The Most Common Wall Art Buying Mistakes, and the Fix

Buying too small is the mistake, and it is the one that fills the returns queue: most people size a piece to the empty wall in their head rather than to 60 to 75% of the width of the furniture beneath it. The other common wall art buying mistakes, hanging too high and buying for the photograph instead of for the wall, cost less money but they land in the same room. Centre the piece at 57 to 60 in (145 to 152 cm) from the floor to the middle of the artwork, take the width from the sofa or the console rather than from the wall, and most of the problem is gone before you open a drill box.

Which common wall art buying mistakes cost the most money?

Undersizing costs the most, because it is the only one of the four you cannot correct with a hammer. A three seat sofa is around 84 in (213 cm) wide, so the art above it wants to land between 50 and 63 in (127 and 160 cm) across, and a single 13.8 in (35 cm) wide panel hung there reads as a postage stamp however good it is. Hanging too high is second and it is free to fix: drop the centre to 57 to 60 in (145 to 152 cm) and re-drill. Third is buying for the photograph, which is where the styling props do the damage, because the lamp, the books and the plant in the shot are carrying half the composition and none of them arrive in the box. The hand-applied finish will not match the photograph exactly either, which is why the 19.7 by 13.8 in (50 by 35 cm) shape and the colour scheme are the parts you can rely on and the texture is the part that varies, a problem I have written about separately in why a piece arrives looking different.

The fourth is quieter, and it is the one the Houseland product FAQ answers first: the stacked pebble totem is 19.7 in (50 cm) tall and 13.8 in (35 cm) wide and it hangs vertically, which suits a narrow wall, the space beside a door, or the gap above a console. A wide horizontal frame needs a wide run of wall, and a 20 in (51 cm) pier between a door and a corner will not take one at any price. On that pier, 60 to 75% works out at 12 to 15 in (30 to 38 cm), and 13.8 in (35 cm) sits inside the band.

What width should the piece be for the furniture below it?

Take the width of the furniture, multiply by 0.6 and by 0.75, and buy inside that band. The sum takes about 30 seconds with a tape and it settles more of the wall than the choice of picture does.

Two things break the sum. A group of pieces counts as one piece, so measure from the outside edge of the left frame to the outside edge of the right frame with the gaps included, and that total is what has to hit 60 to 75%. And if there is no furniture underneath, the wall itself becomes the reference and you are guessing again, so put something under it: a 47 in (120 cm) console turns a blank wall into a sum you can do.

Why does my wall art look wrong even when the size is right?

It is hung too high, and it is hung too high because you measured down from the ceiling or up from the sofa back instead of up from the floor. Centre height is 57 to 60 in (145 to 152 cm) from the floor to the middle of the piece, which puts the middle of the artwork at the eye line of a standing adult. For a 19.7 in (50 cm) tall panel that means the top edge lands at roughly 67 to 70 in (170 to 178 cm) and the bottom edge at roughly 47 to 50 in (119 to 127 cm), and you can pencil both marks before you touch a fixing.

Above a sofa the rule bends, because the sofa back is in the way and the piece has to answer to the furniture rather than to the room. The gap you leave depends on how tall your sofa back is, so measure it: the distance from the cushion line to the bottom edge of the piece is what decides whether the wall reads as connected or split in two, and there is more on that in how high to hang art above a sofa. What you must not do is push the centre above 60 in (152 cm) because the sofa back is tall, which is the wall art hung too high mistake in its most common form.

What causes wall art regret after the first week?

Size causes it, by a distance, and colour is the second wave. A piece that is 20 in (51 cm) too narrow is wrong on the first day and stays wrong, while a colour that is slightly off can be absorbed by a cushion. The regret that does come from colour is a specific kind: you buy a saturated statement shade and then own it forever, because the sofa, the rug and the curtains all have to answer to it. The Houseland spec lists four tones, warm cream and sand through the upper pebbles, a rust-brown disc in the middle and a grey stone tone at the base, which is a quiet palette on purpose and why it sits against sage, white or clay without an argument.

Texture is the third thing people mention and it is the one worth paying for. The largest pebble carries fine carved striations, and side light across them throws a soft shadow down the wall, so the piece reads one way at 9am and another at 6pm with no electricity involved. There is no LED, no cable and no battery compartment, so nothing has to be hidden behind the console and nothing has to be charged. The stone-effect finish is applied by hand, so the texture on yours will not match the photograph precisely, and that is the variation to expect rather than the one to report.

How do I hang it so it is right the first time?

Mark the centre first and the fixing second, in that order, because the fixing is not where the middle of the piece will sit.

1. Measure the furniture below and write down 60% and 75% of its width; a 47 in (120 cm) console gives you 28 to 35 in (71 to 89 cm).
2. Mark the centre line of the furniture on the wall in pencil, then mark a cross on that line at 57 to 60 in (145 to 152 cm) up from the floor.
3. Cut a paper template the size of the piece, 19.7 by 13.8 in (50 by 35 cm) for the pebble totem, and tape it up so its middle sits on the cross. Stand at the far side of the room and look at it for a minute before you commit.
4. Measure from the top edge of the piece down to its hanging point on the back, then transfer that distance down from the top edge of the paper template. That pencil mark is where the fixing goes.
5. Fit the supplied fixing; mounting hardware is included and suits standard plasterboard and masonry, and because the piece is lightweight there is no stud and no heavy duty anchor to find. Studs sit at 16 in (41 cm) on centre if you would rather use one anyway.
6. Hang it, check the top edge with a level, then walk to the far wall and look again. Standard plasterboard is 0.5 in (12.5 mm) thick, which is why a 19.7 in (50 cm) piece in MDF hangs off a plain anchor while the same shape in real stone would need a masonry fixing.

Is a narrow vertical piece or a wide frame the better fix?

Under 20 in (51 cm) of clear wall the vertical piece wins, and from 47 in (120 cm) up the wide frame or a group wins. Measure the clear wall between the door casing and the corner, and the table picks for you.

Price is where this decision usually gets made rather than where it should be made. At $139.99 the stacked pebble totem sits inside the band covered in the highest quality wall art under $200, and what the money buys is a vertical footprint of 19.7 by 13.8 in (50 by 35 cm) in laser-cut MDF with a hand-textured stone-effect finish, mounting hardware, and a set of faux stems. The rest of the wall art collection answers to the same sum, so take the tape to the wall before you take the card out.

From the shop

Wabi Sabi Wall Art, Stacked Pebble Totem in a Stone-Effect Finish

Built for the narrow wall a wide frame cannot use: 19.7 in (50 cm) tall by 13.8 in (35 cm) wide, laser-cut MDF with a hand-textured stone-effect finish. Mounting hardware and a set of faux stems are included, and there is no cable, no battery and nothing to plug in.

See the wabi sabi wall art

What would I buy first?

A tape measure, then the piece. Write down the width of whatever sits under the wall, work out 60% and 75% of it, and only then open a product page, because every other decision here is downstream of that sum. If the wall is a 20 in (51 cm) pier beside a door, the 13.8 in (35 cm) totem is already inside the band and you are finished; if it is an 84 in (213 cm) sofa wall you need 50 to 63 in (127 to 160 cm) of art, one piece will not cover it, and that is a grouping problem rather than a shopping problem, which is the subject of building a gallery wall. Check the returns window at checkout before you unwrap anything, because once the packaging is off, a piece that is 20 in (51 cm) too narrow is your piece.

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