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54 Wall Decor Ideas for Boosting Blah Spaces
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While blank walls can add a little bit of visual balance to a room, they're often just missed opportunities for décor. They're truly the perfect canvases for telling your life's stories and can give guests a hint at who you are. That said, blank walls can also be intimidating for those same reasons. If you've been avoiding filling your blank wall space because you just aren't sure what to use, now's your chance to get some inspiration for finally checking this task off your decorating to-do list.
Some people might feel limited to framed posters, pictures, and artwork, but these days, wall décor ideas go far beyond your basic gallery wall and aren't restricted to store-bought pieces either. You can utilize textured fabric wall hangings or even paint on your own accent wall mural and skip hanging things altogether.
Thankfully, there's no shortage of ideas when it comes to filling up walls. The ones below will help you take boring, bare walls and turn them into charming galleries, pretty collections, and statement-making accents in your living room, above your bed and more.
1. Hang a rug
2. Install a cork wall
This wall has been covered completely in cork to act as a bulletin board. You can do the same in your home and decorate it with anything that inspires you.
3. Create a gallery wall that spans the whole space
These unique frames and décor elements cover an entire living room wall for a space that looks fully finished.
4. DIY a photo collage wall
This memory wall is affordable to recreate and allows you to showcase all of your loved ones. Just print your photos and hang them in a tidy rectangle using thumbtacks.
5. More is more
Between the picture wall and maximalist bookshelf, this room's walls are covered.
6. Install all the shelving
This living room has all the shelves. The hexagonal shaves add a unique touch while the open shelving offers a home for even more décor.
7. Go for an XXL shelving system
This Buenos Aires dining room has a shelving system that covers almost an entire wall, offering plenty of room for décor accents.
8. Try a contrasting gallery wall
For walls that already have some personality and color, choose items and frames that will pop against that backdrop, as is the case in this Philadelphia home. Black paint is the perfect background for incorporating things like neon colors and white frames.
9. Embrace macramé
Macramé is back and isn't going anywhere right now. This artsy craft form infuses plenty of texture and handmade charm into a space, whether you choose to incorporate a plant hanger or a wall hanging, like the one above the bed in this Los Angeles home.
10. Try temporary wallpaper
There's no better way to spice up a room in less than a few hours than temporary wallpaper. This New Jersey home shows how a mix of patterns and colors against a graphic but very neutral wallpaper can instantly make a room pop.
11. Mix and match
Gallery walls aren't limited to framed photos and prints. These Chicago homeowners used a pennant, fabric hangings, tassels, and other ephemera in the sweet, small composition on their pink living room wall. They even used a beaded curtain and twinkle lights to create a funky, fun backdrop for their television.
12. Pile on all the textures
Dressing up your walls with items that coordinate with the rest of the decor in your room is a fool-proof way to embrace maximalism, as seen in this Virginia home. Colors and patterns found in wall art can play nicely off of things like throw pillows and rugs.
13. Hang potted wall plants
Wall-mounted planters are a great greenery solution for the plant lover with little space. Here, Jessica Sirls created a sleek and space-savvy succulent garden above her bed with just a handful of them.
14. Fashion a flashy wall hanging
Sometimes a bold piece of wall decor is all you need to bring character and visual interest to a room. Find a flashy wall hanging, or better yet, make your own à la A Beautiful Mess, and add some color and texture to an otherwise empty wall.
15. Hang up your hat(s)
Storage hooks aren't just for hanging umbrellas (or guitars, as seen above). A handful of wall hooks — self-adhesive ones work great for renters—can turn an empty wall into a sophisticated way to store your hats, just like this wall of hats in the studio of textile artist Jane Denton on SF Girl by Bay.
16. Try mixed media wall art
A mix of prints and sculptural wood pieces stand out against mint green paint in this colorful Florida home. The addition of a lamp, basket, and potted plant help to play up the bright hues in the artwork even more.
17. Hang picture ledges
Searching for a stylish way to store (and show off) some of your most treasured objects? Pictures ledges are surprisingly affordable and instantly turn your beloved baubles (like this wall of cameras on Alt for Damerne) into works of art.
18. Paint a wall motif with paint pens
Looking for a fun design project to do over a rainy weekend? Grab a couple of pieces of cardboard and paint pens and stencil your own statement wall just like Laura on A Beautiful Mess did.
19. Install crates for days
For as simple as they are, wooden crates can form an insanely chic wall display. Case in point: this wall of wooden storage crates in a Connecticut coffee shop featured on West Elm's blog, which offers plenty of storage opportunity (but still looks just as good when empty).
20. Try a calendar wall
21. Make a statement ceiling
While this is a post about wall decor, we implore you not to forget your ceiling and consider it an additional surface you can decorate. Oft overlooked but still oozing with design potential, statement ceilings are a stylish way to turn a ceiling into a room's centerpiece. Fashion your own with paint or wallpaper (like we saw in Violeta's house call) and make a big interior statement with your ceiling.
22. Hang one or more mirrors
Minimalists and those occupying smaller spaces will appreciate how much a mirror can add to a bare wall, as exemplified in this pretty New York apartment. Mirrors really open up a room by creating the illusion of extra space—and add a nice shape to your walls while they're at it.
23. Hand-paint a mural
If the thought of smoothing out air bubbles from wallpaper makes you cringe, this fun Kentucky home provides the perfect example of how to stylishly avoid that: Paint a wall mural. Whether abstract or pictorial, murals are equally as gorgeous as any wallpaper and will give you plenty of creative freedom to decide what colors and shapes you want on your walls.
24. Map it out
An oversize vintage map, like this one from Helen's home tour, fills an oddly shaped wall with color and character in no time.
25. Put a mural on it
Turn a blank wall into a focal piece with a graphic wall mural (like this one from Nic and Andrew's home tour. Wallpapered ones are all over the web, and if you're a renter, fret not: removable ones look just as cool.
26. Score some storage
No room in your tiny kitchen to store all your pots and pans? Turn a sliver of a wall into a streamlined storage display with a few hanging rails, like these copper ones from Zan's home tour.
27. Try a vertical garden
Turn an empty wall into a full-blown vertical garden with this leather-and-wood trellis DIY courtesy of Vintage Revivals.
28. Consider a wall sconce
Wall sconces are a fashionable way to brighten up a light-deprived area of your home. Mount a pair on either side of your bed in place of bulky table lamps, or employ a single swanky sconce (like this hanging one from Ashley's home tour) for a sleek but functional reading light.
29. Go for faux brick
Love the look of exposed brick but stuck working with drywall? Brick-inspired wallpaper, like we saw in Hetty's home tour, is all over the web and looks just as good as the real deal.
30. Build a gallery wall
A salon-style art display, like this eclectic gallery wall from a home tour, is a space-savvy way to bring some color into your living room and instantly livens up a white room without overwhelming the rest of space.
31. Decorate your walls with plants
You can work plants into your walls in unique ways with pocket, shelves, and wall-mount planters, as seen in this boho apartment. Wall planters are perfectly fine on their own, but feel free to jazz up your setup with items like frames and lights.
32. Go for bold and beautiful artwork
Who needs a whole gallery wall when you can focus on just one big colorful work of art? A bold abstract piece, like this one we spotted on Style Curator, infuses a white wall with more than enough color and character.
33. Try a larger than life gallery wall
Gallery walls do not have to be a small collection of framed prints. Oh no, they can go far outside the box, like in this star's Los Angeles home. Hang artwork from floor to ceiling, and incorporate unique pieces like wooden sculptures and vintage found objects.
34. Look to wall baskets
Who knew wall baskets (you know, the hand-woven kind your grandmother used to buy at garage sales) could make such charming wall decor in modern-day interiors? Clearly Lita Lee and Mike Martin, who on their Apartment Therapy home tour showed us that a salon-style installation of wall baskets can look every bit as chic as traditional artwork.
35. Brighten the corners
Not sure how to decorate a cramped living room corner? Cover the walls with a bold wallpaper or an eye-catching work of art, like we saw on Sarah's home tour, and turn an unused area into a unique design statement.
36. Pick a cool pair
A pair of colorful large-scale photographs with a breezy subject, like these summer-themed photos we spotted on Style Me Pretty, create visual interest without comprising the room's chill vibes.
37. Make an entrance
When paired with an interesting light fixture, a flashy work of art turns a standard entry wall into a bright and stylish foyer in seconds, like we saw in James and Kurt's home tour.
38. Black-and-white is always nice
Fashion a floor-to-ceiling gallery wall (just like Brady Tolbert did on Emily Henderson's blog) with nothing but black-and-white images for a clean-lined display that feels classic but contemporary.
39. Pegboards, please
Pegboards are a storage gift that keeps on giving. Not only can you hang just about anything on them, most mount straight to your wall (like we saw on Beautyfull Blog) for some space-savvy storage opportunity.
40. Hook it up
When you're stuck living in a small space, more vertical storage the merrier. Take a cue from Mandi at A Beautiful Mess and DIY your own stylish wall hooks to devise a proper entryway in your tiny apartment.
41. Rethink your floor coverings
This one is a bit unconventional, but smaller rugs (especially some that are vintage and maybe too delicate for floors) are a marvelous way to bring a large-scale focal point to a room. Here, in a bedroom by Emily Henderson, a rougher-textured round sisal rug totally works in contrast with the bright, clear colors surrounding it.
42. Go all natural
A single tree branch, like this we saw on My Scandinavian Home, brings a touch of drama to a frameless bed without compromising the space's Scandi-style scheme.
43. Try a style that's simple but sophisticated
A simple line of evenly spaced (and cohesively colored) artwork, like this receding gallery wall framed by symmetrical sconces we saw on Jess Goodwin's home tour, is sometimes all you need to shape a design-forward scene at home.
44. Make a mini-nook
Turn an awkward wall into a cozy nook by fashioning a small mood board above a comfy place to sit, like this pretty pink niche we spotted on SF Girl by Bay.
45. Go beyond a headboard
No room (or budget) for a headboard? No problem. Fun textiles, like these colorful scarves we spotted in Catherine's home tour, take up just as much wall space, but hardly cost a thing.
46. DIY floating shelves
Love the look of floating shelves but can't drill a ton of holes in your wall? This Easy Hanging Rope Shelf DIY from A Beautiful Mess is sturdy enough to store your beloved books and baubles and hangs from just two hooks.
47. Mix mediums
For an eclectic living room look that doesn't cost a fortune, simply hang up some of your favorite objects salon-style, like Kristen and Mike did with their mask collection in their home tour, for an unconventional (but super personalized) wall display.
48. Get creative with wall decals
While you might not have looked at a wall decal since you were a child (anyone else remember those glow-in-the-dark stars?), they've come a long way. This Chicago apartment shows that things like washi tape and wall decals can actually look rather sleek and sophisticated if done right.
49. Wallpaper a wall niche
Those odd divots or cut outs in your wall may not serve much of a purpose, but with a little wallpaper magic you can turn it into an accent wall. As seen in this Brooklyn apartment, a layer of wallpaper quickly turned an awkward area into an eye-catching part of the room.
50. Contrasting colors never fail
A San Francisco apartment's walls are a maximalist's dream thanks to wild wallpaper and unique frames and objects. Don't be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to hanging up art and consider replacing a plain background with something a little more edgy.
51. Go for a mirror image
Matchy-matchy decor can be a gorgeous way to decorate walls, and this mod's home take on it is especially unique. With two fairly similar frames opposite one another and identical chairs around the table, the space almost feels reflective, like a mirror.
52. Tie in like colors
Even if your decor is different, a similar color palette can pull it all together, as exemplified by this country home. Here, a bright coral canvas, mirror frame, and wallpaper all fit well together because of their hue despite them being completely different styles.
53. Minimal can be bold
While it can be fun to go all out with funky wall decor, this San Francisco apartment shows that less often is more. If you consider yourself to lean more towards minimalism, all it takes is one large statement piece of artwork to hugely influence the room.
54. Try the unfinished look
A piece of unpainted plywood creates a modern utilitarian atmosphere in a corner of a house boat in Amsterdam. It serves as a unique background for papers and pieces of art and gently breaks up the white walls.
Additional reporting by Carolin Lehmann
Caroline Biggs
Contributor
Caroline is a writer living in New York City. When she's not covering art, interiors, and celebrity lifestyles, she's usually buying sneakers, eating cupcakes, or hanging with her rescue bunnies, Daisy and Daffodil.
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Home Decor Colorful Focus Piece Art Object
Source: https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/wall-decor-ideas-255923