How Big Is Too Big? Hanging Large Prints at Home

Here’s the diptych from Mountain High finally in place, after two hours of measuring, adjusting, and a bit of swearing.

This week, I spent two hours wrestling with a diptych from my Mountain High exhibition, trying to get it perfectly placed in our living room.  Lucy, was helping heaps too. It was a mission, measuring, adjusting, stepping back, re-measuring.   I even filmed the whole thing in hyperlapse, which made it look like a breeze. Trust me, it wasn’t.

But it got me thinking: when it comes to hanging prints at home, how big is too big?

Large-scale art can transform a space. It creates drama, anchors a room, and makes a statement. But it also demands balance. A print that’s too small gets lost. One that’s too big can overwhelm the room.  And the placement has to feel just right.  We actually finished the whole thing, sat down and looked at it, then looked at each other and said "it's too high isn't it!".  So I dropped everything 10cm.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned (and lived through):

• Measure your wall space first. A good rule is to fill 60–75% of the available wall area.

• Consider the furniture below. If you’re hanging art above a sofa or bed, aim for a width that’s about two-thirds of the furniture’s width.

• Mock it out. Use masking tape to outline the dimensions before committing. It’s a lifesaver.

• Think in panels. Diptychs and triptychs can break up large compositions and make them easier to hang and visually digest.

• Have some plaster compound and matched wall paint handy to cover up the mistakes.

Living with art should be inspiring, not intimidating. Originals can feel out of reach: too expensive, too delicate, too precious. But prints, especially the ones I offer, are robust, affordable, and beautifully made. The colour, texture, and scale are all carefully conceived to bring atmosphere and emotion into your space. 

Art doesn’t need to be exclusive to be meaningful. If a piece speaks to you, let it live with you, and don’t be shy about sharing that passion. Invite your friends into the experience. Large, expressive artwork has a way of transforming not just a room, but the way we feel in it. It’s not about owning something rare, it’s about surrounding yourself with something that resonates.

Seeing this large artwork balanced and breathing in the room reminded me why I paint big...sometimes, a landscape needs space to speak.

<a href="https://billrainey.art/collections/mountain-high">Explore the Mountain High collection</a>