Measure the wall before you look at sizes

Start with the wall, not the print. Use a tape measure and record the full width and height in centimetres. Write both numbers down. A wall that feels enormous in an empty room shrinks once furniture and lighting enter it. Measure the clear space above a sofa, beside a door, or between two pieces of furniture, because those boundaries matter more than the wall itself. If you are working from a floor plan, check the scale and convert carefully. A small error in reading millimetres becomes a large gap on the wall.

Decide what the print is doing in the room. A piece placed above a sofa usually needs to sit centred and leave space on either side. A print hung in a corridor or beside a window has different rules. The room's function tells you how much of the wall you can reasonably give over to the image. A Marcel Broodthaers print size guide is only useful once you know which wall you are talking about. The same image can read as undersized in a large hall and overpowering in a narrow bedroom.

Work out the right proportion for the space

Once you have the wall dimensions, subtract 60 centimetres from each side to leave breathing room around the print. That range is a starting point, not a rule. A print that fills more of the wall can work in a minimalist room with few other objects. A smaller print can sit comfortably in a busier room where the eye already has plenty to take in. The proportions matter more than the absolute size. A tall narrow print behaves differently from a square one, even at the same width.

Hold a paper mock-up against the wall before you commit. Cut a rectangle of newspaper or cardboard to the print's dimensions and tape it in place. Step back to the distance from which you will usually view the room. This is the most reliable test available and it costs nothing. It also reveals problems that a tape measure alone misses, such as a print that sits too high above a piece of furniture or crowds a light switch. How to measure wall space for Broodthaers prints is mostly this simple physical check.

Account for framing and the room around it

A print does not sit on the wall alone. The frame adds width and height, and the amount varies by edition and finish. Ask for the overall dimensions including the frame before you decide, not just the image size. A wide frame can add several centimetres on every side and change the balance of the piece on the wall. If you are comparing editions, compare the framed dimensions rather than the printed image alone.

Look at the room's other elements before you fix the position. A print above a sofa should usually leave between 15 and 25 centimetres of space from the top of the furniture to the bottom of the frame. A piece hung beside a door or window needs to clear the hardware and the swing of the door. The room's lighting matters too. A print in a north facing room will read differently from one in strong southern light, and that affects how much wall space the image seems to command. For delivery and what arrives, check the relevant product details before ordering.