Wall art can be an integral part to the overall interior design of your home. With the right technique and placement, wall art can transform the look and feel of your living space. There is a range of different wall art styles, ranging from large abstract paintings to metal constructed pieces. For savvy decorators looking to change things up a bit in their home, how to decorate with wall art in the living room may be brought to mind.
The living room is often the first room that greets your guests and is where you may spend a lot of your time. You want to make sure it is a welcoming and congenial environment. Your home’s interior design can impact your mood, productivity, and more. So, try to make the most out of it!
Here is how to decorate with wall art in the living room:
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Determine what style you are going for
There are a wide range of styles that interior decorators can take inspiration from and incorporate into their living space. A few common and popular interior design styles include modern, contemporary, and traditional furnishings. For example, modern style interiors typically consist of clear, sleek elements such as complementary metals and wood, as well as furniture with geometric and minimalist influences. The modern interior design style often follows an achromatic color palette with not as many bold or bright colors. Abstract wall art pieces can give these style spaces that pop of color or focal point the decorator desires.
The fun part of interior design is where you begin to let your creativity thrive and find a style that best suits you. You may not even have a favorite interior design style and instead prefer to create an eclectic space with inspiration from a variety of elements. Either way, taking inspiration from a particular style of interior design will benefit you in how to decorate with wall art in the living room.
Determining the type of interior design style you would like to take influence from can help you to find wall art pieces that will complement your living room. If you favor industrial style elements, metal wall art pieces make a fitting accent. If you like the traditional coastal style interior, you’ll like the fact that there are coastal wall art pieces made just for your theme. Fortunately, there are always new and trendy home decor styles being publicized, so you can always take from or add to your design and adjust it to your liking!
Look at the size of your living space
Before looking at wall art to decorate your living room with, you should first look at the size of the canvas you are working with. Are you living in a studio apartment? Do you have high ceilings? Or do you have a generous amount of wall space? These are a few important factors to consider when exploring how to decorate with wall art in the living room.
For smaller sized living rooms, placing wall art pieces that are too large can make your room look even smaller and create a cramped feeling. To work around this, you can try using smaller sized wall art pieces. Or, you can place one large wall art piece and have it function as a striking focal point. Another tip for small spaces is to make use of brighter / lighter colors. Brighter colors on walls can help to create the illusion of a more spacious room. So, you may find benefit in looking for wall art pieces featuring a brighter color palette.
If you are starting with a spacious living room, you will have more options for wall art placement and size. However, it is still important to keep your living space open and spacious by not covering your walls with too much art. You can make use of your wall space with a single, stand-out large art piece that matches your room’s theme. This will allow you to create a focal point in your living room and add to the spacious feel. You can also try placing matching wall art pieces in rows – horizontal, diagonal, etc. to fill up excess space without making your walls look too crowded.
Come up with a color scheme
A color scheme is what a lot of interior decorators like to use to create a harmonious living space involving colors that complement each other. You may see rooms following a warm color scheme featuring brighter colors like red, orange, and yellow. Another example is a neutral color palette that many decorators also like to use in their living space that includes white, tan, and beige colors. Coming up with a color scheme that you would like to follow in your living room design can help you to find wall art pieces that match.
There are a variety of color schemes for interior design that you can integrate into your living room. For instance, the complementary color scheme involves decorating your home with two different colors that are located across from each other in reference to the color wheel. If there’s one wall art piece that you like, you can even take inspiration from it and create a color scheme based around it. Look at the color wheel to find other colors that complement each other well and that can benefit you in how to decorate with wall art in the living room.
Consider the placement of your wall art
Wall art placement is an additional consideration to keep in mind when seeking how to decorate with wall art in the living room. Since you will be sitting down most of the time, you want to make sure your wall art is placed at a comfortable viewing level. Placing your artwork too high on the wall can create an awkward setup and design. A good recommendation is to hang your wall art so that it is centered at eye-level.
If your living room has a fireplace, this is a good opportunity to create a focal point in your interior design and hang your wall art at an adequate viewing level. If you are hanging your wall art above a sofa or TV stand, you also want to make sure that it is not placed too low to where it you may bump into it or its view is blocked.
How to decorate with wall art in the living room: Simplicity is key
While wall art is an easy way to create a more arranged and welcoming interior, it is important to keep in mind that simplicity is key when placing these decorative accents. If you have furniture or other accessories that consist of bold and bright colors, placing wall art that is also bold and bright may create a conflicting design. Plain, neutral colors are a good way to offset these bold colors and create a balanced living space.
On the other hand, if your wall art is placed too sparsely or lacking in color and motif, it can adversely affect the overall tone of your interior design. In this case, many interior designers like to introduce a “pop of color” to add some excitement to a room.
Do you have a tip to share with other interior decorators that can help with how to decorate with wall art in the living room? Share it in the comments below!
References:
1 “10 Color Theory Basics Everyone Should Know | Freshome.Com”. Freshome.Com, 2019, https://freshome.com/2014/10/30/10-color-theory-basics-everyone-should-know/.
