A frame that is too small gets lost, a frame that is too big crushes the room. Here are simple guides for choosing without a tape measure.
30×40, the size that goes anywhere
The most versatile. It works on its own in a hallway, above a desk, or in a row of three on a wide wall. It is also the size that lets you start a collection without committing a whole wall.
40×50, when you need to fill
Best above a low unit, a chest of drawers or a simple headboard. It reads from across the room without dominating it.
50×70, the centrepiece
Above a sofa or a double bed, this is the size that holds the space. Save it for an album that matters: at that size, the sleeve becomes the subject of the wall, not an accessory.
The 32×32 square
It keeps the proportions of the original sleeve, with no margin around it. A size of its own, which sits well with the others in a composition and points straight back to the record as an object.
The two-thirds rule
A guide that almost always works: your frame, or your composition, should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it. Narrower and it floats; wider and it visually overflows.
What about height?
The centre of the frame at eye level, roughly 1.50 m off the floor. Above a sofa, allow 20 to 25 cm between the top of the backrest and the bottom of the frame.