How to Choose an Irish Art Print for Your Home: A Room-by-Room Guide
There's a particular feeling that happens when the right piece of art goes up on the right wall. The room shifts. It suddenly looks like it was always meant to be that way.
But getting there takes more than scrolling until something catches your eye. The wrong size, the wrong tone, the wrong frame — and a piece you loved on screen can look lost, heavy, or simply wrong when it's home.
This guide takes you through every room in the house: what works, what to avoid, and how to find the Irish art print that will still feel right five years from now.
Before You Start: The Three Questions That Matter Most
Before you think about rooms, think about these three things.
1. What size is the wall?
The most common mistake in buying art prints is going too small. A modest A3 print on a large living room wall will float, look accidental, and do nothing for the space. As a rough rule:
- Large walls (over 150cm wide): go for 60×80cm or bigger, or consider a pair or trio of prints
- Medium walls (80–150cm wide): 50×70cm is your sweet spot
- Small or narrow walls (under 80cm wide): A4 to A3 works well — but frame generously
💡 Tip: Tear off a piece of brown paper or newspaper to your intended print size and stick it to the wall with masking tape. Live with it for a day. You'll quickly know if it's right.
2. What's the dominant colour in the room?
Art doesn't have to match your sofa, but it should belong in the same conversation. Pick out one or two colours already in your room — in cushions, rugs, curtains, or woodwork — and look for prints that echo them, even subtly.
Irish landscape prints are particularly versatile here. The greens, greys, blues and golds of the Irish coastline and countryside tend to harmonise with the neutral, warm tones common in Irish interiors.
3. What feeling do you want the room to have?
Calm and restful? Think soft coastal scenes, muted watercolours, gentle abstracts. Bold and energetic? Go for vivid colour-blocked prints, graphic landscapes, strong compositions. Warm and nostalgic? Look for figurative work, traditional streetscapes, or familiar Irish landmarks.
Knowing the mood you're going for makes everything else easier.
Room by Room: What Works Where
The Living Room
The living room is your main statement wall. It's where guests land, where the family gathers, and where art does its most visible work. This is not the room for anything tentative.
A large-format landscape print — think Connemara bogland, a Dún Laoghaire harbour scene, a wide Atlantic sky — commands attention and creates an immediate sense of place. Above a sofa or fireplace is the classic positioning; the centre of the print should sit roughly at eye level when seated, which is lower than most people expect (around 130–140cm from the floor).
If you're drawn to multiple smaller prints, consider a curated gallery wall. Choose prints with a common thread — same artist, same palette, same subject matter — rather than a random collection. Irish coastal scenes in a consistent muted colour palette can look extraordinary grouped together.
💡 Tip: Avoid hanging art above a radiator. Heat and humidity fluctuations will damage the print over time, and the rising air creates visual distortion when viewing.
The Kitchen and Dining Room
Kitchens and dining spaces are increasingly where Irish homes want personality, not just function. The rules are looser here, and a little more warmth and character works well.
Botanical prints suit kitchens beautifully — Irish wildflowers, coastal plants, hedgerow studies. Food-adjacent imagery (market scenes, fishing boats, harbour life) connects naturally to the room's purpose without being literal. For dining rooms, something with warmth and energy works better than the serene landscapes you might choose for a bedroom.
Print size in kitchens is often dictated by what wall space exists between units, shelving and windows. Measure carefully. A single well-chosen A3 or A2 print in a good frame can do more than a larger piece crammed into an awkward space.
💡 Tip: Kitchens are steam-prone environments. Make sure your print is behind glass in a sealed frame, or consider a canvas print which is more resilient to humidity.
The Bedroom
Bedrooms call for calm. This is the one room where softer, quieter work tends to win over bold statements. Think about what you want to wake up to, and what you want to see as you're drifting off.
Soft watercolour landscapes, abstract pieces with gentle tonal movement, or quiet figurative work all suit the bedroom well. Irish coastal scenes in misty blues and silver-greys are perennially popular for good reason — they bring a feeling of quiet and space that works particularly well in Irish bedrooms.
Above the bed is the most natural placement, but scale matters more here than anywhere else. The print or grouping should be roughly two-thirds the width of the bed below it. A small print above a king-size bed looks like an afterthought.
💡 Tip: In a bedroom, you're often looking at the art from a reclined position. Consider this when choosing subject matter and check how it reads from across the room rather than up close.
The Hallway and Staircase
Hallways are the most underused space in an Irish home when it comes to art. They're also the first thing you see when you come through the door — and the last thing before you leave. That's a significant visual moment.
A staircase wall offers one of the best opportunities in any home for a strong gallery arrangement. A series of prints ascending with the stairs — consistent frames, varied sizes, connected by subject or palette — can be genuinely striking. Irish landscapes, artist portraits, or prints from a specific coastal region all work well as a unified series.
Narrow hallways suit portrait-oriented prints or a vertical stack of smaller works. Avoid anything that projects too far from the wall in tight spaces.
💡 Tip: Because hallways are transitional spaces, people don't linger. Choose prints that read well at a glance and have immediate visual impact — strong colour, clear composition, memorable imagery.
The Home Office
The home office has become a serious room in Irish homes, and it deserves to be treated as one. Art in a workspace does something important: it reminds you that you're a person, not just a productivity unit.
Prints that bring the outside in work well here — Irish landscapes, coastal views, open skies. If your desk faces a wall, the print directly in your eyeline becomes part of your daily visual world, so choose something you genuinely want to spend time with.
Abstract works with movement and energy can sustain a working environment well — they reward longer looking without demanding it.
💡 Tip: If you're regularly on video calls, a well-chosen print in your background says something about you. Irish art makes for a quietly distinctive backdrop that often prompts comment.
Choosing the Right Frame for an Irish Interior
Framing is where many people underinvest, and it shows. A good frame can elevate an affordable print; the wrong frame can diminish even a beautiful one.
Irish interiors tend toward natural materials, warm tones, and a degree of understatement. These principles tend to serve framing choices well:
- Natural wood frames — oak, ash, walnut — sit well in most Irish homes and complement landscape and coastal subject matter
- Thin black or white aluminium frames suit more contemporary spaces and graphic or abstract prints
- Ornate gold or antique frames can work for figurative and traditional work, but use carefully
- Always use a mount (the white or off-white border between print and frame) — it creates breathing space and elevates the presentation considerably
On glass vs. no glass: framed prints behind glass are better protected from dust and handling, but can create reflective glare in bright rooms. Anti-reflective glass is worth the investment for a significant piece.
💡 Tip: Off-white or warm white mounts tend to work better than bright white, which can look clinical against the organic colours of Irish landscape work.
A Word on Print Quality
Not all art prints are the same, and the difference matters when you're buying something intended to last.
Giclée prints (pronounced zhee-clay) are the current standard for fine art reproduction. They use archival-quality inks and papers, produce exceptional colour accuracy, and are rated to last 80–100 years without fading under normal display conditions. When you're choosing an Irish art print for your home, it's worth knowing what you're buying.
At BuyIrishArt.com, we clearly describe print quality for every piece in our shop. If you're ever unsure, just ask — we want you to know exactly what you're getting.
Still Not Sure? We Can Help.
Choosing art is personal, and it's fine to take your time. We'd rather you find the right piece than rush into something that's not quite right.
Browse our full collection, or get in touch if you'd like a recommendation. Tell us your room, your wall size, your colours — and we'll point you in the right direction.
Great Irish art belongs in Irish homes. We're here to help it find its way there.