383 out of 705 people have boring walls, according to people.  3 out of 5 people have art that is too small, according to me.  9 out of 10 dentists…  Choosy moms choose bare walls over crap on their walls.  Let’s stop this madness.

Memorize this last column.  These are standard frame sizes that you can buy at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Ikea and online for “cheap”.

Then buy anything you like that you can fit into these frame sizes.  It’s cheaper than buying something that needs to be custom framed.  Custom framed means anything that doesn’t fit into the above sizes.  Custom framing means hundreds of dollars.  You would not believe how much the glass alone costs for large pieces.

I do not want you to buy teeny tiny little pictures that look lost on your wall.  Yes, you can make “groupings” that will fill a wall but they are not the easiest thing to pull off and can quickly add a feeling of visual clutter to the wrong room. A room that is busy does not need more busy on the walls.

Pick the biggest piece of furniture in your room and hang one large piece above it.  It should be about 2/3 the length of the piece of furniture you are hanging above.

As a general rule, the bottom of your frame should hang 8” to 10” above the back of the sofa.

The center of your artwork should be about eye-height with the average person–this translates to about 57″.  So hang your artwork at 57″ on center.  This is also a regularly used standard in many museums and galleries when hanging their masterpieces–so it should work just fine in your home when arguing with your husband about where to hang the picture.

Let’s not over think this.  Just buy big.  Have one big piece over the biggest piece of furniture.  Remember the 2/3 proportion.  Don’t buy anything that needs custom framing.  Think out of the box.  Here are some ideas and links.

Poster: 27.5 x 39.5 in  ~$18 plus S&H  Frame: 27 x 40 in ~$20-30 (Michaels/Amazon/Ikea)

Poster: 24″ x 38″ $40 plus 25% and free S&H.  21.5″ x 36″ without border.  Frame: Can be “fudged” into a standard 24″ x 36″ frame by trimming with scissors. $20

Poster: 20″ x 28″ $25 plus 25% and free shipping.  Frame: 20″ x 28″ standard frame ~$20 (Michaels/Ikea)

1 digital .PDF file (27,5 inches x 39,3 inches) $6.14 Will need to be printed at a copy store.  FedEx Kinkos charges 75 cents a square foot to print.

Frame: Standard 27×40 Ikea $25. Found also online by multiple retailers. $20-50.

1 digital .PDF file (27,5 inches x 39,3 inches)  $6.14  Will need to be printed at a copy store.  FedEx Kinkos charges 75 cents a square foot to print.Frame:  Standard 27×40 Ikea $25. Found also online by multiple retailers. $20-50.

Chris Love Julia. HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KIDS | TIPS FOR MAKING ENGINEER PRINTS LOOK THEIR BEST   “…I was worried framing a bunch of smaller photos and creating a gallery would be busy and compete with the adjacent wall when we’re done with it, so I went for my favorite–engineer prints. Update: I got these printed at my local Alphagraphics. They are nationwide so maybe you have one near you, too?”  She gives a wonderful step by step tutorial on how to make these engineer prints.  Basically, you need to edit a black and white photograph with a plain background and take it to a copy store that does engineer prints.  It costs less than $5 to print.

18″x24″ $81.00.  Pricier but worth a look.  Minted.com

Valori Wells Quill Peacock Extract Purple Fabric.com $10/Yard.  Runs 44″ wide.  For $10 you could get a large, contemporary, and colorful piece of statement art.

This is the fabric I referenced above for $10/yard.  I used it for my kitchen window shades.  It would look nice framed, yes?

Inexpensive art solutions from my home:

This had a different piece of art.  I hated it.  I ripped the back apart and duct taped something else in.  It doesn’t fit perfectly.  Can you tell?  Nope.

Poster I bought in NYC.  Too short for frame.  Custom for this size–way. too. much.  See the extra white space at the bottom?  Yeah, who cares.  I know it looks goooooooood.

This is a decorative paper that cost $3.50.  The frame was $3 from a thrift store.  Want to read more? —Paper Source, a post from last year.

Thrift store.  $20.

Broke my own rules.  Bought this poster and it was NOT standard size.  Custom was $350 with a flipping sale.  I had it dry mounted instead for $20.  Done.

Needed something for playroom wall.  Had burlap and black spray paint.  Done.

What do you got?  Let’s do this!

#yourartistoosmall

#saynotoboring

#yougotthis