What size art print for your wall?

Most people buy their first print too small. It goes up, and the wall swallows it. The fix is not taste, it is measurement. Match the print to the wall and to the furniture below it, and the room settles.

This guide covers the three sizes we make, how to work out which one a wall wants, how high to hang it, and how to check the fit before you buy.

Table of Contents

• The Three Print Sizes, and Where Each One Sits
• How to Choose the Size for Your Wall
• How High to Hang a Print
• Sizing a Print Above Furniture
• A Quick Way to Test the Size Before You Buy
• Why Birch & Banksia Prints Are Sized This Way
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Three Print Sizes, and Where Each One Sits

We make three sizes. Each one has a job.

The 30x40cm print sits well above a desk, a bedside table, or in a tight nook. It is the size for a small wall or a cluster. Framed it is $139.95, unframed $54.95.

The 50x70cm print anchors a couch wall. It is the size most people start with, because it reads from across a room without taking the whole wall. Framed it is $239.95, unframed $79.95.

The 70x100cm print is the statement size. On a wide empty wall, over a bed, or above a three-seat sofa, it holds the space on its own. Framed it is $369.95, unframed $109.95.

How to Choose the Size for Your Wall

Start with the wall, not the print. A print should fill most of the wall it hangs on, without crowding the edges. As a rough guide, aim for the artwork to span about two-thirds to three-quarters of the usable wall width.

On a narrow wall between two doors, that points to a 30x40. On an open lounge wall, a 50x70 or a 70x100. When a wall feels too wide for one print, the answer is often two prints rather than one larger sheet. A gallery wall solves the wide-wall problem that a single print cannot.

Measure before you decide. A tape measure and two minutes will tell you more than any photo of someone else's room.

How High to Hang a Print

The common gallery standard is to hang so the centre of the artwork sits about 145cm, or 57 inches, from the floor. That figure is roughly average eye level, and it is why galleries feel comfortable to walk through. It works in a hallway, a lounge, or a bedroom.

Adjust it for the room. In a space where people are mostly seated, a dining room or a reading corner, drop the centre a few centimetres so the print meets a seated sightline. Above furniture, the furniture sets the height instead, which is the next section.

One rule holds across all of them. Hang from the centre of the artwork, not the top of the frame. Frames vary in height, centres do not.

Sizing a Print Above Furniture

Above a sofa, a console, or a bed, the furniture below decides both size and height. The print should span about two-thirds of the furniture width. Wider than the furniture looks top-heavy, much narrower looks lost.

For a standard three-seat sofa, that usually means a 70x100, or a pair of 50x70s hung side by side. A pair of 50x70s with 6cm between them is a common gallery-wall spacing, and it fills a couch wall that one print would leave bare.

For height above furniture, leave a hand-width of wall between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame, around 15 to 25cm. Close enough that the print and the sofa read as one group, far enough that they do not touch.

A Quick Way to Test the Size Before You Buy

You do not have to guess. Cut a sheet of newspaper or kraft paper to the print's dimensions, 30x40, 50x70, or 70x100, and tape it to the wall with low-tack tape. Live with it for a day.

Stand back, sit down, walk past it. The paper tells you whether the size holds the wall, whether the height feels right, and whether a pair would work better than one. It is the cheapest design decision you will make. When the paper looks right, the print will too.

If you would rather start from the artwork, our Find Your Print quiz suggests a species and a size from a few quick questions.

Why Birch & Banksia Prints Are Sized This Way

Birch & Banksia prints come in three sizes because three sizes cover most walls without overwhelming the choice. The sizing above is the same advice we would give in the studio.

Every print is produced on 250gsm FSC-certified matte uncoated natural white archival paper, 0.29mm thick. The images are historic botanical plates, digitally restored from public-domain archives. Nothing is invented, and nothing is taken from a living artist.

Framed prints ship with shatterproof plexiglass rather than glass. It is lighter to post and safer to hang, which also makes the larger sizes easier to mount without heavy fixings. Frames come in natural timber, white, dark wood, and black. If you are weighing a frame or a colour, the framed versus unframed guide and the colour guide walk through it.

One percent of every sale, not one percent of profit, goes to native Australian reforestation. See the full range at birchandbanksia.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular print size? The 50x70cm. It anchors a couch wall and reads from across a room, which is why most people start there. It is $79.95 unframed and $239.95 framed.

How high should I hang a single print? Hang so the centre of the artwork sits about 145cm, or 57 inches, from the floor. That is the common gallery standard and roughly average eye level. Drop it slightly in rooms where people are mostly seated.

What size print goes above a sofa? Aim for about two-thirds of the sofa width. For a three-seat sofa that usually means a 70x100, or a pair of 50x70s hung 6cm apart. Leave 15 to 25cm between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame.

Can I hang a large print in a rental? Yes. Framed prints ship with shatterproof plexiglass, which is lighter than glass and suits removable fixings. See how to hang art without damaging walls for the renter-safe options.