A dark indigo behaves like black canvas art and adds weight, while a pale sky blue opens a room up the way white canvas art does. Pairs work particularly well in this palette: one deep and one pale piece side by side read like tide and sky. The same selection as paper prints lives in blue wall art.

Bedrooms and Bathrooms

Blue earns its keep where you want to wind down, and without glass it works better in humid rooms. See bathroom canvas art.

What colours go with blue?

Almost anything untreated or muted, which means wood, linen, stone and greyscale. The combination that needs the most thought is blue against warm yellow, which is striking but never discreet, and therefore has to be a deliberate choice.

Why canvas rather than a framed print?

Because blue's deep end is where glass does the most damage. A glazed print reflects the room and turns indigo and navy greyer, while satin-matte canvas keeps the saturation intact. Gallery wrap also leaves a horizon unbroken by a frame edge.

Does a blue canvas work in a bathroom?

Well, provided the wall is dry and the room ventilates normally. Without glass there's no surface to fog up after a shower, but still avoid positions within direct splash range of the shower or bath.

Deep or pale blue?

Pale tones open a small room up and almost always work, while deep indigo and navy pull it inward but give it more character. In rooms with little daylight, the lighter register is the safe choice.

Which room suits blue best?

Bedrooms and bathrooms, since the calm in the colour does most good where you wind down. Blue also works in a home office, where it keeps the pace down without becoming sedative the way warmer dark tones can.

Can several blue canvases hang together?

Yes, blue takes grouping better than most colours, since tones of the same hue read as a whole even when the subjects differ. Three pieces in a row with equal spacing works well.