When you choose a painting for your living room, it can have many functions. It can be a small painting above a sideboard, or a large painting above the sofa. It can also be a painting in a cozy corner with an armchair, where the painting gathers and creates atmosphere. What the painting should be able to do, and what atmosphere you want in your living room. Paintings in the living room create atmosphere and coziness.
Large painting for the living room
In a living room, large paintings are most often placed above either the sofa or the dining table. Where the large paintings are placed, it is also an obvious place to place the large paintings.
A living room has several functions. You walk to the painting, but in the living room you will often sit down when you look at the painting. This has an impact on how high you should hang the painting.
read more about my large paintings here
Painting above the dining table in the living room
An obvious place in the living room to hang a large painting is above the dining table. A dining table is often placed a little inside the room or up against a wall. A large dining table is a large surface in the living room, and it is obvious to give the tabletop a more vibrant contrast in the form of a painting. The dining table is also where you gather and sit with family and friends, so there must be a vibrant energy. If the dining table in the living room is placed against a wall, it can be nice to have a large square painting at the end of the table. If the dining table is placed along the wall, an oblong painting will often work best, as it will harmonize nicely with the lines of the table.
Painting above the sofa in the living room
The largest painting you have in your home is often in your living room above the sofa. This is usually where we hang the main work of the home. We spend many hours on the sofa, and this is where it is most important that it feels cozy to sit in the evening. Therefore, it is also important that a painting above the sofa in the living room works in several types of lighting. It should look great both in daylight and when the sun goes down and the lamps are turned on. In the living room, we often have a more yellow light in the lamps, and this has an impact on how the colors in the painting are seen.
A painting should not hang too high above a sofa, as the painting should be placed so that it belongs to the furniture it is surrounded by. You can read more about how to place a painting above a sofa in your living room at the link below.
See more about how to choose a painting over a sofa here
Painting above the sideboard in the living room
It can also be super nice with a painting above a sideboard in the living room. Here it can often be nice with an oblong painting in the size 70x130 cm. or a painting in the size 70x140 cm. The narrow oblong format fits nicely with the oblong lines of the sideboard and will not seem too big on the wall, even though the sideboard has some height.
See my paintings in the sizes here.
Colorful paintings for the living room
How colorful the paintings in the living room should be is a matter of taste. Some like the colors turned up all the way, and others prefer the colors to be more subdued. In my paintings, the background is often very calm and subdued in color, where the abstractions have more dynamics. This gives a calm expression that fits nicely with the Nordic interior design that many here in Denmark prefer, with tones from nature in white, gray, brown and beige tones. My inspiration is nature, and I love the calm earthy colors. In my paintings, a little yellow is often mixed into the background color. It makes the painting a little warmer and it feels a little like the sun is always shining on it. This counteracts the fact that the background will look bluish when there is cold light in the room. For example, notice that your white walls in some light appear bluish and in other light a little yellow. This is the effect that I actively work with in my colors when I paint a painting. A painting should feel good to live with, and large paintings in particular help set the entire atmosphere in the living room.
Dark or light paintings in the living room?
Should you choose dark or light paintings in the living room? Yes, it all depends on what mood you are looking for. The dark ones bring the room together, create coziness, and can give a bit of a cave feeling in the living room, where the light paintings emphasize the light, the lightness and open up the room.
Very dark paintings often look best on light walls. However, you should be careful not to place a very dark painting on a completely white wall, as the contrast can be very harsh. Here it can be nice, for example, with a beige or gray wall, as it makes the expression softer.
The bright paintings can look great on both light and dark walls in the living room. On darker walls, the wall color will act as a kind of frame, and make the painting stand out more in the living room. If you hang a painting with a white background on a white wall, the painting will be less dominant, and it may be an idea to choose to go up in size if you want the painting to stand out more.
Large paintings for the living room
Art for the living room
by artist Rikke Darling.