brass pendant light hanging in front of the wall. Hung that high, it's also well above where anyone on the sofa is looking.

What changes with a bigger picture?

In the second picture the small print has gone and a large blue abstract canvas hangs in the middle of the wall above the sofa, in the same spot.

Now the picture spans roughly two-thirds of the sofa and hangs just above its back, and the two read as one piece. The print in the first picture looked like it belonged to the wall; this one belongs to the sofa. If your sofa is 200cm wide, two-thirds is about 133cm, which is bigger than most people expect.

How big should art be above a sofa?

About two-thirds of the sofa's width. Animato says art above furniture looks best covering roughly two-thirds of the piece below it, Artiteq says the same for a sofa, and Profile Products allows a wider range of two-thirds to three-quarters.

So for a 200cm sofa, that's about 133–150cm of art. For a 180cm sofa it's about 120–135cm. You can reach that width with one big picture, or with two or three smaller ones and a gap between them. Bearsted Gallery works through a 190cm wall: a single 92cm frame leaves 49cm clear on each side, and two 62cm frames with an 8cm gap, 132cm in all, leave 29cm each side. Its advice is to try the sizes on your own wall rather than trust a rule.

How high should you hang it above the sofa?

Put the bottom edge 15–25cm above the back of the sofa. Profile Products and Rikke Darling both give that range, Artiteq says 20–25cm, Animato says 6–8 inches (about 15–20cm), and Velcro says around 6 inches (about 15cm), or a hand's length. We'd go for 15–20cm: close enough to read as part of the sofa, and far enough that heads and cushions don't touch it.

Measure from the top of the sofa back, not from the floor.

What about the "eye level" rule?

On a bare wall, the usual advice is to hang the centre of the picture at about 145–152cm from the floor, which is about 57–60 inches. Animato, Profile Products and Artiteq all give it, and it's the answer to most "how high to hang pictures" searches.

Over a sofa the two rules can disagree. A tall sofa back plus 15–25cm plus a large frame can push the centre of the picture above 150cm, and a low sofa can put it below. Follow the sofa rule, because you're mostly sitting when you look at the picture. Rikke Darling makes the same point, and says a large painting still looks right hung low while a small one should hang higher than a large one.

That's what's wrong in the first picture: a small print hung high leaves a gap to the sofa that nothing fills.

What a bigger frame cost us, and what it would cost you

The canvas in the second picture is IKEA PJÄTTERYD "vivid blooms", 90 x 90cm, £35. The whole room came to £1,754.80 for 13 products, so the picture is about 2% of it.

IKEA sells PJÄTTERYD pictures in other sizes too: 56 x 56cm "colourful shapes" at £12, 140 x 56cm "endless tide" at £30, and 118 x 78cm "big city" at £40. Prices vary a little by design, so a wider picture can cost no more than a small one. For a framed print, IKEA sells the RÖDALM frame alone, in birch, oak or black effect, in these sizes:

• 21 x 30cm: £5–6
• 30 x 40cm: £7–9
• 40 x 50cm: £10–12
• 50 x 70cm: £15–17
• 61 x 91cm: £19–22

The 61 x 91cm frame is £22 in the birch or oak, against £17 for the 50 x 70cm, so going up costs £5 and the picture to put in it is extra. Two 61 x 91cm frames hung side by side with a gap of about 8cm span about 130cm, which is two-thirds of a 200cm sofa, for £44 in frames. Black is cheaper at £19 each.

The trade-off: a large single frame is the cheapest way to look deliberate, but it needs a picture that looks fine blown up, and the largest RÖDALM frame we found is 61 x 91cm. Past that you'd need a bigger print, a custom frame or a pair, and that's where the cost climbs.

How do you check the size before you buy?

Cut paper or newspaper to the size you're thinking of, tape it to the wall, and sit on the sofa. Bearsted Gallery suggests this too.

1. Measure the sofa's width and multiply it by two-thirds, so a 200cm sofa gives about 133cm.
2. Tape paper or newspaper to the wall at that width, with the bottom edge 15–20cm above the back of the sofa.
3. Sit down and look at it from where you usually sit, then stand in the doorway and look again.
4. Move it until it feels attached to the sofa rather than floating.
5. Work out the nail position: Profile Products gives the centre height plus half the frame height, minus the distance the wire or hanger drops.

If the template still looks small on the wall, go bigger.

What if the picture's already up and too small?

Hang a second and third picture beside it, with 5–15cm between the frames, which is the gap Artiteq suggests for groups. Then lower the whole group to the 15–20cm mark above the sofa. It's cheaper than a new large frame, and the group counts as one picture when you measure its width.