Housewarming
A painting for a new home
A portrait of the house itself, painted from a photograph, sized for the wall it will hang on — and why it also works for people who rent.
A house portrait is the housewarming gift with no awkwardness attached: nobody has to pretend to be delighted by another set of glasses, and nobody's face has to survive being painted. The subject is the thing they just did — bought a place — painted in oil from a photograph of the front of it.
The photograph decides most of the outcome, and here is what nobody tells you: every photograph of a new house contains the bins, the skip and the neighbour's extension. Choosing the angle is the photographer's job, and yours is sending more than one. Three or four shots from different sides, plus a note on what to exclude, gives the mock-up something honest to work from — it arrives within 24 hours, and nothing is painted until you approve it.
Photographing a house for painting
Stand back and shoot straight-on for the classic elevation, or from an angle for depth — but not both mixed into one painting. Shoot in the part of the day when the light hits the front of the house; a north-facing façade photographed at noon is a flat grey rectangle, and the painter can only add so much.
Cars, bins and hoses are removable in the composition if you ask in the brief — say what must go rather than hoping. What cannot be invented is detail that was never photographed: if the front door was repainted last week, send a photo of it in the new colour, or the painting will preserve the old one.
Seasonal state matters too. A garden photographed in winter paints as a winter garden — bare borders, a brown lawn — and if the gift is meant to celebrate the place in its best light, an older summer photograph is the better reference even if the house has changed slightly since. Tell us which differences matter and which do not; the mock-up will show exactly what the composition contains, and it costs nothing to revise before approval.
Sizing for a wall that may not exist yet
A house reads best with room around it: 16 × 20 in at $389 for a single elevation, 20 × 24 in at $549 if the garden or the street joins the composition. If you have seen the new kitchen wall, size to it — the canvas should sit about two-thirds to three-quarters of the width of the furniture below it.
If you have not seen the wall, resist the urge to go large. A 12 × 16 in at $289 hangs on a hallway, a stairwell wall, above a desk; the 8 × 10 in at $189 suits a shelf. The certificate can carry the new address either way, which is half the sentiment.
If the new owners are keen gardeners, or the house has a feature they chose it for — the porch, the bay window, the gate — say so in the brief. A house portrait is not an architectural record; it is a painting of why they bought it, and a composition that leads with that feature reads as thoughtful rather than generic. This is exactly the sort of instruction the mock-up is for, and it arrives within 24 hours of ordering.
Renters, and why rolled canvas helps them
For a rented flat, a large framed picture is a liability — holes in walls, deposit arguments. The painting arrives rolled in a rigid tube, free worldwide, tracked and insured, and staying rolled costs nothing. It can live in the tube through two moves without harm and be stretched for $60–$120 by a local framer whenever a permanent wall appears.
That flexibility also makes this gift safe to give before you know the new place: the painting is of the house, not sized to a specific room, and it waits for its wall rather than demanding one.
One more renter-friendly property of the format: the painting can be re-gifted by circumstance without harm. A rolled canvas moves house as easily as a poster, needs no wall in the meantime, and costs nothing to store. For a young couple in their second rental in three years, that flexibility is not a compromise — it is often the reason the gift works at all, and the stretching can wait until the permanent wall arrives.
What it costs
Price is set by canvas size and the number of subjects — not by the occasion, the deadline, or how much detail you ask for. The table below is the same one used on every painting page, so there is no quote to wait for.
| Canvas | Metric | 1 subject | 2 subjects | 3 subjects | 4+ subjects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 × 10 in | 20 × 25 cm | $189 | $259 | — | — |
| 12 × 16 in | 30 × 41 cm | $289 | $379 | $459 | — |
| 16 × 20 in | 41 × 51 cm | $389 | $499 | $619 | $749 |
| 20 × 24 in | 51 × 61 cm | $549 | $699 | $849 | $1,029 |
| 24 × 36 in | 61 × 91 cm | $789 | $1,059 | $1,290 | $1,560 |
| 30 × 40 in | 76 × 102 cm | $1,090 | $1,449 | $1,749 | $2,090 |
| 36 × 48 in | 91 × 122 cm | $1,390 | $1,849 | $2,249 | $2,690 |
Shipping is free worldwide. Framing is optional and quoted separately — most customers have the canvas stretched by a local framer for $60–$120.
How it works
Send the photograph
One sharp phone photo is enough. Tell us the deadline, the wall it is going on, and anything that must or must not be in the picture.
See the mock-up within 24 hours
A digital composite at the exact canvas size and crop, so size and composition are settled before any paint is bought. Nothing is charged until you approve it.
Watch it being painted
Three to five weeks in real oil, with two progress photographs. You can raise a concern at either one — that is what they are for.
Approve, then it ships
You see the finished canvas first, with one free round of adjustments. Then it travels rolled in a rigid tube, tracked and insured, with the numbered certificate inside.
Real oil, not a print
Hand-painted on cotton canvas, varnished, signed. Brushwork you can see in raking light.
You approve before we paint
A digital mock-up at the exact size and crop, within 24 hours, included in the price.
Numbered certificate
Every painting ships with a signed COA stating artist, medium, size and year.
Free worldwide shipping
Rolled in a rigid tube, tracked and insured. No minimum, no distance surcharge.
Questions
Questions we actually get
The house alone is the classic and the safest gift; the family in front of it turns it into a group portrait with a fixed background, which is a different commission and needs sharp faces as well as the façade. If you want both, expect the price of two subjects and check the table above.
Daylight on the front of the house, straight-on or from a consistent angle, sharp enough to read the brickwork and the door. Send three or four shots from different sides and list what to exclude — bins, cars, the neighbour's scaffolding. Removal is easy; invention is not.
The same as any commission, because pricing follows canvas size: $189 for 8 × 10 in, $289 for 12 × 16 in, $389 for 16 × 20 in, $549 for 20 × 24 in. House portraits have no subject surcharge, so a single façade at 16 × 20 in is $389. The price follows the canvas size alone, and the table above is the whole price list — nothing to wait for a quote on.
Yes, and rolled canvas is the reason. It ships free worldwide in a rigid tube, can stay rolled through moves without harm, and is stretched by a local framer for $60–$120 when a permanent wall exists. No holes are required in anyone's deposit wall in the meantime.
Yes, within what the photographs show. Wider settings suit larger canvases — 20 × 24 in or above — because the house needs to stay the subject. The mock-up at the exact canvas size and crop arrives within 24 hours, and you approve the composition before painting starts.
Send the photograph of the house
Three or four angles, a note on the bins, and the date of the housewarming. Fixed price from the table and a mock-up within 24 hours.