Art is usually the last thing on the list when you're doing up a house. The sofa gets bought, the walls get painted, the curtains finally go up, and then you're left staring at a bare wall above the fireplace with no idea whether you should be spending £40 or £400 on it. Spend too little and the room still looks unfinished. Spend too much and you feel a bit sick every time you walk past it. The good news is that there's a sensible middle ground, and once you know where your money actually goes, deciding how much to spend on art for your home gets a lot easier.
The short answer: what most people actually spend
There's no official rule, but a useful starting point is to set aside somewhere between 5% and 10% of whatever you're spending on decorating a room for the art in it. If you've put £2,000 into a living room refresh, that's £100 to £200 for the walls. If you've done a full renovation, the number goes up with it.
In real terms, most UK homes fall into one of these rough brackets for a main statement piece:
Those brackets aren't a moral judgement. A £60 print you love will always do more for a room than a £900 painting you bought because you felt you should. The trick is matching the spend to how long the piece will stay up, how much wall it needs to cover, and how often you'll actually look at it.
Size versus exclusivity
When you're comparing two pieces at very different prices, you're usually paying for one of two things: size or exclusivity. Exclusivity means an original, a numbered edition or a name you recognise. Size means the piece actually fills the wall it's meant for. And for most people decorating a family home, size is the factor that most affects how a room feels.
Here's the thing a lot of buying guides skip. Under a certain threshold (roughly £500 to £700 for a main living space), your money goes much further in size than it does in exclusivity. At that budget, a small signed original often ends up looking lost on a big wall, while an oversized painted piece reads as a proper focal point from the moment you walk in. Shops like Crib of Art are built around that idea, offering large hand-painted canvases at prices where you'd normally only find a small original, so a plain chimney breast or the long wall behind a sofa gets something that's actually in proportion with it.
A quick way to sensibly check a scale is the two-thirds rule. Art over a sofa, bed or sideboard should be roughly two-thirds the width of the furniture underneath it. For a standard three-seater sofa of around 200 cm, that means a piece about 130 cm wide, which is far bigger than most people instinctively buy. If your budget can't stretch to an original at that size, going big on a well-made reproduction or painted canvas will almost always look better than going small on something rare.
Once you're above that threshold, the maths starts to change. That's when exclusivity begins to earn its place, because you can afford both the size and the story behind the piece.
A simple way to set your art budget
Before you start scrolling, it helps to work out what you can comfortably spend without it eating into anything important. If you don't already track your outgoings, the free MoneyHelper budget planner is a quick way to see what's left once the bills, food shop and kids' clubs are paid for.
From there, a few honest questions will get you to a number:
How long will it stay up? A piece for a rental you're leaving next year deserves a smaller budget than one for a house you plan to stay in for a decade.
How big is the wall? Measure it. The bigger the space, the more of your budget needs to go on size rather than on the name.
Is it the main focal point? The art above your fireplace or sofa earns a bigger share than a print in the downstairs loo.
Will it need framing? Add the frame on before you decide, not after (more on that below).
Would you still want it in five years? If the answer is "probably not," spend less and swap it out later.
Many people find it easier to set a total "walls budget" for the whole house and then split it, putting the biggest chunk on one or two statement pieces and filling the rest with prints, photos and kids' artwork. It stops you from blowing your whole budget on the first room you finish.
What you actually get at each price point
Knowing roughly what each bracket buys means you won't overpay for a poster or expect a gallery piece for the price of a takeaway.
Under £100, you will mostly find affordable art prints. You'll find great designs here, but they're usually open editions on paper, so you'll need to frame them yourself, and they can look a bit flat on a large wall. These prints are perfect for children's bedrooms, hallways, and trying out a style before you commit.
Between £100 and £500 is where most living room art sits, and it's the bracket where the size versus exclusivity choice matters most. You can get a large canvas or hand-painted artwork that properly fills a wall or a small original by an emerging artist. Both offer good value, but they serve different purposes.
Between £500 and £1,500 you start getting both. Limited editions with certificates, mid-size originals and oversized pieces with real texture all live here. This is the sweet spot for a piece you want to keep and maybe take with you when you move.
Above £1,500 you're buying from established artists, commissioning work or starting a collection. At this level, asking about provenance, edition size, and resale is worth it, since you're paying for long-term value as much as decoration.
Spreading the cost of an original
If you've fallen for an original that's a bit beyond what you'd pay in one go, you don't always have to walk away or stick it on a credit card. The Own Art scheme, backed by Arts Council England and the arts councils in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, offers interest-free finance on contemporary art and craft bought from member galleries. Loans run from £250 up to £25,000 at 0% APR, typically repaid over 10 months, with a 20-month option on larger purchases.
It's a genuinely useful way to buy from a real artist without the full hit landing in one month. The usual rules still apply, though. Missed payments can mean late fees and a mark on your credit file, so only use it for something you'd have bought anyway, not to justify a piece you can't really afford.
Where to spend and where to save, room by room
Not every room deserves the same budget. Putting your money where people spend the most time and where the walls are biggest gets you far more for every pound.
The living room is usually where you should spend the most. It's the room guests see, often has the largest bare wall, and is where a properly sized statement piece makes the most significant difference. If you only invest in one piece of art, make it this one.
The main bedroom comes next. Art above the bed sets the mood for the whole room, and it's one of the few pieces you'll see every single day. A calm, larger piece tends to work better than a busy cluster of small frames. Smaller rooms need a bit more thought, and plenty of the decorating tips for small bedrooms that work for furniture and storage apply to art too, especially keeping one strong focal point rather than covering every wall.
Hallways and landings are where you can save on art. People walk past them rather than sit in them, so a run of affordable framed prints or family photos works brilliantly. The same goes for bathrooms, where steam and humidity can damage paper and canvas anyway.
Kids' rooms are best kept cheap and cheerful. Their tastes change every few months, and their own drawings in a decent frame often look better than anything you could buy.
The hidden costs nobody mentions
The price tag on the art is rarely the final number. A few extras can add a surprising amount, so it's worth building them in from the start.
Framing. Bespoke framing for a medium-sized print can easily cost more than the print itself. Ready-made frames in standard sizes are much cheaper, which is a good reason to buy art in common dimensions.
Hanging hardware. Heavier pieces need proper fixings, and plasterboard walls may need specialist anchors. A big canvas falling off the wall is not a fun evening.
Delivery. Oversized pieces often carry higher shipping costs, so check before you get to the checkout.
Lighting. Good art can look dull in a dark corner. A picture light or a well-placed lamp can make a mid-priced piece look twice as expensive.
That last one is worth a little more thought. The way a room is lit changes how colours and textures read, and warm, characterful lighting does a lot of the work. If you're after some ideas, these vintage lighting touches show how a single lamp or wall light can change the whole feel of a space, and the same principle applies to showing off your art. Just keep anything precious out of strong direct sunlight, as UV fades pigments over time.
Buying art online without regretting it
A huge amount of art is bought online now, and it's a great way to find pieces you'd never see on the high street. It does come with the obvious risk that something looks different on your wall than it did on your phone.
Before you buy, check the exact measurements and hold a tape measure up to the wall, or cut a piece of paper or cardboard to size and tape it up for a day or two. Look for photos of the piece in a real room rather than just a flat image, and read what the seller says about the materials, paint type, and finish.
It also helps to know your rights. For most goods bought online in the UK you have a 14-day cooling-off period to change your mind, and Citizens Advice has a ready-made letter to cancel or return goods bought online if you need it. Bear in mind that commissioned or personalised pieces are usually excluded, so be extra sure before ordering anything made to your specifications.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I spend on art for my living room?
Most people spend between £100 and £500 on a main living room piece, with more for a statement original. A good guide is 5% to 10% of what you spent decorating the room. The bigger the wall, the more of that budget should go on the size of the piece.
Is it worth spending a lot of money on art?
It can be, if you love the piece and plan to keep it for years. Expensive art isn't automatically better for your home, though. A well-sized piece you enjoy every day is a better use of money than a pricey one that doesn't suit the room.
Should I buy original art or prints?
Originals offer uniqueness and can hold their value, while prints let you get more size and impact for less. Below roughly £500 to £700, prints and painted reproductions usually fill a wall better. Above that, buying an original piece starts to make more sense.
What size of art should go above a sofa?
Aim for art that's about two-thirds the width of the sofa. For a 200cm sofa, that's roughly 130cm wide. Hang it so the bottom edge sits around 15cm to 25cm above the back of the sofa.
How can I make cheap art look expensive?
Put it in a good frame with a mount, hang it at the right height and light it well. Size helps too, as larger pieces look more deliberate. Grouping several matching prints can also give the impact of one big piece.
Can I pay for art in instalments?
Yes. The Own Art scheme offers 0% finance on contemporary art from member galleries, with amounts ranging from £250 to £25,000. Some galleries and online shops also offer their own payment plans.
How much does framing cost?
Ready-made frames in standard sizes can cost as little as £20 to £50. Bespoke framing for a medium piece often runs into the low hundreds, depending on size, glass and mount. Buying art in standard sizes is the easiest way to keep framing costs down.
Does art add value to a house?
Art doesn't usually add to a property's sale price, as buyers aren't paying for what's on the walls. It does make a home feel finished and more personal, which can help when photographing or showing a house for sale.
Where should I spend most on art in my home?
Spend most of your time in the living room and main bedroom, where you spend the most time and the walls are usually the biggest. Save in hallways, bathrooms and children's rooms, where affordable prints work just as well.
Is it better to buy one big piece or several small ones?
One large piece usually has more impact and makes a room feel calmer. Several small pieces can work as a gallery wall, but they need careful spacing to avoid looking cluttered. On a tight budget, one big piece is often the safer choice.
Final thoughts
There's no magic figure for how much to spend on art for your home, but there is a sensible way to find yours. Work out what you can comfortably afford, put the biggest share where you'll see it most, and remember that on a modest budget, size will do more for a room than a famous name. Build in the extras like framing and lighting from the start, and you'll end up with walls that feel finished, personal and properly yours, without a twinge of regret every time you walk past them.
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