Today, we’re solving the issue of how to decorate a blank wall in intelligent + easy ways! Here’s our “what to do with a big empty wall“ (with an example project conundrum + solutions)!
For those of you who are new here, we bought a house at the beach…
…and the living room has a HUGE blank wall!
In conjunction with this, the actual living room dimensions are a bit wacky (see why in THIS new post!), so it’s got a lot of factors affecting this decision.
First of all, I need to tell you that
simply “decorating” a big blank wall should NOT be your first priority!
Why not? Because…
…your first priority is figuring out the Why you want to do something with your blank wall. 😉
For example,
Question #1: Is your Empty Wall Need purely aesthetic—or do you want/need it to serve a physical function?
In our new living room, my answer is both.
Why? Because this wall isn’t just only one of the first walls you see when you walk into the house, but I also need it to be a hardworking wall for us (as space is at a premium in this Southern California beach house)!
WHAT TO DO WITH A BLANK WALL
The #1 Mistake People Make!
You must remember that whatever you do on your blank wall will need to be decided…
…in conjunction with your room layout!
We talk in detail about that in our Bookcase Guide — about massive, expensive mistakes people make when they don’t consider their walls with the furnishings and how. It’s also why I recommend every homeowner complete This #1 Step before buying a single thing more for his/her home. The foundational strategy for your room and home needs to actually be set first!
HOW TO DECORATE A LARGE WALL
13+ Ideas to Get You Started: Let’s Discuss!
Here are 13+ ideas for how to decorate a blank wall—you can glance at them to start as they’re still only a few of the ideas I’ve considered for our own wall (and I’ve thrown out many of them! 😉 explained below).
- Mirrors (I’m already doing this a beautiful way on another wall I can’t wait to show you!!)
- Unique wall decor or woven baskets (I do love baskets, but I’m looking for something even “fresher” here!)
- Artwork (this is getting closer, but I have a SPECIFIC type of size and style wall art in mind if I’m even going this way)!
- Photograph gallery wall, either mounted directly or from an artwork rail (those can be nice but for me in this space…it’s yawn—and I have a GENIUS alternative I’ll be sharing soon)
- Bookshelves (if I do this, should they be floor-to-ceiling? and how would I handle this with an angled large wall? I’ll share my thoughts and ideas for this below)
- Plants or plant wall (I have a super-exciting idea for this, actually two ideas I’ve never seen anyone do before, but will need to show most of you a mockup below of how I’m envisioning it)
- TV wall, possibly with bookshelves or hidden inside the bookshelves or wall (again, SO MUCH TO EXPLAIN ABOUT THIS! 🙂 )
- A large console table with lamps, art, etc (probably won’t do this specifically on this wall as I have a unique idea for a spin on this on a different wall around this living room area)
- Millwork, molding or wall paneling
- Wallpaper
- Tapestry (there are some fun ones out there like the ones I show in my post on unique wall art ideas)
- Large-scale furniture piece or pieces (stay tuned for how I’m seriously falling in love with one idea I have on this specifically)
- Creative lighting incorporated with one or two of the above (again, I have about 37 mockups of how I’d do this that are so scrumptious that I feel excited butterflies in my stomach 🙂 haha Design is ART and when you get it just right, it’s deliciously satisfying)
LARGE BLANK LIVING ROOM WALL IDEAS
3 Options I Considered for Our Empty Wall!
For those of you who love visual help, I’ll show you brief overview with arrows of just 3 of my 159 ideas for our own large blank wall in the living room, from Option #3 to Option #1.
IDEA #3: ARTWORK + PLANTS + MODERN LIGHTING
Option #3 was my winning option for awhile, probably because the vision I had of the two plants (whether in large Turkish olive jars I’d sourced, or on plastered pillars for height) was something I fell in love with early on.
If you want to do artwork, you need to see my post on 50+ wall art ideas! You’ll also want to get some design insights on lighting (THIS post shows you how to not do what everyone else does).
What do I mean by “seating and tables” in the graphic above? You’ll want to read my post on arranging living room furniture to see what I’m doing and why! 😉
how to decorate a blank wall
IDEA #2: BUILT-IN BOOKCASE WALL + TV
The second option I’ll show you was one I considered purely for functional reasons: a built-in wall of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and storage, possibly hiding a TV as well.
Why? Because the fireplace is on the opposite wall, I came up with one living room layout floor plan option that played with the TV on the opposing wall. You’ll want to pop over to that post to see what I mean!
The reasons why I didn’t quite love this enough are
- Bookshelves often look busy (especially the open shelving!), and I wanted this to feel like an uber-calm, serene space.
- The more I thought about it, the more bookshelves seemed too generic an answer for the main focal wall in our home, and I do love coming up with something that looks surprising! (And already—spoiler alert!—as this wall came together in realtime, a friend walked in and sighed, “This is refreshing!” Exactly what I’m going for—I want our family and others to feel refreshed when they walk in!)
- I came up with a muuuuuch better place for our TV. 😉 And it’s not at all what you’ll be expecting. Will share about that in a future post. I’m doing a jig about it! (Or better yet, a flamenco zapateado! Bam! Arms above my head and all! ¡Vamos allá!💃🏻😂)
If you love the idea of bookcases but also are struggling with an angled ceiling, here are peeks at three inspiration photos:
how to decorate a blank wall
IDEA #1: SEATING + SYMMETRICAL CABINETS + LARGE ARTWORK
Calling this “Number 1” doesn’t mean it’s The Best Idea for Every Large Wall, but it’s been the frontrunner for the longest period of all my ideas for this wall, and I’ll tell you why!
- The more I analyzed the priorities of our family life in this new home (such as lots of family game times, puzzles, as well as art and other supplies), I unexpectedly fell in love with the functionality of having extra storage here from Option #2 above, yet in a much more modern and beautiful way than the built-in bookshelves would look on this angled wall. I went into even greater detail outlining specific uses and activities that would be happening in this space, and so the design has to support that!
- I have a super-challenging-but-the-risk-will-pay-off artwork idea here that I’m exorbitantly excited about!
- I had to let go of my genius multi-handmade-modern-sconces-from-France lighting design for this area, all in the name of priorities…(that’s another story, knowing when to let go of a design you love, and when to keep it…sometimes you can just save the the design to use somewhere else another time!)
Again, if you’re wondering what I mean by “seating and tables” in the graphic above, you’ll want to read my post on how I’m arranging living room furniture and why!
large empty wall design
How to Decorate a Blank Wall: Want Even More Details?
I have about 700 mockups of ideas and more to share about the exact seating, artwork, lighting, cabinets, and everything else relating to this, but in the spirit of keeping my posts bite-sized, I’ll save that for another post on those specific areas for those of you who are looking for those specifics.
Next…
If you’re looking for my comprehensive list of blank wall ideas, go to THIS page!
For our floor plans showing more detail on this living room I’ve been discussing above, see How We’re Arranging Our Living Room Furniture!
You’ll also find these helpful:
- Wall Decor: The ONLY 10 Types of Wall Decor Ideas You (Actually) Need to Know!
- Color: 7 Smart Strategies for Choosing Interior Colors!
- Artwork: By Room: 50 Unique Wall Art Ideas for Your Living Room, Bathroom & More!
- Wall Paneling: Nail It: 35+ Clever Wall Paneling Ideas (+ The Essential 5)!
- Stylish: 21+ Mediterranean Wall Art Ideas (to Add Depth & Character to Your Room)!
- White Wood Ceilings & Walls: White Wood Paneling: 7 Genius Plank Ceiling & Wall Ideas!
- TVs on Walls: TV Bookshelf Wall: 15 Genius Hidden TV Ideas for a Living Room!
To easily browse all our projects organized by room, go HERE! 👈
