How to Choose the Right Size LED Neon Sign for Your Space

Picking the right size neon sign seems straightforward until you're standing in front of a blank wall double guessing yourself. We've made thousands of custom neon signs for homes, businesses, and events, and we get asked multiple times a week about the best size to go for so here's everything you need to know before you order.

With our 'Design Your Own' tool, it tells you the width and approximate height of the sign. You can upload your own image of where the sign is going to go and enter the photo's dimensions to give you a live visual of how the sign will look in the selected area.

Measure Your Space First

Before you think about all the small details, get a tape measure and find out exactly how much usable wall space you're working with. Not the whole wall but the area between furniture, windows, shelving, or whatever else is sharing that wall. 

Your sign should fill around 50–75% of the width of the surface it sits above. A sofa that's 180cm wide, for example, pairs well with a sign between 90cm and 135cm wide. This gives the sign enough space to look intentional without it dominating the entire wall.

Signs that are too small for the space tend to look like an afterthought while signs that are too large stop feeling like decor and start feeling like wallpaper you can't ignore.

Word Count

A single word and a five-word phrase are very different sizing challenges and this is where a lot of people get caught out. Short words and simple designs have flexibility as they can sit compact and still read clearly from a distance. Longer phrases need width to stay legible, otherwise the lettering gets cramped and the whole sign starts to feel busy.

For one or two words, 40–70cm suits most spaces. Once you're into short phrases of three to five words, you're looking at 80–120cm and anything longer than that, or text that stacks across two lines, needs 100cm or more, and it's worth thinking about how far away people will actually be when they're reading it. If your sign is going in a smaller room like a home office or bedroom you can work with slightly smaller dimensions because people will be closer to the sign. For larger open spaces such as a kitchen, living-room, or a commercial reception, you need more size to make the same visual impact.

Don't Overlook Height

People spend all their time thinking about width and forget about height entirely. Where a sign sits vertically on the wall makes a big difference to how it feels in the room.

For a sign that's meant to be a mean feature, you should aim to position the centre at roughly eye level. If it's going above a bed or sofa where people are seated, bring that down by about 20–30cm. Signs hung too high may feel disconnected from the room while signs hung too low look like they were put up in a hurry. 

Match the Size to the Room

The same sign that works beautifully in a large bar might feel overbearing in a small bedroom and a sign that's perfect for a home office would get completely lost in a venue or event.

Smaller and Medium Rooms - For box rooms, home offices and compact bedrooms, something along the lines of 40–70cm wide will feel significant without overwhelming. For standard bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens, this is where you have the most flexibility as signs between 60–120cm work well, depending on what else is happening on the walls and how much visual impact the sign needs to carry.

Larger spaces - open-plan areas, commercial premises and event venues. Go bigger than your gut tells you. In a large space, a sign under 80cm can almost disappear. Signs of 120cm and above should be what you're aiming for

The Paper Test

Before placing your order, try using masking tape or a piece of paper to roughly mark out the sign dimensions on your wall. Step back and look at it from where you'd normally be in that room. Try it from the doorway and look at it at night with the main lights off.

This is one of the most useful things you can do before ordering. You'll feel confident you've got the sizing right, or you'll be glad you caught it when you did.

A Note on Brightness and Dimming

Bigger signs produce more light which is worth thinking about alongside size. For a bedroom or a relaxed ambient space, a smaller sign or one with a good dimmer will serve you better than something large and bright that you can't tone down. For spaces where visibility is the point, a shop front, a bar, a reception desk, an event backdrop, more light works in your favour. The sign needs to hold its own even in a well-lit environment. 

If you've purchased a sign without a dimmer, you can always purchase one here.

Still Not Sure? Just Ask Us

If you've got your measurements but you're still not confident about what size is right for your space we're always happy to help. Send us your wall dimensions, what you want the sign to say, and where it's going, we'll give you an honest recommendation based on what we know works.