Intimate Dining Space
With homes being remodeled to feature large open spaces connecting living rooms, dining rooms, hallways, entrances, and kitchens, creating intimate areas without walls can be challenging.
One effective way to achieve this is by using tall furniture to cover a significant portion of the wall between your kitchen and informal dining room. This helps define an intimate space without walls, making a large wall feel more manageable and framing the dining area beautifully. Adding a rug, four chairs, and a piece of artwork can further personalize the space.
The size of the painting depends on the space. If the artwork can be enjoyed from different rooms, such as the kitchen or living room, opt for a larger painting. However, ensure it is balanced and doesn’t extend above the height of your furniture, which sections off the dining area. Even with 9 to 10-foot ceilings, maintain the scale you’ve created to avoid awkward shapes on the wall. If a painting extends above the furniture height, it will feel top-heavy and disrupt the cozy atmosphere. Keep everything within your defined section, both on the wall and on the floor.
For condos and apartments with large, elongated (tunnel-shaped) spaces where the dining room, kitchen, and living room are combined, consider smaller paintings. In such spaces, you and your guests won't be able to step back far enough to fully appreciate a large painting. The best way to view large paintings in small spaces is at an angle, which isn't ideal for admiring original artwork. Therefore, we advise sticking with medium to small paintings in these areas.
Please keep in mind that all our tips are based on visual references we've created for you to use as a starting point. Every home is as unique as the family that lives in it.
We suggest using painter's tape to outline any canvas sizes you think might work in your space before purchasing artwork. Painter's tape won't damage your walls and allows you to easily adjust the size as needed. Leave the outline on the wall for a few days and observe how it looks and feels from different angles as you move around the room.
Guides to Follow
Stand in front of your wall and let it guide you. In the infographic on the right, we've highlighted the area you're working with. Avoid exceeding the height of the hutch or china cabinets framing the space, and leave enough space for the painting to "breathe" between its edges and the cabinets.
In this example, we're using the rug as a reference for how much of the wall can be utilized. The red boundary provides a visual guideline for height and width that shouldn't be crossed. Generally, keep some space between decor pieces and furniture unless intentionally layering.
Now that we've outlined the space, visualize the wall's shape. Ask yourself how much of this space can be utilized and if part of the painting will be covered by the table, creating a layering effect. Layering may cause the table and painting to merge into one large visual element, making the space feel busy and heavy, competing with the cabinets on each side. It's best to give the painting its own space given the surrounding design elements.
Canvas Size Options
Let’s begin with the smallest canvas sizes we recommend, perfect for condos, apartments, or tunnel-like home designs.
48” x 24”: Our smallest recommended canvas size is the popular 48” wide x 24” tall canvas. While the width runs parallel to the table, the chairs on each side make the table appear larger, allowing a 48” or wider canvas to still feel balanced.
48” x 30” and 48” x 36: These two size options are ideal for this space, as they cover more of the wall vertically. If you want the painting to have a greater presence on the wall, these sizes are better choices than the 48” x 24”.
Square Shaped Canvas
48” x 48”: This square format canvas is too tall for this space. As mentioned before, if the table and chairs overlap with the painting, it creates a visually busy look by grouping them together. Leaving some space between the painting and the dining table works well, allowing each element to stand out individually. Additionally, this canvas size feels larger than the dining table and chairs, disrupting the visual hierarchy and confusing the eye on what to focus on first.
36” x 36”: If you prefer a square canvas for this space, consider a 36” x 36” size. This slightly smaller option provides enough space above and below the canvas to avoid layering and keeps it from getting too close to the top edge of the cabinets.
Large Landscapes
60” x 30” and 60” x 36”: To make a visual impact in an open space where the painting will be admired from various parts of the house, such as the connected kitchen, entryway, or living room, a 60” x 30” or 60” x 36” canvas is ideal. Although the table is 48” wide, the chairs at each end allow for a larger canvas to hang on the wall while still feeling balanced. Additionally, there is enough space around the canvas so it doesn’t feel crowded or too close to the cabinets.
72” x 36”: Can we go a little bigger? Absolutely! There's enough room to go as wide as 72”. This size would align with the space taken up by the chairs, making it the maximum canvas width we recommend. The only downside is that at certain angles, the cabinets might cover the edges of the canvas. In contrast, the smaller 60” or 48” wide canvas can be admired from any angle without the cabinets obstructing the view.
Sets / Diptychs
If there weren’t two cabinets on either side of the wall, this would be a perfect space for a set of paintings. There is enough room to place two paintings without it feeling crowded. However, the presence of the cabinets introduces a potential issue. The two large rectangular shapes of the cabinets, when paired with two smaller rectangular paintings, might create a repetitive pattern that feels too crowded. Before purchasing the set of paintings you have in mind, use painter's tape to create two rectangles on the wall that match the size of the canvases. Then, step back and ask yourself, is this too much?
Keep in mind that the widest art work you can use in this space is 72” wide. With that in mind we have two suggestions here to consider.
24” x 36”: A pair of 24” x 36” vertical canvases work very well in this space. They are far enough from the cabinets to feel like a single piece, helping to mitigate the issue of repetitive shapes. In this example, we've placed them five inches apart. The height of 36” is perfect, leaving enough space above and below to avoid a crowded feel.
30” x 40”: For those looking to cover more of the wall, consider a set of 30” wide by 40” tall paintings. This set works best in homes with 9-foot or higher ceilings, as the 40” height comes close to the top of the cabinets. The good news is that this option still provides plenty of space between the edge of the canvases and the sides of the cabinets. By placing them just five inches apart, the set feels like a single art piece, allowing you to use multiple canvases without creating too much shape repetition.
Final Thoughts
“[Balance] involves arranging objects so that no single element dominates, creating an even visual distribution.”
Balance is a fundamental principle in interior design that fosters a sense of harmony and stability within a space. It involves arranging objects so that no single element dominates, creating an even visual distribution. Balance can be achieved in three ways scale, color, and texture.
Currently, we are focusing on how the shapes and sizes of furniture and the environment affect canvas options. We will cover the most important rooms, such as the living room, dining room, office, and bedroom.
Our future blog posts will delve into color and texture, understanding that the size of the canvas is just one of the three key elements to consider when choosing the best painting for your space.
