Most size mistakes with a commissioned painting happen before the commission starts. Someone picks "24 by 36" because it sounds like a normal size, then the painting arrives and looks small over a long sofa, or it's too big for the one wall they actually had in mind. Here's how we walk people through how to choose a size for a commissioned painting at Jones Co Creative Space, in the order we'd do it ourselves.
Start with the wall, not the painting
Before you think about subject or style, decide where it's going to hang. Then measure two things: the width of the empty wall space, and the width of whatever sits under it (sofa, bed, console table, mantel).
A solid starting rule is that the painting should be roughly 60 to 75 percent of the width of the furniture below it. For an 84 inch sofa, that puts you between about 50 and 63 inches wide. That's bigger than most people expect, and it's why a single 16x20 over a sofa tends to look like a postage stamp.
If there's no furniture, leave at least a few inches of breathing room on each side of the painting, and more if it's near a corner or a door frame.
Tape it out before you commit
This is the step we'd push hardest. Cut a piece of kraft paper, or use painter's tape, to the exact dimensions you're considering and stick it on the wall. Live with it for a day or two. Walk past it, sit on the couch, look at it from the doorway.
Try one size up and one size down while you're at it. Almost everyone finds that one of the three just feels right, and it's often not the one they started with.
For height, a common gallery standard is to center the artwork about 57 inches from the floor. Over furniture, you generally want the bottom edge 6 to 8 inches above the back of the sofa or the top of the table so the two read as one grouping.
Account for the frame
A painting's canvas size and its finished size are not always the same thing. A floating frame adds a small amount, and a traditional frame with a mat can add a few inches on every side. If you're working with a tight space, give us the measurement of the finished piece you need, not just the canvas.
Gallery-wrapped canvases, where the painting continues around the edges, can hang without a frame at all. That keeps the size predictable and the cost down.
Match the shape to your reference photo
If the commission is based on a photo, such as a pet, a house, or a family portrait, the proportions of that photo matter. Many phone photos are roughly 3:4, which fits sizes like 18x24, 30x40, and 36x48 without much cropping. A 2:3 photo from a DSLR fits 24x36 better. A square format like 24x24 works for some subjects, but expect the composition to be cropped.
If an important part of the photo would get cut off at your target size, tell us up front. It's much easier to adjust the shape of the canvas than to rework a finished painting.
Think about detail
Size affects how much detail a painting can hold. A pet portrait where you want individual whiskers and a clear eye reflection has room to breathe at 16x20 or larger. At 8x10 it can still be a good painting, but it will be simpler and looser. A wide landscape or a busy scene with several people usually needs more surface to read well.
The opposite is true too. A bold, simple subject can look great large, and it doesn't need to be tiny to be cheap to hang.
Be honest about budget
Price generally goes up with size, because larger canvases take more materials and more hours. If your budget is fixed, it's worth asking what a size down would look like rather than assuming you have to compromise on quality. A well-chosen 24x30 often looks better than a stretched-thin 36x48.
For a very large wall, a two or three panel set (a diptych or triptych) can be a good alternative. It can cover wide space, it's easier to move and hang, and it lets you split the work into stages. The tradeoff is that the gaps between panels become part of the design, so you'll want to plan that on purpose.
Check the path to the wall
This is the boring part that causes real problems. Measure the doorways, hallways, and stairwells between the front door and the wall. Large stretched canvases can't be folded, and a 48x60 painting won't fit in many small cars. If the piece is going into a tight stairwell or an upstairs room, tell us. We can talk through delivery, or plan something in sections.
A quick way to land on a size
- Measure the wall space and the furniture beneath it.
- Multiply the furniture width by 0.6 and 0.75 to get a target range.
- Tape out a size inside that range and live with it for a day.
- Check your reference photo's proportions against that size.
- Confirm the finished size including any frame, and check the route into the room.
Not sure? Send us the photos
If you'd rather not do the math, send us a photo of the wall with the furniture in it and a rough measurement, plus the reference image if you have one. We can usually suggest a size or two from that alone. You can reach us through jonescocreative.space to start a conversation about your commission, and ask for an appointment if you'd like to see canvases in person at a few different sizes.