What you put on your living room wall can make or break the whole ambiance of the room and set the tone for the rest of your home's decorations. If you find the right fit for your family's needs and tastes, you'll find that you might start spending more time at home than not. Knowing how to design a living room wall can be a highly productive skill for you to learn so that you can make your home a true oasis or fun spot for guests and family to enjoy. If you're looking for the best way on how to design living room walls, check out our top tips below.
Get the Logistics
This might be the first step for any home project, not just wall designs for living rooms. You'll need to first check with any landlords or rental agreements if you don't own your home about what you can or can't do with your living room walls. If you have some leeway or if you own your home, begin by measuring each wall you want to decorate to get its dimensions. Be sure to include wall fixtures like light switches and plugs in your measurements and markings.
From here, if you plan on hanging any wallpaper or vinyl or painting the wall, you'll need to prep it by cleaning it thoroughly and taking care of uneven sections. Sand down any bumpy spots and take down any existing hanging objects. If you are removing nails in the wall, be sure to fill them in with spackle and sand down. By doing these steps ahead of time, you can be ready for subsequent shopping around of paint colors or murals. You won't have to keep running back to the house to check sizing.
Think Outside the Box
Home décor has truly taken a turn for the better in recent years because people have started to think outside the box of traditional decor. So when you're thinking about how to design a living room wall, we highly suggest thinking outside of the box and straying far from conventional colors, images, or approaches to decorating your living room wall.
Our next few tips take a new twist on traditional wall ideas and help you think outside the box of how to design living room walls.
Accent Walls
If you are thinking about how to give your room a facelift, you’re probably trying to figure the best way to give it a little bit of personality. To help get your creative juices going, here are ten easy accent wall ideas for living room spaces.
Wall Mural Accent Wall
A big trend storming the home decor sector is removable (and reusable!) wall murals. Similar to wallpaper, a removable wall mural can be printed on vinyl, fabric, or paper material that can be put up in any room of the house. Unlike paint or wallpaper, you can pick a photograph from your favorite shoot or family vacation. Or choose a stunning landscape from Limitless Walls’ photo bank. With over 12 million images to pick from, you’re sure to find something that can take the look of your living room to the next level.
Painted Accent Wall
Among our other accent wall ideas for living room spaces is the traditional yet straightforward painted accent wall. A painted accent wall can help pull out the subtle colors from throw pillows or blankets or even pieces that are on your shelves or in paintings and photos. Painted accent walls can also be used to emphasize architectural features like a fireplace or staircase.
Molding Accent Wall
Wainscoting and molding accents were trendy in older homes, but they’re finding a comeback in a lot of home decor trends recently. Not every accent wall idea needs to include color to make it stand out. Wainscoting and molding accents can add texture to an otherwise plain space but also works easily with any other decor or furniture that goes into the room.
Wallpaper Accent Wall
As a more fun option versus the normal painted accent wall, you can try a wallpapered accent wall. Wallpaper can give you the chance to add to the theme of a living room or other room in the house. Pick a wallpaper that could even help the whole ambiance of the room change, like a soothing tropical print that will help you unwind after a long day. Pair the accented wallpaper with a paint on the other three walls that helps a specific color in the design stand out.
Built-in Shelving Accent Wall
Many older homes had bookshelves and other shelving built into the walls. This gave the illusion that the wall was deeper or created a more longer-lasting fixture in the home. With shelves, you can change up what you place on each shelf, mixing it up for holidays or seasons, or even if you change your entire theme of the room. Switch out the shelving decor and artifacts and put in those seashells from your last summer vacation. Built-in shelving can be practical but is also something you don’t always see in newer homes. It can be practical, but can also be a great decor idea to make your home stand out from others!
Chalkboard Paint Accent Wall
Another big trend in home decor is using chalkboards in places you normally wouldn’t. Even better - chalkboard paint! Turn your entire accent wall in your living room into a chalkboard. Doing this will make your accent wall not just decorative but also practical. You can get chalkboard paint to accomplish this. Once the paint is dry and ready to use, you can use the wall to hang pictures or quotes with washi tape or to draw out your family’s weekly calendar. Use it for a to-do list or let your children go heyday on it and spotlight their imaginations each week. Chalkboard paint is easy to wash and can be a great accent wall ideas for living room, mudroom, or even a children’s room.
Mirror Accent Wall
A different option for your accent wall ideas for living room spaces is the mirror accent wall. You can have a mirror accent wall with just one large mirror, but something more unique would be to hang several different mirrors in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Similar to a gallery wall that is often seen in homes with photos, you can give your living room a truly classic look with mirrors. Paint the wall in a darker shade so that the mirror glass shines and stands out. Pick frames in similar colors but different shades and accent with either silver or gold grames dotted throughout. This will not only make your living room look stunning, but it will also give the illusion that the room is bigger.
Wooden or Brick Accent Wall
A lot of homeowners have been going to great lengths to give their spaces a more natural look, including tearing down plaster to expose brick walls underneath or putting up wooden planks for a chic rustic look. Wooden planks or even wallpaper that mimics wooden planks or brick can be a really exciting accent wall idea for living room. The wood or brick can add a warm touch to the room and gives a smart, put-together look to the entire space.
Geometric Design Accent Wall
Many painted accent walls tend to be a simple painted wall, one color, and done. But a big trend lately has been painting a geometric design or hanging geometric wallpaper instead of staying with the simple one-color wall. Geometric designs can be a great compliment to mid-century styled buffets or leather couches. Make it more playful with a colorful design that can turn your living room into a more youthful-looking place.
Art Gallery Accent Wall
A unique accent wall idea for your living room can be to frame some of your family’s art and pair it with family photos to create an art gallery. Be sure to include pieces of texture and floating shelves to give the wall dimension and texture.
Here are some of our favorite living room theme ideas:
Bookworm's Paradise
If you are a lover of the printed word and find yourself with the lion's share of books, or could open a small branch library by yourself, then shelving might be the right look for you. Bookshelves don't' have to look like dusty old libraries from your childhood. There are tons of different looks available. From standard wooden shelves in a ton of woods and finishes to metal and even plastic, the choices are endless. Another option is whether you want built-in bookshelves, freestanding, or some that will hang on the walls. Each style has its pros and cons, but how you want to use them will help determine the type for your living room. If you have a few ugly or worn book covers, trying making some coordinating book covers out of wrapping paper, material, or scraps of wallpaper. You can artfully display your literary treasure if it's worn and well-loved.
Perhaps you have several books that are just too beautiful to put on a shelf. This is where your coffee table comes into play. Choose some of your more enticing book covers and arrange them on your coffee table. Doing this not only adds some artwork but gives your family or visitors something to browse through while enjoying some conversation.
An Artistic Statement
If you have a rather large painting or print, why not use its palette to tie your living room décor together. Take a closer look at the colors first. Perhaps pick one or two colors that would be complementary and paint your main wall, or the entire room with that color. Or take one of those colors and paint the wall that your painting will rest on, then paint the rest of the room the other color. You don't have to have a single color scheme to decorate your living room wall. Make this room your own. Use your own taste to express your interpretation of the perfect living room.
You can also take the style of the painting or print to help determine the decorating style of the rest of the room. Have a modern print? Try some abstract stencil patterns on the wall to excite the eyes. Or take an understated pattern in the wallpaper. It's an easy way to add color, patterns, and give your room a defining theme. How you design your living room wall is your personal statement. Use a pattern that yells, "Come in and sit a spell."
Large Scale Design
Speaking of wallpaper, if patterns aren't your style, have you considered a wall mural? Whether you use your own image or choose from the hundreds of choices Limitless Walls have, there's bound to be something to make the right statement or set the desired mood for your living room wall. From your chosen wall mural, if you use a large image, then consider adding smaller details on that wall, or allow the mural to be your perfect décor. If you choose a pattern, such as stripes, try using simpler lines when hanging other pictures or decorative items. You don't want the two to clash.
Another fun and yet stylish choice is to use one of our textured patterns. Here we have an excellent selection of stone or brick patterns that will cozy up any living room and add a dash of class and warmth. Who says you need to install a brick or stone façade in your home? We have the perfect solution, especially when you want a change, remove it, and move it to another room. Voila! Instant room upgrade.
Photographer's Studio
Nothing makes a statement more about how important your friends or family are than pictures of them. If you have tons of photos, try taking some of these important photos and placing them in frames of all sizes, but a uniform color. Then put these frames in clusters either on their own or around other artwork or lighting. The singular color unifies all the different shapes of photos while tying in your color scheme. Or for a more bohemian look, frame your pictures in many frame styles and colors. Try this style against a lighter single-colored wall for added effect.
Showing Off Your Green Thumb
Even if your green thumb is more black than green, a stylish pattern featuring plants or vegetation will help you design your living room wall. If you choose a pattern with plants or flowers, try finding some real plants (or silk ones) to dot the room and tie in your wall theme. Take one of our forest murals then paint the remaining walls a complementary color to unify your look. Or for a fun bamboo look, why not use some bamboo flooring or mats to add a splash of fun to your room.
The sky's the limit when it comes to decorating items. With a bit of imagination, creativity, and playfulness, you can design your living room wall as a masterpiece or an extension of your personality. Just let the ideas flow.