The dining room is one of the few rooms where everyone sits still for a while, often facing the same wall, so the art you choose really gets noticed. With Christmas and the winter months on the way, it's a good moment to give those walls some thought.

These dining room wall art ideas draw on the pictures that have always looked at home around a table: still lifes, fruit studies, country landscapes and botanicals, all in frames with some age and character. Here's what to choose, how to frame it and where to hang it.

The right frame does half the work. Our framed art comes in Handmade Frames, made to order on Dartmoor from solid wood mouldings from the UK and Italy, glazed with real glass, sealed on the back and ready to hang. Once you've chosen, these tips will help you place it.

1. Think about seated height. On a free wall, aim for the centre of the artwork to sit around 145–150cm from the floor. If most of your viewing is done from the table, the lower end of that range works nicely.
2. Leave a gap above furniture. Above a sideboard or dresser, leave roughly 20–25cm between the furniture and the bottom of the frame, so lamps and candlesticks have room.
3. Get the width right. A picture or group that spans around two-thirds of the sideboard looks balanced. Much narrower, and it can look lost.
4. Keep gaps even. For pairs and grids, leave about 5–8cm between frames. Lay them out on the floor first, or see our easy gallery wall guide for layouts.
5. Watch for glare and heat. Glass reflects, so check the wall at the time of day you use the room. Keep pictures away from radiators, wall lights that run hot and anywhere a candle sits close by.

Choosing for someone else? Our Christmas gifts for the home guide has more ideas.