With this 2nd installment of our “how to decorate with heirloom photography” series, let’s take a look at the fireplace over the mantle, which is a PERFECT place to display your beautiful family portrait or wedding photograph! The first thing to keep in mind is that mantles are BIG spaces, often 5 to 6 feet or more wide. A small print of your photograph will look ridiculous in that big space.

Below, I show how different sized prints will look against a 64″ wall (horizontal) above the fireplace mantle, starting with 8×10 up to 30×40 size. I must say the 8×10 and 12×18 photographs look MUCH too small for this space; the 16×24 photograph is too small as well. The 20×30 photograph is starting to be all right, but the 24×36 and 30×40 photographs look much better. I’d say the perfect fit, though, is the last image of a 30×30 wall portrait with the series of small, framed 8x10s that sit on the mantle itself.

In this series of images, I’ve used a frameless display for the hanging wall portrait, though we could also mat and frame the photograph. A frameless display is the more contemporary option, while a matted and framed photograph is for the more traditional. Frameless displays include prints on metal, canvas gallery wraps, floating gallery blocks, bamboo mounting, and standout mounting. In this case, my client (the M’s) went with a 30×30 canvas gallery wrap, and doesn’t it look just gorgeous above the mantle!

Also check out our case study on portrait & wedding photography decorating ideas for the wall over your living room sofa.

Want a professional photographer who will help you visualize your options?