Which mosaic size fits your wall?

The two-thirds rule

Measure the free width of the wall – or the width of the furniture below it if the picture is going above a sofa, a sideboard or a desk. A picture that covers about two thirds of that width looks balanced. Much smaller and it gets lost, much larger and it crowds the room.

Every stud is 8 mm wide, a little over 5/16 of an inch. So a 16 × 16 baseplate measures 12.8 cm (about 5 in), a mosaic of 48 × 48 studs is 38.4 cm (15 in) across and one of 96 × 96 studs is 76.8 cm (30 in). The formula for any size: studs × 0.8 = centimetres.

Find your size

Move the slider to your free wall width. The calculator takes two thirds of it, divides by 0.8 cm and suggests the closest standard size.

Sizes compared

The piece count is simply width × height: every stud gets exactly one 1 × 1 piece. On top of that you need the 16 × 16 baseplates you build on.

As a rough guide: 32 × 32 suits a shelf or windowsill, 48 × 48 a desk, 64 × 64 a hallway or kids’ room, 96 × 96 the space above a sofa, and 128 × 128 is a statement piece for a large wall.

Every size in the table is a multiple of 16. That is deliberate: the mosaic then divides into 16 × 16 plates with nothing left over. Pick a free size such as 50 × 40 and you still need 4 × 3 plates, with empty studs along the edge – 48 × 48 is often the better choice.

Detail or distance

More studs mean more detail. But you usually look at a mosaic from two or three metres away, and from there the studs blend into one picture anyway. As a rule of thumb:

• Portraits need at least 64 × 64 studs, otherwise eyes and mouth blur together. At 48 × 48 an eye is often only two or three studs wide.
• Logos, pixel art and simple shapes look great at 32 × 32 or 48 × 48 because they are made of large areas.
• Landscapes work at any size. Larger sizes show more of the gradient in the sky.

If your photo is not square, go rectangular: 64 × 48 for a 4:3 landscape photo, 96 × 64 for 3:2.

Hanging and joining

The individual 16 × 16 plates don’t hold together on their own. Join them on the back with a few long plates across the seams, and the mosaic stays flat when you hang it. From 64 × 64 upwards, a thin board of plywood or foam board behind it is worth it.

Once you have your size, pick it in step 2 of the mosaic generator and you get the matching parts list straight away. Which pieces to use is covered in Round or square tiles for your mosaic?.

Frequently asked questions