What size should a painting be above a sofa?
As a working rule, roughly two thirds to three quarters of the width of the furniture below it. A three-seat sofa is usually about 84 inches wide, which puts the painting somewhere between 55 and 63 inches across — or a pair of pieces that add up to that with a hand's width between them. Hang the centre of the work about 57 to 60 inches off the floor, and leave 6 to 10 inches of clear wall between the top of the sofa back and the bottom of the frame.
Almost every mistake we see in photographs people bring in is the same one: the painting is too small. A 24-inch piece over a long sofa does not read as restraint, it reads as an accident. If the budget or the wall pushes you towards something small, hang it somewhere it can own its own space — a narrow wall, a stair landing, beside a doorway — and leave the sofa wall for a piece that can carry it.
Traces of the Forgotten (2025) is 30 by 48 inches, mixed media, and it is the shape that solves this exact problem: wide enough to sit properly over a sofa or a sideboard without needing a second piece beside it. We wrote out the measuring in more detail in choosing the scale for a wall.
How does the light in the room change what you should choose?
It changes it more than the colour of your walls does. Work out two things before you choose: which direction the window faces, and whether the room is mostly used in daylight or after dark. A south-facing living room gets hours of hard, warm light that flattens dark work and washes out subtle colour. A north window gives an even, cool light all day that suits quiet, layered surfaces. A room used mainly in the evening is really a room lit by lamps, and lamp light is where gold, metallic and resin surfaces come alive.
Two practical points from conservation rather than decorating. Direct sun is the single thing most worth avoiding — the Canadian Conservation Institute's display guidelines for paintings are short and worth ten minutes. And if you are adding a light for the piece, aim it from an angle rather than straight on; CCI's note on track lighting covers the angles and the heat.
This is also the reason we never ask anyone to choose from a screen. A photograph is one lighting condition, chosen to flatter. See the same painting in different light for what that difference looks like in practice.
Does the surface matter, or only the image?
In a living room the surface matters as much as the image, because people walk past it all day rather than standing in front of it for two minutes. A flat, matte painting looks the same from every position. A layered one changes as you cross the room, and that is either the best thing about it or a nuisance, depending on where it hangs.
- Poured resin — a hard, glass-like coat that deepens the colour underneath and reflects like glazing. Superb opposite a lamp, difficult directly opposite a big window, because it will hand you a reflection of the window. Fall Waltz (acrylic and resin on fibreboard, mounted on a stained wood panel, 36 by 36 inches) and Dream Ocean (2022, acrylic on fibreboard sealed with resin, 32 by 34 inches) both behave this way.
- Raised texture and metallic — catches side light and goes quiet in flat light. Over The Horizon (fibreboard, acrylic, texture and metallic, sealed with epoxy, 24 by 24 inches) is the clearest small example of it.
- Collage and mixed surfaces — real materials set into the paint, so parts of the work have their own physical edge. 5 Shades Of Blue (2022) is acrylic and collage on plywood sealed with resin, 4 feet by 4 feet.
If a term here is new, Tate's entry on impasto covers thickly applied paint, and our own notes on what texture does to a painting and a resin finish in a room go further.
One large piece, or a group of smaller ones?
One large piece, in most living rooms. A group has to be hung as a single shape with consistent gaps, and if the pieces are not related by colour, format or surface it reads as clutter on a wall you look at every evening. A single work asks nothing of you after the nail goes in.
A group is the right answer in two cases: when the wall is broken up by a door, a switch or a return, so no single canvas fits; and when you already own something and are adding to it deliberately. In that second case, match one thing across the pieces — palette, or format, or the artist — and let the rest differ. Hanging two or three together sets out the spacing.
The other honest option in a tall or open-plan living room is scale you cannot easily buy off a wall. Whisper (2025) is mixed media on panel at 83 by 109 centimetres — large enough to be the only thing on that wall and finish the argument.
What if the room already has strong colour and pattern?
Then choose for contrast of surface rather than contrast of colour, and take a palette that is already in the room rather than adding a new one. A room with a patterned rug and a busy bookcase does not need a busy painting fighting it; it needs one calm field of colour with something happening in the texture up close.
The reverse case — a plain, neutral living room — can take the loud piece, and usually should. A grey sofa and a white wall will absorb far more colour than people expect. If you are unsure which case your room is, photograph the wall on your phone from where the sofa sits, in the light you actually use, and bring it with you. That single photograph settles more arguments than any amount of describing.
Our note on blue, rust and gold in a room goes through how those three behave against common wall colours.
How do you try a piece before you commit to it?
Start with paper. Cut a rectangle of kraft paper or newspaper to the exact size of the painting, tape it on the wall at the height you would hang it, and leave it there for two or three days. You will know by the second evening whether the size is right — and it costs nothing to find out you were 8 inches off.
Then come and look at the work itself. The gallery is at 473 Simonston Blvd in Markham, inside the Greater Toronto Area, open daily 9:00 to 18:00 with viewings by appointment so that someone is there to open the door. You can stand at the distance your sofa sits at, look from the side, and see the surface under a lamp and in daylight in the same visit. There is no viewing fee and no pressure to decide the same day.
Every piece here is the work of one artist, Sergei Troshin, and every one is a one-off — nothing is reprinted as an edition afterwards. Prices are on request for each work; ask about the specific painting you have in mind and you will get a straight answer for that painting. Sold work is labelled Sold or Private Collection on its own page, and anything unlabelled is available, though the catalogue does move. The full listing is on the artworks page, there is more about the artist on the about page, and questions are welcome through the contact page.
What if nothing fits the wall you have?
Say so. Living rooms produce odd walls — a long low stretch under a bulkhead, a tall narrow strip beside a fireplace, a chimney breast that is 42 inches wide and nothing else. Ready-made work is cut to standard proportions and often simply will not sit in those spaces.
A commission is a painting made at your proportions, in a direction agreed with the artist before anything starts. It is the practical answer to a wall with a fixed width, not a luxury version of buying. How it works, step by step, is on the commission a painting page.
And if the honest answer is that the wall does not want a painting on it — because the sightline is wrong, or the light is impossible — you will hear that on the call. That is a cheaper conversation than a return.
Questions people ask
How big should a painting be over a three-seat sofa?
Aim for two thirds to three quarters of the sofa width — roughly 55 to 63 inches across an 84-inch sofa — hung with its centre about 57 to 60 inches from the floor and 6 to 10 inches of clear wall above the sofa back.
Will a glossy resin surface reflect too much in a bright living room?
It can, if it hangs directly opposite a large window. Resin behaves like glazing, so it reflects what is in front of it. On a side wall, or in a room used mainly with lamps in the evening, the same finish is the reason to choose the piece.
Can I see how a painting looks in my own room before deciding?
Tape up paper cut to the exact dimensions for a couple of days to test the size, then come and see the work itself under both daylight and lamp light. Photograph your wall from where you sit and bring the photo with you.
Is the gallery in Toronto?
It is at 473 Simonston Blvd in Markham, inside the Greater Toronto Area and about twenty minutes north of North York. It is open daily 9:00 to 18:00, with viewings by appointment.
How do I find out what a piece costs?
Prices are on request for every work, sitewide. Call +1 (416) 919-8331 or write through the contact page, name the painting, and you will get a straight answer for that piece. There is no online checkout here — enquiries only.
