Are you looking for inspiration for the living room wall decor? Discover how to decorate or furnish the walls of the living room with creative ideas.
The interior design of any room, from the living room to the bathroom, from the bedroom to the kitchen, includes every aspect of its design, from the style to the arrangement of the furniture, from the color palette to the lighting (natural and artificial), from the decorations to the accessories, including ceilings, floors and walls.
The walls in particular are capable of giving personality and style to your home, being able to exploit a wide range of solutions to diversify and characterize the environment (yes, there is more than just nice paintings).
Even more so if they concern the living room, that is the room that is considered as the most important one in the house, where you spend your free time and the one that you show off to friends and guests demonstrating your good taste and personality (or at least so it should be).
From this point of view, many people prefer to start from a white base: the walls painted in this manner offer, in fact, a white canvas where to work and add the decorations and furnishings that you deem the most appropriate.
Yet living room wall decor can be much more attractive and refined, therefore able to further strengthen and give value to the idea at the base of the whole interior design project, or even to revive it.
So if the paintings in this sense are the most obvious solution (and still a valid one), there is also space by volume as well as shelves, wallpapers, stone, mirrors, wall stickers and much more: there are really limitless possibilities.
On our end, we will propose a series of wall decor ideas for living room with the intent of recommending and guiding you towards a decision that is the most useful and appropriate for you.
In particular, we will review:
- Living room wall decor: transform your space with elegant and trendy options
- The natural effect of stone walls
- Wall decor ideas for living room with high ceilings
- The new wallpaper trends
- How to decor living room walls with reliefs and volumes
- Wall decor with paintings: a classic choice
- A more modern choice: wall stickers to decorate the living room
- Enhancing living room walls with mirrors and light
- From classic to contemporary: a guide to tailoring your living room walls
Living room wall decor: transform your space with elegant and trendy options
As regards the living room wall decor options, the first criterion you should follow is always to look at the overall context and therefore the consistency of a chosen style and its consequence.
This rule is valid whether you start from scratch, that is from a house to be completely furnished or from a renovation for a specific environment (in this case the living room).
Secondly, you can let your imagination and preferences run free while you decide how to go about your living room wall decor seeking a result that is harmonious with the rest of the furniture and at the same time special and characteristic. A goal that is not simple from a creative standpoint but that can lead to major results and help you to give value to something that people usually overlook.
In this insight, you will find some living room wall decor creative ideas that, ranging contemporary style decor to classic style, will give you a few tips on how to decorate living room walls according to your interiors. The article includes several suggestions for trendy solutions to help you achieve the ideal "staging" for your living room walls.
1. The natural effect of stone walls
One trend poised to continue in 2024 is the use of decorative stone for living room walls.
Obviously, the "stone wall" effect should be used in different ways depending on the context, but it represents a good solution both for classic and modern wall decor for the living room.
Its "natural origin" can be worked and processed to be adapted to the environment without weighing it down, but only to give it character. In fact, it is not uncommon to find entire exposed stone walls or individual sections used to frame perhaps a fireplace or simply to give greater aesthetic value to an area of the living room.
One of the advantages of stone (or stone effect) wall coverings is the wide range of textures, colors and finishes we have at our disposal to create a customized wall decor design.
Rough textures are all the rage, ideal for environments where natural materials, earthy colors and contemporary design dominate.
Among wall decor ideas for classic living rooms, glossy surfaces, on the other hand, are the most suitable, creating a classy atmosphere in an already elegant and refined room. Imagine, for example, the visual impact that polished stone cladding might have in a neoclassical-style living room, such as Arredoclassic's Fantasia collection.
2. Wall decor ideas for living room with high ceilings
Living room wall decor and furnishing can also be in the vertical direction, not just horizontally. And it does not mean simply choosing tall and majestic furniture, but simply developing the interior design project upwards by exploiting those spaces offered by the walls: this means furnishing them.
Moreover, it does not only mean the search for functionality, such as hanging a television on the wall or installing shelves because the bookcase does not have enough space for all your books: you can literally furnish your wall with small furniture, shelves and with the same shelves, obtain different effects, from the most impressive to the most linear and refined.
In living rooms with high ceilings the need to decorate or "furnish" the walls by taking advantage of vertical space becomes almost mandatory. It is no longer just about aesthetics: architectural and interior design principles are involved.
High ceilings infuse the room with a sense of grandeur and magnificence, but they also present a challenge in maintaining proportions and visual balance within the room. In the case of high ceilings, the architectural logic of vertical wall decor is precisely to respect and enhance spatial proportions.
It is about creating visual lines that draw the eye upward, seamlessly connecting the floor to the ceiling. This connection helps to make the room more intimate and engaging.
Some wall decor ideas for living rooms with high ceilings may involve the strategic placement of:
- Full-height bookcases
- Vertically striped wallpaper (or paint)
- Wall plants
- Shelves
- Vertical paintings and tapestries
The use of color, lighting and materials must also be carefully considered to create a cohesive look that unites the vertical elements with the overall design of the room.
3. The new wallpaper trends
The age when wallpaper reminded of the fifties and great-grandmothers are far away: wallpaper is now reborn and has become a highly versatile decorative element that can greatly customize your living room wall decor and it is used by many designers at the international level.
Major trends in recent years include natural and floral motifs, perfect for a classic wall decor project, and abstract designs, which, with their bold color combinations, create scenic settings with a strong impact in contemporary style living rooms.
It is better to use it on a single wall or a portion of it: this way it loses the absolute character that it had in the past (and that often tended to spoil the beauty of the environment).
Its originality is primarily derived from the vast choice of patterns, capable of renewing the look of the living room with a touch of originality, without dispersing the concept behind the project: a choice that ranges among shades of color, drawings, finishes, textures and even type of paper.
4. How to decor living room walls with reliefs and volumes
A special alternative, in some ways unique and different in the strict sense of the term regarding living room wall decor, is given by the possibility of decorating them with volumes, reliefs or niches made directly on the masonry.
Solutions capable of enliven the wall and modulating the light like the objects that are placed next to it. The results can be surprising and useful for any wall decor design.
In addition, architectural elements such as paneling can become a distinctive element of the interior design project, especially in classic-style living rooms.
Paneling, and any other three-dimensional structure integrated into the wall, can do much more than simply cover a wall.
By integrating niches, recesses, built-in cabinets, or other storage elements, the living room or bedroom wall becomes more than mere decoration. It acquires a new value, by combining an aesthetic and functional purpose. Not to mention the benefits in terms of optimizing space and adding character and originality to a room.
5. Wall decor with paintings: a classic choice
Paintings are surely among the most popular living room wall decors. For many people, infact, a white wall is a must, which can only be decorated with artistic paintings designed to elevate the aesthetic level of the living room and perhaps make your guests feel a little envious.
The problem in the use of paintings originates mainly from an incorrect perception of the wall space and therefore the excessive addition of elements (as if there were a phobia of having a bare wall) or not very harmonious with the environment and the general furnishing.
Whether they are original paintings or prints, the paintings should always be hung according to a balance that respects the style of the design and that therefore also matches the color themes.
However, they must also respect the space available, without creating a feeling of overcrowding. Sometimes, in fact, a single piece of art is capable of giving value to an entire wall, just as the opposite is true: if the piece itself is not capable of "holding" its own then it is better to opt for a system of several elements. As it should always be the case, the goal is to find a balanced and harmonious result.
6. A more modern choice: wall stickers to decorate the living room
If you are looking for fresh, contemporary and versatile living room wall decor, rather than traditional paintings and pictures, you should go for wall stickers.
This is a decorative option that has been on the crest of the wave for several years now, and is constantly evolving.
Every day, new ways of decorating walls with stickers appear on the market: hundreds of patterns, colors, models, for all tastes and decorating styles.
The evolution also and especially concerns the quality of stickers. Some are truly extraordinary and long-lasting, and they also have the advantage of being easy to remove and placed elsewhere, as opposed to wallpaper or paint, which, in this sense, are wall decor ideas more difficult to manage.
They can make a detail of the living room more interesting (let us imagine a tree that wraps around the sides of a wooden bookcase) or even characterize an entire wall. They feature a decorative ability similar to that of a wall paper but at the same time profoundly different.
7. Enhancing living room walls with mirrors and light
One of the last solutions for living room wall decor is the use of mirrors. A mirror is not simply a filler for that space, but it also represents an element capable of interacting with light and, thus, of making certain corners or sides of the living room brighter, at the same time increasing the perception of volume.
A factor to rely on without hesitation and without forgetting a fundamental corollary linked to it (and often a connection with the rest of the room): the frame. Choosing the right frame plays a key role in complementing the aesthetics of a mirror.
For a classical style, the most suitable frames are those that enhance the elegance of the setting, that is, those made of fine materials, gold or silver finishes, and rich and elaborate decorations.
On the contrary, among living room wall decor ideas for modern styles, we find mirrors with frames with essential design, clean lines and no frills.
However, not infrequently, even in contemporary settings, the mirror frame tends to be used as a decoration that characterizes the room in an elegant and luxurious way. A perfect example of this is the mirror from the Luce Light collection by Adora, in which the design is contemporary, but the onyx marble finish lends a luxurious something to the living room.
Another essential aspect when designing the wall decor where we place the mirror is integrating it with appropriate lighting.
2024 trends show a preference for directional lights, such as spotlights, wall sconces, and lamps with narrow, oriented beams, to highlight specific details or furnishings.
From classic to contemporary: a guide to tailoring your living room walls
The walls of the living room, like any other room in the home, are a blank canvas to express your artistic inclination, or a vertical space to be used to maximize the available square footage.
Beyond its purpose, living room wall decor is not something that can be overlooked in interior design. A bare wall, or worse, one decorated without any stylistic criteria, could sabotage even the finest of classic or contemporary furniture collections.
The key is to understand the essence of your space and how all the elements interact with each other. This is the only way to create a harmonious wall decor design that can stand out.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there is certainly your solution.
Where can you find it? Browse through Arredoclassic's classic collections and Adora's contemporary collections, or request a personalized consultation. Let us guide you through the world of interior design and decoration.
