5 Expert Tips for Choosing Wall Art That Complements Your Home

Choosing the right wall art can instantly change how a room feels, but it’s often where people feel most unsure. This guide breaks down expert-backed principles for selecting wall art that works with your space, scale, and personal style, rather than competing with it. Whether you’re decorating from scratch or refining an existing room, these tips will help you make confident, intentional choices that elevate your home.

1. Prioritise Quality Over Quantity

One of the mistakes first-time homeowners or inexperienced decorators make is to over-clutter the space by buying and putting up too many wall art pieces. The idea is to go with quality over quantity so know that a single wall art piece on a statement wall is far more impactful than a messily decorated wall anywhere in the home.

Choose pieces that echo and display who you are and the hobbies or interests that make you happiest in life. 

Furthermore, you do not need to limit yourself to paintings or photographs, framed fabric, tapestries, sentimental items like dog portraits, calligraphy, or the best personalized coat rack and other art forms all look stunning if they are carefully and expertly curated. Research local artists in your community and you can even commission a custom piece for your wall. 

2. Choose Wall Art That Complements the Space

Large scale murals that are made up of various component pieces that together form a single image are very popular and fashionable in the last few years. Whether you are putting together a map of your favourite continent or even a constellation in action, broken up murals like this are impactful and can be the only statement piece in an entire room.

These types of murals can be of scenery as well so they will invoke a lot of emotions of tranquillity every time you look at them. Consider them for your bedroom or your main living area! 

3. Get the Scale and Proportions Right

Wall art should never be purchased or ordered online randomly. You should have a very specific idea of the measurement of your wall and the height which is appropriate for hanging wall art. If you have younger kids or toddlers in the house, for example, you might be less willing to hang valuable pieces lower because they can get damaged or knocked down. 

Use a regular measuring tape and measure out the available space to hang wall art at eye level, as some walls are wider than others and some are taller than the rest. Slanting walls next to a flight of stairs for example are perfect for making a gallery wall of all your favourite photographs. Use painter’s tape to mark out where the frames will go as this tape does not damage the paint of the wall and can be removed safely afterwards. 

4. Use Wall Art to Set the Mood

Wall art influences mood as any other aspect of interior decorating. You have to bear in mind the kind of ambience and effect you are trying to achieve with the colours and types of wall art you choose. Deeper colours like burgundy or red elicit a different feeling from lighter colours like sky blue or yellow.

Decide which colour scheme is for you and use wall art in conjunction with other design elements in the room to achieve that ambience. The quality of the lighting in the room also impacts how effective your wall art is visually so invest in good lighting fixtures and options. Smart bulbs that are available now can change colours, brighten or dim as well as turn on and off remotely through an app. Picture lights are a great way to literally shed light on a statement piece of wall art. 

5. Select Wall Art Based on the Desired Effect

Choosing wall art for your wall is dependent on your understanding of multiple factors. Here are the different types of wall art and the settings they work well in:-

• Wall decals are high-quality wall stickers available in endless patterns and they’re great for apartments and rental spaces as they don’t damage the wall.
  
• Paintings are pricier wall art options but they’re incomparable in terms of style and impact. Paintings constitute effort and creativity and are always appreciated in home settings. For example, a dog watercolor painting is both creative and looks cosy on the wall.
  
• Choose or make abstract objects and patterns if you are decorating a more modern, contemporary home.
  
• Tapestries and fabric wall art are great for more laid-back spaces where the homeowner wants a more casual, relaxing, and bohemian vibe.
  
• Unique handmade wall art pieces even if they are a child’s macaroni art showcase that the homeowner values sentimentalism above aesthetic beauty.
  
• Photos are of course everyone’s favourite type of wall art as one can put up pictures of favourite trips, loved ones, and even favourite actors.