Bring beauty to your bare walls. We have creative, on-trend wall décor ideas to help you freshen up those empty walls and customize your space.
Think of the walls of your home as an empty canvas, just waiting for your special touches. Not sure how to fill those walls? We have compiled some of the most creative ways of making the most of your wall space while embracing your own personality and interior design preferences. If you love nature, mosaic art, or you love your pets or your books, we have ways you can refresh the look and style of your home.
These suggestions range from professional installations to inexpensive weekend DIY projects, from fun to functional to fabulous. No matter your décor style, from modern to rustic, boho to farmhouse, we have some inspirational wall makeover ideas.
Wall accents
You don’t have to settle for smooth, no-texture walls. Bring an accent to one wall of your room. This breaks up the monotony of walls and adds interest. It can also bring a focal point for furnishings or frame a statement piece of furniture. You can do this with physical texture, a pop of bold or bright color, or patterns.
You can add texture to your walls in subtle ways, like with paint, or in a more expansive, three-dimensional accent like wall panels on the bottom third of your wall. You can also accent a wall by installing real or faux stonework around and above your fireplace or a blank wall.
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Adding a change of texture and a pop of color to one wall brings a focal point to your space. This wall accent adds both bold color and texture. Try this wall accent technique in front of a wet bar or behind the bed headboard in a bedroom.
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Create an expansive, natural look to your interior space by hiring a professional to install stonework around and above your fireplace. The stone brings an earthy, organic look.
Wall murals
For centuries, wall murals have been a popular way to add interest to a blank space in your home. Whether you have your walls or ceiling painted, a mural can transport you somewhere quaint, romantic, extraordinary.
If you don’t have the budget to pay a professional muralist to paint an original, look into mural wall coverings and adhesive, removable wall art. These put on, take off murals come in a plethora of styles and they remove without damaging the walls, which is a great option for those renting their living space.
Are you crafty? You can design, print, and cut your own custom decals using craft die-cutting machines like a Cricut or Silhouette.
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Look online for local artists who can work with you in designing the wall of your dreams. Work with the artist, and take photos of your interior space so the artist can get a good idea of the color scheme and subject. Add a mural of a wine bottle or perhaps a Paris cafe mural to your kitchen wall.
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If you’re unsure about adding a lot of bright colors to your wall, you may opt for a black and white mural. It may blend better with your existing decor. Brainstorm ways you can incorporate your personal interests into the space. Also, check out peel and stick (and easily removable) wall decals.
Wall paneling
Wall panels add a distinctive, elegant, and textural touch to your space. From distressed wood panels to shiplap to different species of wood, panels give your walls an on-trend, updated look, bringing an ocean-infused, coastal feel.
Bead paneling is rising in popularity, too. This inexpensive paneling comes in sheets of 4ft by 8 ft, and you can cut it to the size you want. Three-dimensional wall panels can hide blemished walls and bring dignity and elegance to your space.
If you have a home office or kid’s room, look into a wall of corkboard. This makes it easy to pin up assignments and ideas, makes a fabulous intentions display, and gives your children a large space to pin up their latest masterpieces.
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Geometric panels add a low-relief architectural element, and an understated elegance when painted white or the same color as your wall. Try panels on the lower part of your wall, up to a chair railing height.
Backsplash tiles in your kitchen add a flair and textural interest to the space. The backsplash, whether you spring for a professional tile installation or use DIY self-adhesive vinyl tiles, also protects the wall from food stains and splashes and moisture damage behind sinks.
Gallery wall
Designate a wall of your home as a gallery space. Treat it like an actual art gallery, hanging framed original art prints you like, family photos, your children’s art … whatever speaks to your soul. If you’re on a budget, instead of taking your pieces to a frame shop, scout thrift stores for suitable frames that you can repaint if needed and repurpose. Don’t be afraid to mix up framing styles and colors for a colorful, eclectic, chic effect. If your walls are shorter, extend the framed gallery all the way up to the ceiling. This gives the illusion of a higher ceiling.
If you find a cool frame at a second-hand store, there are all kinds of ways to repaint or restore them. Check out craft stores for cool antiquing paints that “age” and crack the paint to make your frame look old.
Frame a map with creative pins or notations of the places you’ve visited. Don’t put glass over the map so you can add to it with each new adventure. Buy small, meaningful souvenirs from each trip and attach them to the map.
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Hang these paintings, drawings, or photographs on the wall, or break up the pattern by installing some shelves to display smaller framed art and trinkets on the shelves.
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Why not try a rotating gallery wall? Install clips on your wall so you can hang school art, photos, and have an ever-changing wall of personal hanging art or photos. Change it up easily when the mood strikes. If you’re saving pennies, this eliminates the expense of frames. You can even create an intention or inspiration wall – images of exotic places you’ll visit or a career you’re working toward.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity, in large part due to the amazing new patterns and textures available. This isn’t your grandma’s wallpaper anymore. While you may not want the over-saturation of wallpapering every single wall of a room, think about applying it to one wall of your room and paint the other walls, or add a wallpaper border.
Wallpaper application methods have improved over the years. You can now buy self-sticking rolls of wallpaper and when you’re tired of looking at it, or the color or pattern no longer fits your evolving decor, you can just peel it off.
You can even frame wallpaper sections. For an inexpensive way to frame, try using wood molding from a big home improvement store. You can cut sections of the wood at an angle and piece them together into a frame.
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Invite a bold accent to one wall with wallpaper like this. With thousands of patterns, you’re sure to find one that fits your taste and your decor or one you can build a focal point around.
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Bring a patterned look to a wall of your home. This wallpaper in a geometric, beige pattern frames a statement piece of furniture.
Hanging plates or collections
Do you have a special, cherished pattern of plates? Perhaps your mother’s or grandmother’s china pattern? Instead of leaving them stacked deep in a cabinet, turn them into a decorative wall element. Hanging plates is a charming, three-dimensional accent that still enjoys popularity. Buy wire plate hangers and elevate the importance of an antique serving platter or dish.
When you’re mounting the wire plate hangers, take extra caution that they’ve properly adhered to the wall. You don’t want them falling.
You may want to install some shelving to lean the plates on or display other collectibles, like antique teacups.
Use creativity in displaying your personal collections. Do you love fancy, Kentucky Derby-esque hats? Woven baskets? Macrame pieces? Why not display them on the wall? Are you a musician? Hang your instruments on the wall as a functional and artistic element.
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Hang plates in a pattern similar to an art gallery. Mix and match, and incorporate art or photographs within the plates.
Wall planters
Bring the outdoors inside. Plants not only bring a beautiful, organic feeling to your decor, but they help clean the air by absorbing impurities and releasing oxygen. Plants have a wonderful calming, soothing effect both indoors and outside.
Instead of setting your plants on the floor, windowsill, or on a table, why not hang them on the wall? Wall-mounted planters add a beautiful burst of color and life to any wall. When planning the location of your plant wall, make sure it’s in a room of the home that receives adequate sunlight or install grow lights for your growing, “green wall” accent.
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You can install floating shelves like these to display low-maintenance cacti and other plants to add greenery to your interior space. Be sure to place a saucer underneath the plant pots to catch any water so it doesn’t damage your walls or floor.
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Create a wall of greenery in your home. Secure varnished wood strips to the studs behind your drywall, and hang rectangular deck boxes with plants.
Textiles and wall hangings
Add wall hangings to your space to add a soft, three-dimensional look. Fabric texture also can bring color and patterns that you can match or contrast with your decor. If you’re not wanting to commit to a permanent mural, perhaps a hanging tapestry or large macramé wall decor is the way to go. When you move, you can easily take it with you, too. Frequent vintage shops, flea markets, and art shows to find different fabrics. An antique or new silk scarf in a frame makes a vibrant statement piece. You can find all kinds of great offerings for fabric wall treatments on Etsy and other online crafter sites.
You can find tapestry wall hangings in just about any image, any pattern, bright colors, and muted tones. You can find many of your favorite famous works of art printed on hanging tapestries, too.
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A hanging, soft beige tapestry like this brings a calming, neutral accent to your wall. It effortlessly blends into your existing décor.
Mirrors
Enlarge the look of your space and bring a brighter ambiance when you hang mirrors on your walls. An oversized mirror, or several of them in a pattern or as part of a wall gallery, can open up the space by reflecting back the interior. If placed perpendicular to windows, mirrors also reflect sunlight back into the space so it seems lighter and brighter.
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Mirrors don’t have to be square, ho-hum additions to your space. Look for uniquely shaped mirrors, like geometric, circular, and windowpane shapes, with intriguing frames, adding a distinctive wall art ambiance.
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Mirrors have burst out of the “bathrooms and bedrooms-only” mold. A welcome addition to any room, mirrors look great behind a buffet table or sofa, in the entryway, or anywhere you want a reflection and light.
Concrete
Concrete isn’t just for house foundation slabs and driveways anymore. Bring the versatility and interest of concrete to your walls. With texturing and colors added to cement mix, you can create amazing walls that look like a piece of art. For a more temporary wall, look for wall stickers that look like concrete.
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Swirls of dye within the concrete mix and texturing give this concrete wall a three-dimensional, industrial modern appeal. Before having concrete walls installed, consider that you may tire of the gray look eventually.
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Love the industrial look? A bare concrete look on your walls may be just the thing to tie your modern, industrial look together. After the concrete is applied, be sure to seal it well.
Brick walls
Brick walls bring a dignified, colonial, traditional look. In older homes and mansions you see entire interior walls made from bricks. This time-honored wall has always been in demand, adding texture and tradition to your room. You can install new bricks and keep the natural terra cotta brick look. Or, you may want to paint the bricks white to give the impression of a more expansive interior space. You can also buy antique bricks to install for a more aged look.
If you’re looking for a more economical brick wall look, you can buy wall stickers that look just like bricks.
If you have an existing brick wall and are tired of the same brick color, consider whitewashing them to present a more aged, antiqued look.
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If you love the look of a brick wall but not the price of installing one, consider shallow bricks or textured wallpaper that looks like bricks.
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If your home already has brick walls, use the texture to your advantage. Hang contrasting colors or soft textiles to break up the monotonous color and stone look.
Go forth boldly and decorate
Say goodbye to the same old boring walls and have fun exploring the many different ways you can bring grace, beauty, boldness, or intrigue to your walls. Use some of these tips, explore local vintage and home décor shops, and seek out some online inspiration. Then, create your own personalized wall statements.