Ames, Iowa watercolor print in a light oak frame on a plain white wall

Ames, Iowa watercolor print in an oak frame above a light wood sideboard in a Scandinavian living room

Ames, Iowa watercolor print as a natural floater canvas above a cream linen sofa on a sage green wall

Ames, Iowa watercolor print in a white frame on a pale blue wall beside a rattan bed in a coastal bedroom

Ames, Iowa watercolor print as a black floater canvas above a walnut console and woven bench in an entryway

Ames, Iowa watercolor print in a walnut frame on a blue wall above a leather armchair in a reading nook

Ames, Iowa watercolor print as a white floater canvas on a terracotta wall above a rustic dining table

Ames, Iowa watercolor print in a black frame above an upholstered headboard in a sage green bedroom

Ames, Iowa Watercolor Travel Wall Art

$26.00

Size: 8" x 12"

Material: Paper

Choosing a size is the part of buying art online that people most often get wrong. The print arrives, it goes up, and it is smaller than the wall wanted. This guide has every size we print, drawn to scale, in inches and centimetres, and a size to start from for each of the walls people ask about most.

Portrait sizes

Most designs in the shop are portrait. They come in nine inch sizes plus A1 to A4. The inch sizes are not all the same shape: five of them are a 2:3 crop, which is tall and narrow, and four are 3:4, which is squarer and reads wider on the wall. It is worth checking the shape as well as the size, because 18 × 24 and 20 × 30 in are close in height but sit very differently above a sofa.

Size (inches)	Centimetres	Shape	Works well
8 × 12	20.3 × 30.5	2:3	A desk, a shelf, or one square of a gallery wall
12 × 16	30.5 × 40.6	3:4	Hallways, and grids of four
12 × 18	30.5 × 45.7	2:3	Pairs above a console or a narrow wall
16 × 24	40.6 × 61	2:3	Above a desk, or sets of three above a sofa
18 × 24	45.7 × 61	3:4	Pairs above a sofa or a bed
20 × 30	50.8 × 76.2	2:3	A single print above a full bed
24 × 32	61 × 81.3	3:4	One statement print on an open wall
24 × 36	61 × 91.4	2:3	Above a queen bed, or a three-seat sofa
30 × 40	76.2 × 101.6	3:4	A feature wall, or a tall stairwell

Landscape sizes

Horizontal designs run on their own ladder, and every one of them is a 3:2 crop. They go considerably wider than the portrait sizes. The largest, 54 × 36 in, is four and a half feet across, so measure the wall before choosing either of the top two.

Size (inches)	Centimetres	Works well
12 × 8	30.5 × 20.3	A shelf or a desk
18 × 12	45.7 × 30.5	Above a console
24 × 16	61 × 40.6	Above a desk or a headboard
30 × 20	76.2 × 50.8	Above a loveseat
36 × 24	91.4 × 61	Above a three-seat sofa
48 × 32	121.9 × 81.3	A wide feature wall
54 × 36	137.2 × 91.4	The widest wall in the house

A1 to A4

A sizes are the metric standard, and they exist here for anyone buying a ready-made frame in Europe or the UK. They are a slightly narrower shape than the inch sizes. Each one is exactly half of the size before it, so an A3 print fills half an A2 frame.

Size	Centimetres	Inches
A1	59.4 × 84.1	23.4 × 33.1
A2	42 × 59.4	16.5 × 23.4
A3	29.7 × 42	11.7 × 16.5
A4	21 × 29.7	8.3 × 11.7

What comes on paper, and what comes on canvas

Not every size is offered in every material. The smallest size and the A sizes are printed on paper only, because canvas does not stretch well at those dimensions. The size menu on each product page shows what is actually available for that design.

Design	Size	Materials
Portrait	8 × 12 in	Paper
Portrait	12 × 16 in to 30 × 40 in	Paper, matte canvas, framed canvas in white, black, espresso or natural
Portrait	A1 to A4	Paper
Landscape	12 × 8 in	Paper
Landscape	18 × 12 in to 36 × 24 in	Paper, matte canvas, framed canvas in white, black, espresso or natural
Landscape	48 × 32 in	Matte canvas and framed canvas
Landscape	54 × 36 in	Paper
Landscape	A1 to A4	Paper

The measurements on this page are the printed image. A floating frame adds a little to the outside measurement, so allow for that when you are fitting a print into a tight alcove.

How high to hang it

Hang to the eye, not to the ceiling. The centre of the artwork wants to sit 57 to 60 inches from the floor, which is where galleries hang and where most people look. A high ceiling does not change this. Raising a print because the wall is tall is the single most common hanging mistake, and it leaves the picture floating with nothing under it.

Over furniture the gap decides it instead. Leave 6 to 10 inches, or 15 to 25 cm, of clear wall between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame. Closer than that and the two read as one lump. Further and they stop belonging together.

Above a sofa

Aim to fill roughly two thirds of the width of the furniture below. On a standard three-seat sofa that is about 56 inches of artwork, which is wider than any single portrait print, so a pair or a set of three usually works better than one piece.

Sofa	Width	Start with
Loveseat	60 in · 152 cm	One 18 × 24 in, or a pair of 12 × 18 in
Three-seat sofa	84 in · 213 cm	One 24 × 36 in, a pair of 18 × 24 in, or three 16 × 24 in
Sectional	100 in · 254 cm and up	Three 20 × 30 in, or a pair of 24 × 36 in
Landscape design	Any of the above	One 36 × 24 in over a three-seat sofa

Above a bed

Match the artwork to the width of the bed rather than the width of the wall, and keep the set narrower than the headboard. Art that overhangs a bed on either side reads as a mistake even when the size is technically right.

Bed	Width	Start with
Twin	38 in · 97 cm	One 16 × 24 in, or A2
Full	54 in · 137 cm	One 20 × 30 in
Queen	60 in · 152 cm	One 24 × 36 in, or two 18 × 24 in
King	76 in · 193 cm	Two 24 × 36 in, or three 20 × 30 in

Desks, consoles and hallways

These are the narrow walls, and they punish oversizing. Over a desk, a 16 × 24 in print clears the top of a monitor without crowding it. Over a console, two 12 × 18 in prints hold the width better than one piece stranded in the middle. In a hallway, where nobody can stand far enough back to take in a large print, two 12 × 16 in stacked one above the other work harder than a single big one.

Hanging a set

Leave 2 to 3 inches, or 5 to 8 cm, between frames, and keep every gap the same. Treat the whole set as one rectangle: find the centre of that rectangle, and hang it at the same 57 to 60 inches a single print would want.

A pair is the easiest set to get right. Align the bottom edges and keep both prints the same size.
Three in a row fills a sofa wall properly. Use one subject and one style so the run reads as a series.
A grid of four is the calmest layout of all, and the least forgiving of uneven gaps.
Up a staircase, follow the slope rather than the steps. Keep the centre of each print the same distance above the stair nose.

Still deciding

Cut newspaper to the exact size, or run painter's tape around the outline, and leave it on the wall for a day. It costs nothing and it settles the question faster than any chart.

Caught between two sizes, take the larger one. Rooms almost always take more than they look like they will, and a print that is slightly too big still reads as deliberate. One that is too small never does.

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This Ames, Iowa watercolor print shows the red-brick Campanile at Iowa State University above a snow-covered central campus lawn. It is a watercolor-style interpretation of the campus, not an exact view.

About the artwork

Snow on the lawn and rooftops is bare white paper, shaded with cool blue-violet. The Campanile is painted in clear orange-red, with fine brown ink outlining its clock face, open belfry, steep pyramidal roof, bare branches and lampposts. The tower stands tall on the right, snowy Gothic limestone halls sit on the left, and a diagonal path crosses the lawn past snow-laden pines. A wide, pale prairie sky fills the upper paper. The left edge and bottom break into blue, violet and red-brown blooms with drips and splatter. "AMES" is set in spaced navy capitals across the top.

Why you'll love it

Snowman in progress. Two friends build a snowman in the middle of the lawn while students in winter coats walk by.
Cool winter palette. Snow white and icy blue dominate, with the Campanile's warm orange-red as the focal accent.
Snow-laden pines. Dark green pines heavy with snow and old-style lampposts frame the foreground.
Made to order. Printed after you buy, colour-managed, never warehoused.

Sizes and materials

Paper — archival matte, rolled and unframed. Thirteen sizes in all: 8" x 12" through 30" x 40", plus A4–A1.
Matte canvas — stretched on a wooden bar, no glare, ready to hang. 12" x 16" to 30" x 40".
Framed canvas — solid wood floating frame in white, black, espresso or natural. 12" x 16" to 30" x 40".
Pigment-based archival inks, rated to resist fading for decades indoors.

Styling it at home

The cool whites and blues pair well with a cozy bedroom, a reading nook or an office in gray, navy or cream. Gift it to an Iowa State graduate, or bring it out each winter as a seasonal print.

Shipping and care

Unframed prints ship rolled in a protective tube. Framed canvas arrives ready to hang. Keep prints out of direct sunlight to protect the colour, and dust canvas with a dry, soft cloth.

Questions people ask

Is this an exact view of Ames, Iowa? No. It is an artistic interpretation of central campus in winter, with the Campanile and the halls painted loosely.

What text is printed on it? Only the name "AMES," set in spaced navy capitals across the top. There is no other lettering on the print.

Print & materials

Every design is made to order on one of three materials:

Fine art paper — thick 200 gsm archival gallery-grade paper with a smooth matte finish, printed with fade-resistant pigment inks. The choice if you already own a frame.
Matte canvas — gallery-wrapped over a solid wood stretcher, ready to hang straight out of the box. No glass, no glare.
Framed canvas in white, black, espresso or natural wood — a slim solid-wood floating frame with the hanging hardware already fitted. Natural and espresso suit warm, timber-heavy rooms; white and black sit better in minimalist and monochrome spaces.

Sizes run from 8 x 12 inches up to large statement pieces, plus A4, A3, A2 and A1 for standard European frames. The exact sizes available for this design are listed in the Size menu above.

Paper weight, inks, frame details and care are all in our Material Guide.

Production & shipping

Nothing is printed until you order, so each piece is made for you.

Printed and finished in 3–5 business days.
Delivery a further 4–8 business days — about 7–13 days in total.
Free shipping across the United States. Everywhere else is a flat $5 per order.

Paper prints ship rolled in a rigid tube. Canvas and framed canvas are boxed with corner guards.

Damage, defects & care

Every piece is printed for you after you order, so we cannot take a print back for a change of mind — please check the size and material first. Our Size Guide shows every size drawn to scale.

If it arrives damaged, misprinted or simply wrong, email us within 14 days with photos of the piece and the packaging. We reprint and reship it free, and there is nothing to send back.

Keep artwork out of direct sunlight. Dust paper prints with a clean, dry cloth; wipe canvas and framed canvas gently with a clean, damp cloth. Handle paper prints by the edges until they are framed. More care tips are in our Material Guide.

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