A single monitor leaves plenty of wall around it. Two monitors, or one ultrawide, do not. A pair of 27-inch screens side by side is about four feet across. A 34-inch ultrawide is nearly three feet, and a 49-inch super-ultrawide is close to four. Add speakers and a monitor arm, and the wall behind your desk is mostly covered by equipment.
That makes the usual advice, hang one piece above the monitor, harder to follow. There is still room for art. You need to think about shape and position a bit differently.
First, measure what is left
Sit at the desk and look at the wall. There are four zones.
- Above the screens. A wide, shallow band between the top of the monitors and the ceiling.
- To the left and right. Tall, narrow strips, if your desk is wider than your screens or the wall extends beyond it.
- The side walls. At right angles to the desk.
- Behind you. The wall your camera sees.
Measure the height from the top of the monitors to the ceiling, and the width of the screens together. Those two numbers decide what fits.
Option 1: one wide piece above
With a wide bank of screens, the space above is a horizontal band. Fill it with a piece in landscape orientation.
- Width: about two-thirds of the combined width of the screens, and no wider than them. For dual 27-inch monitors, around 30 to 40 inches.
- Height: leave 6 to 10 inches above the top of the monitors. Check that the piece doesn't end up so high that you have to tip your head back.
- Centre it on the screens, not on the wall.
Our canvases and posters are portrait, so for a single wide piece look at a tapestry. Tapestries come in landscape, and the smallest is 36 × 26 inches, which is a good fit above a pair of monitors. A panoramic subject suits the shape: a skyline, a horizon, a grid running to the distance. Check the product images to see how a design sits in landscape before you order.
If your monitors are mounted high, or the ceiling is low, there may be less than two and a half feet above them. In that case, skip this option.
Option 2: a row of three above
Three smaller pieces in a line, evenly spaced, spanning about the width of the screens. It suits a wide setup better than one small picture, and it uses portrait artwork.
- Three at 12 × 16 or 12 × 18 inches, 3 to 4 inches apart.
- Same size, same frame, tops aligned.
- A set from one series, or three pieces in one palette.
Option 3: tall pieces at the sides
If there is wall to the left or right of the screens, use it. A portrait piece on one side, or a matched pair on both, frames the monitors.
- Height: centred at seated eye level, roughly level with the middle of the screens.
- Size: about as tall as the monitor, or a little taller.
- One side or both: a pair is formal and balanced. A single piece with a lamp or a plant on the other side is more relaxed. See symmetry vs asymmetry.
This option gives you the widest choice, since every canvas and poster we make is portrait. Cyber Wave Escape, a wireframe grid under a streaked blue sky, is one that suits a setup.
Option 4: a tapestry behind everything
Instead of fitting art around the screens, put one very large piece behind them. A tapestry of 80 × 68 or 104 × 88 inches covers the whole wall. The monitors sit in front of it and the artwork shows above and to the sides.
Choose a design that doesn't depend on its centre, since the screens will hide it. Abstracts, grids, starfields and spirals work. A portrait with a subject in the middle does not. See the tapestry size guide.
Option 5: the walls you aren't facing
If the wall behind the screens is full, leave it. Put your art on the side wall, where you see it when you turn your head, or on the wall behind your chair, where it shows on camera. Both are good places for a bold piece, because it won't sit in your vision while you concentrate.
What kind of art
- Dark or mid-toned. A bright picture above bright screens adds glare to the top of your vision.
- Matte. Canvas or matte paper. Glass above two monitors reflects both of them. See matte vs glossy prints.
- With depth. Something to look into when you look up.
- Not too busy, for the wall you face. Keep the detailed, colourful pieces for the side.
More in art above a TV or behind a monitor.
The desk underneath
A wide setup needs a wide mat. Our largest is 31.5 × 15.5 inches. That takes a full-size keyboard and gives generous mouse room, and it sits well under a pair of monitors or an ultrawide.
- Centre the mat on your seating position, which is usually the centre of your main screen.
- Check the depth. Monitor stands take up space at the back of the desk. Arms free it.
- Match it to the wall. A mat that shares a colour with the art ties a wide setup together. See desk mat and wall art pairings.
See the desk mat size guide.
Lighting a wide setup
- Bias lighting behind the screens eases eye strain and lights the wall, and any art on it.
- One colour, kept dim.
- A strip behind a canvas on the side wall gives it a halo. See how to light wall art with LED strips.
Common mistakes
- One small picture above a wide bank of screens. It looks lost.
- Art hung too high, to clear the monitors.
- Art half hidden behind a screen. Either clear it or use a tapestry on purpose.
- Glossy frames reflecting two screens.
- Art centred on the wall when the desk is off-centre.
Quick guide
- Two and a half feet or more above the screens: a landscape tapestry, or a row of three.
- Less than that: tall pieces at the sides.
- No wall left at all: a tapestry behind, or art on the side wall.
For more on desk walls, see desk setups for developers. Browse the canvas art, tapestries and desk mats collections.