Custom Wall Art: Choosing a Material That Suits Your Room

Start with the room, not the photograph

Custom wall art fails when the image is chosen first and the material second. Before you send a file, look at the wall: how much daylight it gets, whether the room is calm or busy, and how far back you usually stand to look at it. That tells you most of what you need to know about finish and size.

Match the material to the light

• Glossy surfaces such as photo on acrylic carry colour and depth, but they reflect windows. They suit walls that face away from direct sun.
• Matte surfaces — aluminum prints, wood panels, matte and cold press papers — swallow glare, so they hold up above a lamp or beside a tall window.
• Canvas reads soft and warm, which suits a room with fabric, timber and upholstery already in it.
• Framed paper prints sit best where the frame can echo something else in the room, such as a mirror or a leg table.

Let the frame do the quiet work

A frame is not decoration; it is the transition between the artwork and the wall. Our frame collection holds 133 hand-selected mouldings, floaters and frames, and the same print can look traditional or entirely modern depending on which one you choose. A canvas can be left gallery-wrapped, or finished in a floater frame that leaves a clean shadow line around the edge.

Size is a decision, not a limit

Most rooms are under-scaled. A single piece should usually cover at least half the width of the furniture beneath it, and a group should read as one block from the doorway rather than as six separate objects. We print custom sizes, so a wall that needs 40″x60″ does not have to accept a stock frame from a shop.

Think about the next twenty years

Wall art outlives sofas. Choose materials that survive the household: acrylic and aluminum tolerate moisture and are easy to wipe, canvas and fine art paper prefer a room that stays dry and out of hard sun. If the piece is going into a hallway, a bathroom or a rental, tell us — the answer changes.

Bring the wall to us

Send a photograph of the wall and the image you would like printed, and we will suggest a material, a size and a finish. Visit us at 4860 N. Dixie Hwy, Oakland Park, or start a conversation here.

Photography by Mike Gedj.