What to put above a sofa?

The wall above the sofa is the first one you see as you enter a living room, and the last one you leave in the evening. Left bare, it looks unfinished; too crowded, it overwhelms the sofa. It all comes down to three questions: the width, the height, and what you choose to put there.

The two-thirds rule

The most useful guideline: whatever you hang above the sofa takes up about two thirds of its width. Above a 210 cm sofa, that comes to about 140 cm, in a single large piece or in several.

Two 55-format pieces side by side, about ten centimetres apart, measure around 120 cm: the right width for a 180 cm sofa.

A luminous piece is the exception to the rule: in the evening, its light spills onto the wall and takes up far more than its frame. A single 80-format piece, centred, is then enough to dress the wall above a two- or three-seater sofa.

The right height

Leave 20 to 30 cm between the top of the sofa back and the bottom of the frame. Any higher, and the piece floats and comes away from the sofa; any lower, and it seems to rest on the cushions. The two should answer each other without touching.

Centre on the sofa, not on the wall

If the sofa is not in the middle of the wall, centre the piece on the sofa: it is the two together that the eye remembers. The same rule applies to an arrangement of several frames: its axis falls at the middle of the seat.

The piece is centred on the sofa, not on the wall.

What to choose?

• A large canvas or a photograph: the classic solution, which sets the tone of the room during the day.
• A mirror: it makes the room feel larger and bounces back the light from a window, but it also reflects everything opposite it.
• A narrow shelf: for displaying frames and objects, and changing them often. It calls for a sense of order.
• A light painting: an image by day, a source of light in the evening. It is the only one of these solutions that changes the atmosphere of the living room at nightfall.

The light around it

Above a sofa, a light painting gives the wall its evening light. Complete it with a low lamp, on a side table, at one end of the sofa: two sources at different heights are enough to compose an evening.

Think about the cable before drilling: a socket fitted behind the frame by an electrician makes it invisible. Our guidelines for fixing it to the wall.