Wall decor is one of the primary ways we display our likes, personality, passions and values in our home. That is why choosing the right wall art for your home is both incredibly important and (potentially) pretty difficult. When designing a home, the furniture locations and interior design layout usually comes pretty naturally, though deciding on wall art for your home is a whole different story! Wall decor and wall art have very important functions in a home, such as:

As an element of interior design, wall decor is not essential to basic survival like our rooftops, windows, doors, walls or flooring. However, wall art does serve a pretty important purpose in our lives: it speaks to who we are as individuals and as family units, describing and encouraging our unique sense of individuality. Thus, it is important to know how to find and select wall art for your home. Unless you know what you’re doing, it can actually be pretty darn difficult to determine how to choose wall art for your home!

That’s where we come in.

If you’re not sure how to choose wall art for your home, don’t worry! The professionals here at Canvas Vows have a few top tips to help you determine how to choose wall art for your home. Check out our top 7 tips for finding the best wall art for your home!

For more information on how to choose wall decor by room, check out our Complete Guide: Choosing Wall Decor By Room (6 Most Important Rooms In Your Home).

~~TOP 7 DECORATING TIPS FROM CANVAS VOWS~~

#1 Love, Joy, Inspiration & Feel

Ultimately, what matters most is your own happiness. Before you even consider any other tip, trick or method for decorating your walls, consider the emotional appeal of the item. The things you own should appeal to you on an emotional level — as with everything in your home, consider before you purchase it what emotions it evokes within you and how the object makes you feel.

How do I do this?

Don’t buy a piece of wall art because it fits the space on your wall or because you have just enough money in your bank account for it — buy it because your heart tells you to, because you feel inspired when you see it, because it makes you feel at all! Buy that piece of wall art because it evokes something in you you haven’t felt in a long, long time, maybe never! Focus on things that bring you joy.

#2 Find Your Starting Point

Knowing where to start is oftentimes the #1 problem people have when figuring out how to choose wall art for your home. Whether you have a bunch of different kinds of wall art all sitting in front of you and you’re lost for where to start, or you have none and you are in the process of surfing the web and frequenting thrift stores for your next fave item of wall decor, there are a few couple places you could start, just depending on what suits you.

Based on size 

What is your largest piece of wall art? Starting with the largest piece of wall art and going down in size, locate spaces on your walls for each of these items of wall art. Fill in the blanks with your medium- and smaller-sized wall art items.

Based on style 

Is there a particular style that speaks to you? Something that stands out above the rest? Start there. Consider creating a theme around that style, or mixing & matching styles in an eclectic salon arrangement.

Based on theme 

Group your wall decor by theme. Do you have a lot of family photos you want to display? Or how about a variety of canvas prints? Start with a theme on one wall in one room and see where it takes you.

Based on love, joy, inspiration & feel 

Do you have 1 painting, photo, print or wall sculpture that you just absolutely love? If you have at least 1 treasured item, you’re off to a great start: find the best place on the wall for that 1 particular item and base your wall design around it. This piece is the anchor point and foundation for your collection.

#3 The Right Style

Finding the right style for your living room, bedroom or office is crucial to reflecting your personality and taste. Nowadays, it is common to see a particular room featuring a particular style of wall art, and also to have several different styles of wall art featured in a gallery wall design.

Giclee Prints & Reproductions

The reproductions of timeless artists (such as Claude Monet, Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh) are a great way to decorate a formal living room, dining room or personal library/office.

Photography 

Artistic photographs are a great way to add variety to your wall decor, whether as a framed picture or as a canvas print. Framed images of nature make a great addition to hallways or bathrooms, while canvas style photographs liven up a living room or bedroom.

Children’s Wall Art 

Wall decor for kids can be informative, motivational or inspiring to their young minds. Look for art pieces that feature bright colors, simple shapes and characters to look up to!

Contemporary Wall Art 

Contemporary wall art can be either black and white or have bright bursts of color; it ranges from abstract scenes to photographs of the city or nature. Modern and contemporary wall art usually doesn’t have a clearly defined subject and is often open to interpretation. This style works great in a formal living room or personal office, somewhere that might invite guests or may serve to inspire the individual.

Vintage Wall Art 

Vintage wall art tends to feature images created during photography’s early days. This type of wall art looks best in a workshop, traditional kitchen or bedroom. Not sure how how to decorate a wall with pictures? Use vintage wall art for a unique effect.

Metal Wall Art 

Metal wall art makes such a statement as part of your home decor, which is why it is becoming so popular. Since metal wall art is generally large, it can give your home an industrial feel if left exposed. When searching for metal wall art, it is best to opt for larger pieces for two main reasons: 1. A larger piece of metal wall art will be able to distribute the weight better, and 2. Smaller pieces of metal wall art tend to look clunky and lower quality.

Wood Wall Art

Wood wall art is also becoming increasingly more popular for a couple of reasons: 1. The texture and weight of wood is appreciated, but some prefer it painted; 2. Stained wood makes a gorgeous accent piece in your home; 3. Some people prefer the appearance of wood, but composed of other materials to save on cost. For instance, check out our wood wall art canvas print rustic brown sign, shown above!

3D Wall Art/Wall Art Sculptures

Wall art sculptures, or 3D wall art, are a great way to add visual interest to your home decor and make for great additions to flat wall art like paintings, canvas prints, mirrors or tapestries. If you’re wondering how to decorate a large wall in living room, consider finding a large piece of 3D wall art to command the attention in the room, and then adding a variety of small and medium-sized wall art items around the large wall art sculpture.

Wall Decals 

Wall decals are popular because people love how easy they are to put on their walls and remove them later when they no longer like it or want to replace it with something else. Wall decals are less expensive than paint or other forms of wall art, don’t require any holes to be put in your walls and can easily be put up or removed. Additionally, it is easy to find wall decals for every room in your home, whether you’re looking for kitchen art, nursery art, sports art, children’s art, office decor, bathroom decor or bedroom wall art.

Posters

Posters are incredibly popular, but usually only in specific settings. For instance, kids, teenagers and college-age students tend to love posters as they can be easily hung up, express strong likes for what the poster represents and can be easily rolled up and stored away should another strong passion come along.

Mirrors

Though not often thought of as art, you’d be surprised with the variation in mirror styles, materials, shapes and frames you can find for mirrors. Thus, mirrors serve both a functional and artistic purpose and can be considered both wall art and functional home decor. Additionally, the use of mirrors in your home decor can make any room feel larger since mirrors reflect the light that is already present in the room.

Tapestries

Tapestries, like posters, are increasingly popular in a younger crowd, though they have their place in more sophisticated home decor as well. Tapestries do not generally arrive in a box, as they are composed of a fabric material and can easily be rolled or folded up. They tend to hang free on a wall, with two nails or tacks at the two top corners, creating a free-flowing, bohemian vibe. Tapestries tend to be very large, so if you’re considering incorporating one into your wall decor, make sure you have enough wall space. If you’re wondering how to decorate a large wall in living room, tapestries make for wonderful pieces of wall art.

#4 Pick A Theme

When choosing wall art, if you’re uncertain how to start, picking a theme can help you to fill up all that blank space on your wall. Also, keep in mind that when designing the interiors of a home, a theme can arise unintentionally. Even if you did not intend to have your wall art consist primarily of abstract animal paintings, a theme such as this can arise as you add more and more pieces of wall art. You may not realize what you really like in the beginning, but over time, what speaks to you will come out. Another more casual example of a theme arising when it wasn’t intended is in a beach home: over time, you might collect seashells or pieces of driftwood, artworks of the beach life or home decor items in beachy colors like blues, greens, tans and whites.

Furthermore, wall decor themes can be organized in a couple of different ways:

If you already have a particular theme in your home and are looking to keep within the theme, check out local stores each time you go shopping for new arrivals. Additionally, every time you go on vacation, check out the local stores to find related wall art pieces. Check unexpected places like garage sales or thrift stores.

DON’T — get trapped in a theme. If you run out of ways to keep the theme going and have other artwork that doesn’t quite go but you love it anyway, don’t let the theme you started keep you from hanging up other styles. Make a distinctive break in your theme: limit the theme to one wall or only a portion of the wall. No need to demand your entire house remain within the theme, or even an entire room.

However, by all means, if you’re happy with the theme, keep it going! Just don’t feel pressured to remain within the theme if it doesn’t make sense to remain within it.

Not sure what theme to go with? Check out our post, How To Design A Gallery Wall, for more ideas!

#5 The Right Size

If you are looking to decorate a room and are unsure how to choose wall art for your home, a great way to start is with the larger images. When you start with your large wall art first, everything else will fall into place around it. Whether you have those few items of large wall art already or you still need to find them, keep this tip in mind when designing a wall in your home with wall art.

Here are the basic sizes for wall art, whether designing a gallery wall or displaying pieces alone:

-Oversized

~40 inches or larger in length. Oversized wall art tends to draw the eye and be the focal point of the room. Before you purchase wall art this large, measure your wall space to ensure it will fit. Keep in mind - most bathrooms can’t accommodate oversized wall art.

-Large

~30 - 40 inches in length. When designing a room, 1-2 large pieces of wall art is standard. Large wall art can stand alone and act as a centerpiece in the room, or be flanked on either side by small/mini wall art items.

-Medium

~23 - 30 inches in length. Some medium pieces can stand alone, depending on the size of the wall, room and overall space. However, most medium wall art pieces look best when paired with other medium pieces. If going for a theme in your wall art design, think about making all wall art pieces within that theme a medium size.

-Small

~17 - 23 inches in length. Small wall art pieces go best when paired together, or in groups of 3s. Small wall decor items look best above shelves or large pieces of furniture, or on small walls (such as a bathroom wall).

-Mini

~9 - 17 inches in length. A mini item of wall art is around the size of a piece of paper or smaller. Mini wall art pieces are often sold as part of a collection and are frequently used as accent pieces in a larger gallery wall design.

DON’T — hang a too-small canvas print or piece of wall art in a space that calls for something much larger. This is a common mistake that can be remedied by reframing a smaller piece of wall decor with a thicker frame or larger mat.

Need more help finding the right size for your wall art? Check out our Canvas Sizing Guide (Standard Canvas Sizes Here at Canvas Vows) for more information!

#6 Mix & Match

When you mix & match your wall art, you are creating infinitely more interest in your home decor than you would otherwise. You can do this in a couple of different ways. For instance, you can mix & match different styles, colors, sizes or themes!

DON’T — be too matchy-matchy. Your wall decor is a great way to break free from confinements and rules. Don’t feel as though you have to remain within a strict color palette or theme (tip #4) if that just doesn’t work for you.

#7 Where Should I Buy Wall Art?

Finding the right wall art is not hard if you know where to look. Thankfully, the professionals here at Canvas Vows have created an ultimate guide for where to buy wall art online with 7 different types of wall art: acrylic prints, giclee prints, canvas prints, metal wall art, wood wall art, 3D wall art sculptures and wall decals! Finding the right piece of wall art can definitely be frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be! Check out our complete guide to help you answer the question, where should I buy wall art?

For more information, check out our longer blog post, Where To Buy Wall Art Online (19 Best Online Stores for Wall Art)!

And there you have it!

Your complete guide for how to choose wall art for your home. Want to know how to choose wall decor by room? Check out our Complete Guide: Choosing Wall Decor By Room (6 Most Important Rooms in Your Home).