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Sick of staring at a stark empty wall? Infuse it with warmth and personality by adding creative artwork, mixed media, and vintage finds.
Stylish Silhouettes
Decorate a dining nook or breakfast banquette with framed family silhouettes. The pieces stand out against the wall with crisp black frames and clean white matting. Arrange the portraits in a neat, balanced composition with even spacing between each piece.
Natural Beauty
Display collected artwork look on a dime. Browse the dollar store for wood frames and customize them with paint. These frames were spruced up with black paint and then distressed with sandpaper to match the look of the vintage botanical prints they display.
Small Space Decor
Don't let a small kitchen space stand in the way of your decor. Hang a pair of floating shelves on a blank wall or in a tight corner and fill them with various frames and ceramics with pretty patterns. To make the display pop, paint or stain the shelves a contrasting color as your walls.
Stick to the Theme
Dress up a bare area with variations on a single decorating theme. The small print hanging directly above this dining table was the inspiration for a beach theme. A collection of artifacts, including seashells and a framed bathing suit, draws attention to the dining area and ties together the whole look.
Wall Letters
Hop on the typography trend and use letters or words to create an artsy arrangement. Use a variety of sizes, colors, and materials in your wall art display. For example, try combining prints of your favorite word or phrase with three-dimensional artifacts in shadow boxes.
Art of Grandeur
A single piece of art can be the solution for an entire blank wall—especially if it's a dramatic size, like this oversize print of the homeowner's state flag. Add emphasis to a single piece of artwork by installing a decorative pendant overhead. To make your own large artwork, stretch fabric around a canvas frame, available at crafts stores.
Gallery Shelf
An expansive floating shelf adds character to a blank wall. Layer framed prints or pictures and favorite accessories along the shelf. If you have a larger wall, hang several shelves and stagger their heights.
Art by Theme
Dress up your walls with variations on a single theme. Pick a subject or motif you love—like this homeowner's interest in birds—and repeat it in a collection of paintings, prints, needlepoints, and more. If you crave a little continuity, frame all your pieces in the same style of frame.
Kids' Gallery
Add a touch of childhood whimsy to any room in your home by framing your children's artwork. Hanging the items in high-traffic areas will make kids feel special, and by choosing traditional gallery-inspired frames, the artwork will blend easily with its surroundings.
Filling the Space
Have you found the perfect piece of artwork but discovered it doesn't fill the wall space the way you'd like it to? Pair it with smaller paintings to make the arrangement feel more robust. By placing smaller paintings on each side of this abstract canvas, the arrangement is in proportion to the wall space surrounding it.
Soothing Solution
Prevent a blank wall from looking stark by filling it with a collection of small prints. Soft landscapes like these ones look soothing placed against a soft white wall. To create a cohesive composition, search for prints of similar sizes and arrange the frames in a grid pattern on the wall.
Headboard Art
Use framed prints to fill up blank space on the wall behind a bed. This arrangement doubles as a headboard. To create the gridlike look, use square black frames and hang them close together, leaving about 2-3 inches between the frame edges.
Reflective Artwork
Looking for a quick but stunning way to fill up a blank wall? Try an oversize mirror. This once-dull corner comes to life with a floor-length mirror in a matte black frame. The mirror adds style to the room and reflects light around the space, making it feel larger.
Just for Kids
Add a gallery installation to your living room, basement, or den using nothing more than chalkboard paint. Section off a wall portion and paint it with chalkboard paint. You may need several coats. Store a bucket of chalk nearby and let the kids unleash their creativity.
Vintage Posters
For a classic country look, search local flea markets for vintage posters. For a simple framing technique, use poster hangers that allow the piece to simply slide into the frame, and hang the unit up by a ribbon. We made this magnetic poster holder using inexpensive pine boards.
Dress Up an Alcove
It can be easy to overlook small spaces when designing a room, but tucked away spots, such as a niche for a bathtub, are great places to add an ensemble of prints. Group like prints on a blank bathroom wall with frames that match or complement the room's finishes.
Big Business
Colorful graphic art pops off deeply saturated walls. Frame music or movie posters with white frames to make them stand out on colorful walls even more. The look is trendy but sophisticated—a successful vibe for a home office.
Kid's Corner
Enliven a corner of a nursery with whimsical prints both child and parent will appreciate. Finish the look with a pair of picture ledges. Children’s books are known for their colorful illustrations; select your favorite covers and display as art that can easily be changed as the child grows.
Buddy System
Filling a long wall in a living room can be a design challenge. Start by hanging a series of prints with complementary color palettes above the sofa. Partner the wall art with colorful decor elsewhere. Bookshelves create a natural perimeter for the wall art. Display decorative items and small framed artworks on the shelves to complete a pulled-together look for the entire room.
Stackable Style
Collect and paint wooden boxes and crates to fashion your own storage solution and eclectic art display. Use the lower bins to hold photo albums, crafting supplies, or family heirlooms. Hang boxes on the wall so they appear to be floating and fill with decorative items. Finish with a simple frame and your favorite artwork.
Wallpaper That Wows
Framed prints aren’t the only way to make an artistic statement on blank walls. There is a vast array of stunning wallpaper designs that will elevate the look of any room. Bold colors or oversize patterns can especially energize a space.
Custom Furnishings
Flex your DIY muscles and refinish an old piece of furniture to display as a work of art. This dynamically repainted piece sets the tone for the room. Connect stylish furniture to the wall art with one leaning piece that gently rests against the wall.
Attention Grabber
Draw attention to unique accessories with an oversize piece of artwork. This massive print embraces the contemporary typography trend and draws the eye toward a modern transparent console table. To keep the arrangement looking grounded and intentional, it's flanked by a pair of industrial-style sconces.
Diy Botanical Prints
Update the classic look of botanical prints with this easy DIY project. Silk or plastic greenery is laid on a blank canvas and a coat of spray paint creates the reverse silhouette. A special material called frisket (available in the model-building section of a crafts store) gives the pieces a unique irregular border. Get the step-by-step instructions.
Upper Gallery
Create a gallery of frames above a large window or along the soffit above kitchen cabinets. Use matching frames for your collection and fill with favorite snapshots and fun prints. If you have a colorful space, try a collection of black-and-white images. Or if your space leans more neutral, like this breakfast nook, opt for an assortment of colorful artwork.
Reflective Series
For a lighter alternative to a large mirror, group several smaller mirrors together. The result is a subtle yet stunning wall arrangement. Use mirrors in different shapes such as the ones pictured for a sophisticated cottage look.
Basket Art
For a casual cottage look, hang shallow wicker baskets along a wall as artwork. Here, the woven baskets add texture to the wall, and the natural material pops against cool blue walls. Simple decor in neutral shades keeps the focus on the art arrangement.
Pack It In
Fill blank wall space with a tight arrangement of eclectic artwork above a fireplace or mantel. To keep the wall from looking cluttered or random, make sure the artwork has a similar feel. Here, landscapes with similar colors and neutral frames fit snugly yet stylishly on a small dining room wall.
Laying the Plans
Search antique shops and flea markets for vintage landscape blueprints that double as wall art. This print, with its soft color palette and faded paper, blends easily with a country gardening motif. Hang it over a small console table and accessorize with rustic accents for a cohesive theme.
Bright Spot
Introduce a new color to a space with brightly hued picture mats. These yellow matted prints bring attention to the bed, casting it as the bedroom's focal point. The yellow mats serve as a vivid contrast to the purple-hue bedroom. For a polished look, repeat the mat's hue somewhere else in the room.
Books as Art
Round up a collection of worn or unreadable books with fun covers. Remove the covers and hang them in frames for a literary-theme wall art installation. Or, if you want to keep the books intact, scan the covers and print on photo paper.
A Bit of Nature
Bring the great outdoors inside with nature-inspired artwork. This sunny sitting room includes a large bay window that offers magnificent views of the outside, making these small butterfly prints blend right in on a blank wall. The bright colors on the butterflies' wings add a needed splash of color to the mostly neutral room and coordinate perfectly with other accessories and decor.
If you’re looking to customize your own home, then please contact your nearest Denver Realtor to learn more information about the Denver Market.
