Which Poster Size for Which Wall? A Practical Guide

The most common mistake when buying a poster is not the motif. It is the size. A print that looks generous on screen can end up as a small rectangle lost in the middle of a large wall. Here is how to avoid that.

Our five sizes at a glance

• S – longest side 23–32 cm, from CHF 16.95. Desks, shelves, narrow wall strips, or as part of a dense gallery wall.
• M – longest side 32–44 cm, from CHF 24.95. The safe default for a single print above a sideboard or in a hallway.
• L – longest side 44–62 cm, from CHF 29.95. Works as a standalone piece on a normal-sized wall.
• XL – longest side 62–86 cm, from CHF 39.95. Above a sofa or a bed, this is usually the right call.
• 3XL – longest side 88–123 cm, from CHF 69.95. A statement piece for large walls, stairwells and open-plan rooms.

The two-thirds rule

Above a piece of furniture, the artwork – or the whole arrangement – should cover roughly two thirds of the furniture's width. A 200 cm sofa therefore wants about 130–140 cm of picture width. That is one 3XL landscape print, or two XL portraits side by side, or a cluster of three L prints.

Anything much smaller reads as an afterthought. Anything wider than the furniture itself makes the furniture look undersized.

Hanging height

The centre of the picture belongs at about 145–150 cm above the floor – average eye level. The exception is above furniture: there, keep 15–30 cm between the top edge of the furniture and the bottom edge of the frame, so the two read as one group rather than two unrelated objects.

Room by room

Living room, above the sofa: XL or 3XL, or three L prints in a row. Landscape formats sit more calmly above a horizontal piece of furniture. Our nature and landscape posters and mountain posters are mostly landscape.

Bedroom, above the bed: one wide piece rather than several small ones – a calmer wall makes for a calmer room. Muted motifs work better here than high-contrast ones.

Hallway: narrow walls suit portrait formats in M or L. A row of three at the same height turns a corridor into something deliberate.

Home office: S and M at eye level when seated, not standing. Typography posters work well here because they are read rather than looked at.

Kids' room: M, hung lower than you would elsewhere – at the child's eye level, not yours.

The paper test

If you are unsure, cut the size out of newspaper or wrapping paper and tape it to the wall. Leave it for a day. You will know by the evening whether it is too small. This costs nothing and settles the question better than any guideline.

What you get from us

Every poster is printed in a large-format gallery process with archival pigment inks on heavy premium paper – Lustrous Metallic (255 gsm) or Matte (229 gsm). We give a 200-year guarantee against colour fading, and shipping within Switzerland is free from CHF 49.