Giving a wall print at Christmas: how to choose, what size, when to order

A wall print is a double-edged gift. Chosen well, it stays on the wall for ten years. Chosen badly, it ends up behind a wardrobe and everyone pretends otherwise. The difference isn't the giver's taste — it comes down to three decisions: who it's for, what size, and framed or not. Here's how to make them.

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The question that comes before all others: is there a free wall?

It's the only real constraint, and it's the one people forget. Giving a print to someone whose walls are already covered is giving them a storage problem. Giving one to someone who has just moved, redone a room, or lived for two years with a large bare wall above the sofa: that's when the gift lands.

If you don't know, there's a reliable clue: people with bare walls rarely decided to leave them bare. They simply never decided at all. A framed print, ready to hang, decides for them.

L'Arche Brute — from €39

Three situations, three choices

The subject matters less than how well it fits the person. Three cases cover most of it.

The recipient	What works	What to avoid
Has just moved in	A medium size, calm and light subject: stone, light, foliage	A very large format — you don't know their proportions yet
Has a strongly defined home	Stay within their palette, pick a subject that extends what they already have	Trying to introduce them to a new style
You don't know their interior	Beige, sand, ivory — warm neutrals work on almost any wall	A strong colour or a markedly figurative subject

The general principle: a good wall gift is noticed in the second week, not on the first day. What impresses when the wrapping comes off tires quickly on a wall.

La Vrille d'Olivier — from €39

→ Going further: giving a print that means something.

Size: 30 × 40 is smaller than you think

This is the most common mistake, and it happens almost every time. On a screen, a 30 × 40 cm looks large. On a wall, above a sofa or a bed, it disappears.

The useful rule: a single print should take up roughly two thirds of the width of the furniture beneath it. Above a two-metre sofa, that means 50 × 70 cm at minimum, or three prints side by side. Above a console, a desk, in a hallway or an entrance, 30 × 40 is the right size.

For a gift, without knowing the destination wall, A2 (42 × 59.4 cm) is the safest bet: big enough to stand alone, restrained enough not to impose.

Le Bloc en Apesanteur — from €39

→ All the sizes in detail: which print size to choose.

For a gift, go framed

Giving a bare poster is a chore in disguise: measure, find a frame in the right size, travel there, pay for the framing. Many people never do it. The poster stays in its tube.

The framed print arrives mounted, with protective plexiglass and hanging hardware. It goes up the same day. That's the difference between a finished gift and one the recipient has to complete themselves.

Frame colour is chosen from their wall, not from the print. When in doubt, oak is the easiest in a light interior, white on a coloured wall.

La Torsade de Calcaire — from €39

→ The full method: black, white or oak frame and framed print or poster.

Prices, to set a budget

Size	Poster	Framed
30 × 40 cm	€39	€89
A2 (42 × 59.4 cm)	€49	€119
50 × 70 cm	€59	€179
A1 (59.4 × 84.1 cm)	€99	€199

For a gift around €90, the framed 30 × 40 is the safe choice. Around €120, the framed A2 gives a markedly stronger presence for thirty euros more — the best value in the range for giving.

The three-panel triptychs work well as a joint gift from several people: €159 as posters, €379 framed.

When to order

Every print is made to order: there is no stock going out the same day. Allow 7 to 10 days between order and delivery, printing and shipping combined.

For handing it over on 24 or 25 December, that gives a sensible deadline of 10 December across Western Europe. After that the order may still arrive in time, but it is no longer guaranteed: December is the month carriers accumulate the most delay.

One simple piece of advice: if you're torn between two prints, order in early December rather than deciding perfectly mid-month. A good print that arrives on time beats a perfect one that arrives on the 27th.

Mistakes to avoid

• Giving too small — 30 × 40 gets lost above a sofa or a bed.
• Giving a bare poster thinking it will please: you're delegating the framing, and it never happens.
• Choosing to your own taste rather than to their walls — it plays out in their home.
• A subject that's too pronounced when you don't know the room: warm neutrals forgive everything.
• Ordering on 18 December and hoping it gets there.

Browse all our wall prints →

FAQ — Giving a wall print

What size should you give when you don't know the wall?

A2 (42 × 59.4 cm). Big enough to stand alone on a wall, restrained enough to fit an entrance, a study or a hallway. 30 × 40 cm works if you know it will go above a small piece of furniture.

Should you give a poster or a framed print?

Framed. It arrives mounted, with plexiglass and hanging hardware, and goes up the same day. A bare poster assumes the recipient will find and pay for a frame in the right size, which postpones the gift.

Which frame colour should you choose for a gift?

Oak in a light interior with wood, white if the walls are coloured, black in a very pared-back contemporary interior. All three cost the same, so the choice is purely aesthetic.

What budget should you plan for a wall print as a gift?

From €89 for a framed 30 × 40 cm and €119 for a framed A2. As a bare poster, from €39 to €99 depending on size.

What is the order deadline before Christmas?

10 December across Western Europe. As prints are made to order, allow 7 to 10 days between order and delivery, and leave a margin for December delays.

→ All our wall prints
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