With the biggest decisions of any home design coming in the form of furnishings, flooring, and color schemes, wall decorations are often an afterthought. This is unfortunate, because there are plenty of smart and cheap ways to create wall decor that completely transforms the feel of a room. Here are just a few D.I.Y. ideas to get you started:
- Install your own art gallery by printing your favorite photos from your smartphone and grouping them together. Use inexpensive, varied frames to give your new showroom a creative burst of character
- Give life to old maps by framing and arranging them. This will not only speak to your inner cartographer but may serve as inspiration for your next getaway
- Hang hats, baskets, and more for three-dimensional accents that look great behind headboards, in stairwells, or at the foyer
- Antique dishes or those with seasonal colors can serve as fun decor in kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms
- Create a large print of your favorite photo and divide it into independently-framed sections. Suddenly, what was once a massive empty wall is now a striking attention-getter
Don’t worry if you aren’t confident with your own artistic abilities. Another simple way to fill unwanted blank space is to hang existing works of art that speak to you personally. The goal here isn’t to impress guests with the size of your wallet, but to hang something that warms your heart and fits with the style of your rooms. Paintings can be hung individually, or grouped into a custom art gallery just like photos. Remember: paintings should always be hung at the eye level of someone around 5 feet 7 inches, so the average guest won’t have to crane their neck to appreciate your choices.
If you’re too preoccupied with how to wring some extra storage space from your home to worry about wall decorations, remember that shelving can be decorative as well as practical. The right shelving will give a space meaning, and they can be tastefully adorned with books, framed photos, and souvenirs from your travels. Just be sure to not overstuff them, or your clever storage/decor combo will turn into a cluttered, uninviting mess.
And, if none of these choices seem right to you, feel free to think outside the box. Creative free-thinkers may want to spruce up a blank wall with an eye-catching floor lamp, hanging tapestry, or a wooden ladder that suggests an intentional work in progress. No matter what your taste is, empty walls should be seen not as an intimidating challenge, but as an invitation for expression.