We have so much wall space in our homes; in general, it’s a greater surface area than both the floor and the ceiling. Taking advantage of this area is the ideal opportunity to add interest and individuality to a room. Below, we’ve touched on a few perfect ways to decorate your wall space and, at the same time, express an aspect of your personality.

Photographs

An current trend is displaying large groupings of Polaroid snaps. The square, Instagram-friendly format means they’re very easy to organise and mount.

You could display photos that were taken at memorable events that you want to remember – holiday & travel snaps, Christmas gatherings, birthday parties, wedding etc.

A feature wall of family portraits is a very popular option; school & graduation photos, formal family sittings, even pet portraits.

Fine art paintings

You may think that original paintings are expensive, but that’s not always the case. Granted, a genuine Picasso or Rembrandt is out of most people’s price range, but you can get affordable original oil or watercolour paintings for a snip. Charity shops and antique centres always have framed and unframed paintings in stock.

Choose according to frame type, subject matter, artist or style. Decide on pieces that you find attractive and think would suit the décor in your home.

Another good tip is to visit your local university fine art degree shows, the graduates are often selling their work that’s on display. You never know, you may discover the next big thing at the start of their career!

Posters

Posters have been produced for all manner of events or products, over a long period of time. Some of the world’s greatest designers and artists have turned their attention to creating them. You have a lot of options to go at if you want to create an interesting display. Perhaps a selection of travel posters of your favourite destinations or posters of your favourite movies might appeal to you.

There’s also a huge range of commercial products that you could focus on – fashion, automobilia, food & drink-related. Posters can be appealing in so many ways – graphically eye-catching, colourful and historically interesting.

Mirrors

A collection of gilt-framed mirrors on a dark wall will decorate your wall space, making a bold, glamorous statement. If that’s not to your taste, you could choose an assortment that are grouped according to shapes; e.g. round or concave. Another idea could be to choose mirrors according to the era from which they date – Art Deco or Mid Century Modern maybe – whichever would suit your interior best.

It’s a well known trick that hanging mirrors on walls bounces much needed light around a dark room. Mirrors can also create optical illusions, making a small space appear much larger.

Textile art

Soft furnishings help to soften an interior; think cushions and rugs. Lesser used soft furnishing ideas include wall hung textile art in the form of tapestries and macramé works. The latter work really well in an interior that is decorated with furniture and homewares in wicker, bamboo and linen and floor coverings of seagrass, coir and sisal.

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3-D collections

In the past, we’ve delved into grouping homeware items in our creative collections series. Often, these are displayed on horizontal surfaces, but there are many things that can be shown off to their best on the vertical. There’s no end of possibilities.

Some displays show off collections that might naturally spring to mind – hats, handbags, taxidermy and the like. Others incorporate what, at first thought, might appear to be the most unlikely of items; carpet beaters, corkscrews, scissors, old paint brushes, jelly moulds. Just choose anything that you personally think might work in the space – interesting shapes, textures and colours.

We’ve seen some incredibly successful displays using unusual objects – they’re both decoratively eye-catching and fascinating to delve into. You can also get creative with the way that the objects are mounted or hung. Whatever you choose, you’ll end up with unique wall decoration… and you’ll have the fun of collecting the items too!

We hope we’ve provided some inspiration to help you decorate your wall space and make your home a one-of-a-kind, stand-out place to be.

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