Guides & tips

Black and white wall art: how to choose, frame and mix it

Black and white is the plain white T-shirt of wall art: it goes with everything, it never looks dated, and somehow it always looks a little bit sharper than you expected. It suits a bright Scandinavian living room as well as a dark, cozy bedroom, and it lets your furniture and textiles keep the color. Here’s how to choose the right black-and-white print, which frame to give it, and how to mix it with color so the wall feels warm rather than cold.

Three black-and-white photos in black frames – a station clock tower with palm trees, people walking on a sunlit square and a snowy tree – above a beige sofa

La Paloma, a line drawing of a peace dove on a soft beige print, in a black frame on a bedroom wall above a white bench and an unmade bed

In short

460+black-and-white posters to choose from
250+of them are photographs
9 in 10come in both 11.8x15.7 in and 19.7x27.6 in
2 in 3have a printed border, so they look matted straight away

Why black and white always works

Without color, a picture is all about light, shape and contrast – and that is exactly what makes it so easy to live with. Black-and-white prints don’t compete with your sofa, your rug or the view from the window. They add structure to a soft, beige room and a moment of calm to a colorful one.

They’re also the most forgiving art to combine. Two prints that share the same two colors always have something in common, so you can mix a city photo with a line drawing, a small print with a big one, and the wall still looks like it belongs together.

Photography, line art or graphic?

Black and white comes in very different moods. Decide which one you’re after first, and the choice gets a lot easier.

Photography. Cities, landscapes and portraits in shades of gray. The richest kind of black and white – go big, so the details have room.

Line art. A face, a figure or a dove drawn with a few confident strokes. Light and personal, and lovely in a bedroom or above a desk.

Graphic and typography. Bold shapes and words you can read from across the room. A little playful, and perfect for a hallway or a home office.

Abstract. Brushstrokes and ink shapes that bring movement without a single color. More in our guide to abstract wall art.

Four places to start:

Cities and architecture

Bridges, cafés and fountains – a little city break on the wall, and lovely as a row of three.

Manhattan Bridge

Paris Coffee Spot

Trevi Fountain

Nature and landscapes

Forests, coastlines and flowers in soft shades of gray. The calmest choice for a bedroom.

Kyoto Bamboo Grove

Black and White Coast

Black and White Poppy

Line art and figures

Faces and figures drawn with a few sure lines. Light, personal and easy to pair.

Nadia Aux Cheveux Lisses

Soulmate

Thinking Line

Graphic and typography

Bold shapes and a few well-chosen words. Crisp in a hallway, a home office or a kitchen.

When Nothing Goes Right

Gaudeo

Study in Ink

Black, white or oak?

The frame changes a black-and-white print more than you’d think. These are the three classics, and none of them can go wrong.

Black frame. Crisp and graphic. It picks up the darkest tones in the print and gives photography that sharp, gallery feel.

White frame. Light and airy. Lovely on a pale wall, and around a dark print the white makes the motif almost glow.

Oak frame. The warm one. Natural wood softens the contrast and ties the print to wooden floors and furniture. More ideas in our guide to choosing the right frame.

A black-and-white photo of icebergs in a black frame leaning against a beige wall beside a white marble plinth, a black vase and a stack of books

A dark close-up photo of a white peony in a white frame leaning on a rattan sideboard beside a mug and a black candlestick

A misty black-and-white photo of the Manhattan Bridge in an oak frame above a dark oval dining table with wooden chairs

Four ways to hang it

Because black-and-white prints share the same palette, you can play with sizes and layouts more freely than with color. Four that work above a 71 in sofa or sideboard, drawn to scale:

A pair

Two 19.7x27.6 in, about 42 in wide. Two photos from the same series look made for each other.

A grid of six

Six 11.8x15.7 in in two rows, about 40 in wide. Same frames, same gaps – the classic way to show photography.

A row of three

Three 15.7x19.7 in side by side, about 52 in wide. Calm and graphic – lovely with three photos from one city.

A mixed gallery wall

Five frames around one 19.7x27.6 in, about 52 in wide. Mix photos, lines and type – black and white holds it together.

Measurements, heights and gaps are all in our guide to hanging wall art.

Mix black and white with color

A black-and-white print is the best friend a colorful poster can have. Next to a golden classic, a sea-blue photo or a bright typographic print, it gives the eye a place to rest – and makes the color look even stronger. Keep the colors to one or two, and let the frames repeat. More combinations in our gallery wall ideas.

Leo Gestel’s Peace Dove line drawing beside Gustav Klimt’s golden The Kiss in oak frames above a white lounge chair

A black-and-white photo of a white Porsche outside a townhouse in an oak frame, with a teal sea print leaning below beside a bouclé armchair

A black State of Mind line print above a blue Sunday Morning coffee print, both in black frames, beside a window with a white table lamp

Ready-made black-and-white walls

Rather skip the planning? These walls from our inspiration pages come with every print, size and frame picked for you.

Two black-and-white photos, a black sand beach and a white flower on black, in black frames above a light wooden table

Two abstract prints with black brushstrokes on beige in oak frames above a chrome cantilever chair beside a wicker floor lamp

Make it look like a gallery

One frame color. On a black-and-white gallery wall, a single frame color does half the work. Black for crisp, white for light, oak for warm.
A printed border. About two in three of our black-and-white posters come with a printed border, which gives them a matted look straight out of the tube.
A mat board. Want more breathing room? Put a smaller print in a bigger frame with a mat board. Our guide to mat boards explains window and frame sizes.

Which frame suits black and white prints?

Black, white and oak all work. A black frame makes photography crisp and graphic, a white frame keeps things light, and oak adds warmth. On a gallery wall, choose one and use it for every print.

Can I mix black and white posters with color?

Yes – it’s one of the easiest ways to make a colorful wall feel calm. Keep the color to one or two shades and let the black-and-white prints sit in between.

What size black and white poster should I choose?

Above a sofa or a bed, aim for about two thirds of its width – a pair of 19.7x27.6 in covers about 42 in, just right above a 63 in sofa or bed. On a narrow wall or a shelf, an 11.8x15.7 in or an 8.3x11.8 in is plenty. Nine in ten of our black-and-white posters come in both 11.8x15.7 in and 19.7x27.6 in.

Which rooms suit black and white wall art?

All of them. Photography and big prints in the living room, calm landscapes and line art in the bedroom, graphic prints and typography in the hallway and the home office. See our living room and bedroom ideas.

Do black and white photos need a mat board?

No, but it can look lovely. Many of our black-and-white posters already have a printed border. A mat board adds even more space around the picture and works especially well for a small print in a larger frame.

Shop by size

Posters8.3x11.8 11.8x15.7 15.7x15.7 15.7x19.7 19.7x19.7 19.7x27.6 27.6x27.6 27.6x39.4 39.4x39.4 39.4x55.1

Frames8.3x11.8 11.8x15.7 15.7x19.7 19.7x19.7 19.7x27.6 27.6x27.6 27.6x39.4 39.4x39.4 39.4x55.1

Black and white posters