Where the light comes from
Stand where you usually sit and look at the wall at the hour you actually use the room. A west-facing window throws hard light on the opposite wall from about four o'clock, which is when a glazed frame turns mirror.
Canvas answers that outright, with no screen over the surface. For a framed print on that wall, choose the position where light rakes across the face rather than striking it head on.
The wall you actually look at
Most people hang art behind the sofa and then never see it, because that is the wall at their back. The facing wall is the one in view all evening.
Seated eye level sits several inches lower than standing, so a piece hung for someone walking past reads high to everyone on the couch. Hang for the seated view in the room built for sitting.
Art and a television
A screen wins every contest it enters. Giving the art its own wall, ideally the one opposite, keeps both readable.
Where the two share a wall, keep the artwork clearly smaller and set to one side, so it reads as a companion rather than a competitor. The Lord Is My Shepherd and Noah's Ark both work at 30x20 in that role.
Questions people ask
What Christian wall art works in a bright living room? Canvas works best in a bright room because the surface carries no glazing, so a window opposite the wall produces no reflection. Wide horizontal scenes in beige and cream, such as The Lord Is My Shepherd or Jesus Walks On Water, hold their tone in strong daylight rather than washing out the way high-contrast work does.
Should art go above the sofa or on the wall you face? The facing wall gets looked at all evening; the wall behind the sofa gets looked at by guests walking in. Households that use the room every night usually get more from the facing wall. Above the sofa still matters for how the room presents, so many living rooms end up doing both.
How do you hang wall art next to a television? Give the artwork its own wall wherever the layout allows, since a lit screen pulls attention from anything beside it. Sharing a wall works when the art is clearly smaller and offset to one side rather than balanced against the screen. A 30x20 canvas beside a 65 inch television reads as deliberate.
See also Large Christian Wall Art for sofa-wall scale, Neutral Wall Art for palette and Dining Room Wall Art for the next room over.
