Bedroom Wall Art: Calm Composition and Placement

Choosing bedroom wall art starts with a different question from the rest of the home: at what time of day, and from what position, will the piece be looked at? In the living room a picture is seen in company; in the bedroom it is usually seen by one person, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. This guide goes through how a calm composition is built in a bedroom, which wall and which height the piece belongs to, and how light and surface affect the decision.

Why the bedroom is a separate subject

A bedroom has two viewpoints. The first is standing, as you walk in through the door; the second is from the bed, lying down or leaning back. In the second, eye level is clearly lower than when standing, and the look lasts longer. A piece passed in a few seconds in a hallway stays in your field of view here for minutes.

That is why, in a bedroom, the difference between a piece that catches the eye and a piece you can live with comes to the front. What feels restful varies from person to person; even so, low-contrast, restrained and ordered compositions make long looking easier for most people.

What a calm composition means

Calm does not mean empty or faint; it means the eye knows where to go inside the frame. Three things decide that.

Colour: few, and close in tone

A palette built from two or three colours that sit close in tone carries less movement than a multicoloured surface. Muted greens, earth tones, off-white and grey are frequent choices for a bedroom. A vivid colour does not have to be ruled out; kept to a small area as a single accent, it does not tire the room. We covered the role of colour within a composition in detail in tennis wall art: colour, texture and composition.

Line: horizontal and ordered

Horizontal lines and broad, unbroken areas read as still; sharp diagonals and small, frequently repeated shapes give a sense of motion. A tennis court seen from above is a convenient subject in this respect: its lines are parallel and perpendicular to one another, and the frame is uncrowded.

Space: inside the piece and around it

Area left empty inside the composition gives the eye somewhere to rest. The same holds outside the piece: a mount, or the bare wall around it, separates the work from the other objects in the room. In a bedroom, choosing one wall and leaving the others bare usually gives a quieter result than filling them all.

The wall above the bed: width, height, safety

The most common place for a picture in a bedroom is the wall behind the headboard. This wall is seen from the door but not from the bed; the piece greets the room without occupying the sleeper.

Width

The usual guideline is that the total width of the piece or the set should fall between two thirds and three quarters of the width of the bed. For a bed 160 cm wide that is roughly 107–120 cm. A single landscape piece can fall in that range; two 50 × 70 cm pieces hung portrait, with an 8 cm gap, come to 108 cm and sit in the same range. For a 180 cm bed the range is 120–135 cm; here a pair with a 10 cm gap is slightly narrow at 110 cm, while three portrait pieces with 8 cm gaps reach 166 cm and approach the width of the bed. In that case a single larger piece, or a pair in a custom size, looks more balanced. The reasoning behind the sum is in our guide to the 50x70 cm wall art size.

Height

The eye-level rule is not enough on its own here; the headboard decides. Leaving 15–25 cm between the bottom edge of the piece and the top of the headboard makes the two read as one whole. With a larger gap the piece looks stranded on the wall. If there is no headboard, measure the same distance from the top line of the pillows; make sure your head does not touch the frame when you sit up and lean back.

Safety and weight

For a piece that hangs over your head, lightness comes first. Unframed or slim-framed canvas suits this wall; heavy glazed frames can go on another wall. Hanging the piece from two points rather than a single nail keeps it level and makes it harder to dislodge if it is knocked. Use fixings suited to the wall type (brick, concrete, plasterboard); if you are unsure, ask a tradesperson.

The wall facing the bed

This is the wall you see from the bed, so the test of calm applies most to the piece that hangs here. Because it will be the first thing seen on waking, a single piece or a plain set of two reads more easily than a crowded arrangement. We set out the criteria for choosing between the two in gallery wall or single statement piece.

Height is a balance between the two viewpoints. The 145 cm centre height used for walls viewed standing can sit a little high when seen from the bed. Taking the centre of the piece to 130–140 cm on the facing wall is an acceptable middle course both from the door and from the bed. If a chest of drawers or console stands against the wall, measure from the furniture: the bottom edge of the piece sits 15–25 cm above it.

Side walls and above the bedside table

The narrow strip of wall above a bedside table is for small pieces. A piece here stays close to eye level when you sit up in bed, so a small, detailed work that rewards a close look does well. If one piece is to hang above each of two bedside tables, keep their sizes, frames and heights the same; symmetry strengthens the sense of order in a bedroom. The lamp should not block the piece, and the bulb should not sit close to the surface.

The wall with the window is usually given over to the curtains. If a piece is to hang on the narrow section between the window and the corner, make sure the open curtain does not cover it.

Light: daylight and the bedside lamp

In a bedroom, light matters at both ends of the day. In the morning, light from the window reflects in glazed and glossy surfaces; we explained the general rule on reflection in office wall art, so here we add only what is particular to the bedroom. In most rooms the wall behind the bed is at right angles to the window, which is a suitable position for glossy surfaces. If the wall facing the bed also faces the window, a matt surface is more comfortable there.

Evening light comes from below and from the side: bedside lamps sit under eye level. In a glazed frame this light can reflect the lamp itself. Switching the lamp on, sitting on the bed and looking at the piece is enough to see the problem; often moving the lamp a few centimetres or turning the shade solves it. If the picture is to have its own lighting, a dimmable warm white light (around 2700 K) suits evening use in a bedroom.

A wall in direct sun is not a good place in this room either; the effect of sun and humidity on a work is covered in how to clean and care for wall art.

Choosing the surface

Matt canvas gives no reflection, is light, and speaks the same language as the fabric, wood and carpet of a bedroom; it is the first surface that comes to mind, especially above the bed. A glazed frame with a mount looks more formal and protects the surface, but it is heavier and reflects; it is at ease on the facing wall or a side wall. Acrylic is glossy and returns light; in a bedroom it can be used on a wall at right angles to the window. The differences between the surfaces are compared in acrylic print vs canvas.

Step by step: choosing art for a bedroom

1. Measure the width of the bed and the height of the headboard from the floor.

2. Decide which wall the piece is for: the wall above the bed, seen from the door, or the facing wall, seen from the bed?

3. Work out the width range for above the bed: between two thirds and three quarters of the bed's width.

4. Cut a paper template and tape it to the wall; set its bottom edge 15–25 cm above the headboard.

5. Lie down and sit up in bed and look at the template; check whether your head touches it, and how a piece on the facing wall enters your view.

6. Check for reflection in morning daylight and in the evening with the bedside lamp on.

7. Choose the surface and the hanging method to suit the wall; above the bed, prefer a light piece hung from two points.

Common mistakes

— Hanging the piece too far above the headboard. With a 30–40 cm gap, the piece and the bed come apart.

— Choosing a piece too small for the bed. A single small frame gets lost above a wide bed.

— Hanging a heavy glazed frame over your head.

— Filling every wall. In a bedroom, a bare wall is part of the composition too.

— Putting a high-contrast, busy piece directly opposite the bed.

— Checking for reflection only in daytime; the bedside lamp is a separate source.

— Hanging the two pieces above the bedside tables at different heights.

Bedrooms at Aurecort

Aurecort's Framed Art Series consists of compositions that see the court from above; the lines and the colour of the surface set up a plain order on canvas, and that order sits close to the calm composition described in this guide. The standard size is 50 × 70 cm; if the width of the bed calls for a different size, we work to a custom size, which is settled at the quotation stage. It is enough to tell us the width of the bed, the height of the headboard and the clear width of the wall. For the general rules of wall layout, see arranging a wall with tennis art.

For how the tennis week is unfolding, our latest tennis roundup is online. For signage and for printing outside the tennis theme, see the sister brand Aurecort Reklam.

Frequently asked questions

How high should a picture hang above the bed?

The bottom edge of the piece sits 15–25 cm above the top of the headboard. If there is no headboard, measure the same distance from the top line of the pillows.

How many pictures should a bedroom have?

For most bedrooms, a single piece or a set of two on one wall is enough. Leaving the other walls bare makes the room look quieter.

Which colours suit a bedroom?

It depends on personal taste; in general, palettes with few colours, low saturation and closely related tones make long looking easier. A vivid colour can stay as a small accent.

Can a glazed frame hang above the bed?

It can, but a light piece is the safer choice. If you prefer a glazed frame, use fixings suited to the wall and hang it from two points; if you are unsure, ask a tradesperson.

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