One of the five pillars

Living with the work

You have the painting, or you nearly do. Four articles on which room, how high, what size, and what arrives at your door.

22 articles under this pillar

Which roomSize and heightLight and framingGetting it there

Which room

6 articles
A small home study with a black desk and shelving, a rust-orange chair pulled out, the wall the desk camera frames struck through with a black marker cross, an arrow from the handwritten words not the camera wall, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workA painting in a home office A stair landing in a coastal loft, a steel-framed window beside the travertine treads, the wall above the landing circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words the landing decides, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHanging a painting in a stairwell or on a landing A coastal loft bedroom with a steel-framed window and a travertine floor, the wall above the headboard struck through with a black marker cross, an arrow from the handwritten words not above the bed, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workA painting in the bedroom: the easy room and its one problem A narrow entrance hall in a bright apartment, a tall window with slim black frames at its end, the near wall circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words you walk past this one, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHanging a painting in the hallway
All 6 in which room →

Size and height

7 articles
A stair landing in a coastal loft, a steel-framed window beside the travertine treads, the wall above the landing circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words the landing decides, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHanging a painting in a stairwell or on a landing A matt black cordless drill on an oak floor with wall plugs, brass hooks and a folding rule, the brass hooks and wall plugs circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words the wall decides, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHow to hang a canvas: wall types, fixings and no-drill options A lived-in living room with a long linen sofa and a completely bare plaster wall above it, the wall above the sofa circled in open black marker, a marker arrow running to it from the handwritten words two thirds of that, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workWhat size painting works above a sofa? Marker drawing of a wall and floor line with an empty upright canvas on it, a dashed line through its centre and an arrow measuring that height from the floor, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHow high should a painting hang?
All 7 in size and height →

Light and framing

1 article
A living room with a dark honed stone wall along its length and a stone grey sofa, the dark stone wall circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words better than white, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHanging a painting on a dark wall

Getting it there

1 article
A matt black cordless drill on an oak floor with wall plugs, brass hooks and a folding rule, the brass hooks and wall plugs circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words the wall decides, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHow to hang a canvas: wall types, fixings and no-drill options

Home › Notes from the studio › Living with the work

A painting stops being a purchase the moment it is on the wall. Then it is just something in your house that people will see. Almost every question I get after a sale is about that transition: which room, how high, how big, and who is going to walk past it. Here they are, answered one at a time.

Underneath all of them sits the question nobody puts in an email. Ordering one of these takes a minute. Hanging it where visitors can see it is a decision about what you are willing to have people think, and most of the hesitation is about that rather than about hallway lighting. It is worth saying plainly, because it is the normal reaction and not a sign that the painting is wrong for you.

The practical answers below help. They will not settle it for you. That part is yours — hang it anyway.

Where it goes

How big

Getting it there

Before you got here

Questions people ask

How high should a painting hang?

Centre the painting at eye level, which for most rooms means the middle of the canvas at about 145 cm from the floor. Above furniture, the rule changes: leave 15 to 20 cm between the top of the sofa or headboard and the bottom of the frame, so the two read as one group rather than two separate objects.

Is a nude painting suitable for a living room?

Yes, and it is the most common place these paintings end up. The room that people worry about is usually the hallway, because a guest meets it before they have met you. A bedroom is the easiest room of all and the least interesting one, because almost nobody except you will ever see it.

What size painting should go above a bed?

Aim for a canvas between two thirds and three quarters of the width of the bed. Above a 160 cm double bed that means roughly 100 to 120 cm wide. The usual mistake is choosing something too small, which leaves the wall looking unfinished no matter where you hang it.

Do the paintings arrive framed?

The paintings are oil on canvas on a stretcher and are sold unframed, which is normal for work on stretched canvas — the painted edges are part of the piece. A frame is a later choice you can make with a framer, not something that has to be decided before buying.

← Back to Notes from the studio

← Back to the Journal