Wall art ideas – 10 of the best

When it comes to making a place feel like home, there’s no easier way to express your personality than with a little decoration on the walls.

Choose your favourite pictures and go for contemporary white frames, or mix different types of wall art all centered around a theme, such as floral or heart designs for example. Combine a modern framed print with pieces displayed in white box frames, such as family photos, hand-crafted hearts or butterflies, or treasured mementoes.

Add another dimension to your display by attaching wooden battens to the wall and painting them to match the wall colour and use these panels to attach your artwork to the walls.

Beautiful typography is another theme that looks great in modern and vintage-style interiors – and one that you could base your wall art display around.

Link your wall art to the room that its displayed in, too, so in the kitchen or garden room you can get creative and frame attractive seed packets and pop them in inexpensive frames, painted in a vibrant colour.

1/10 Beautiful ways to display wall art

If you have beautiful fabrics swatches that you love, but just don’t know what to use them for, consider framing them in needlepoint frames to create gorgeous wall art – these will look great together displayed as groups of three different-sized frames.

Heart themed art on battens
Looking for a way to make art leap off your walls? Employ battens to create a panel-effect wall treatment and then use the jutting beams as the points from which to hang your treasured collection. This will make centering your hangings a breeze, and the shadow created by the subtle extra distance from the wall will add a softer look to your artwork.

Love Grows art print
Bold & Noble (opens in new tab)
Similar card wreath
Whippet Grey (opens in new tab)

2/10 Living room with typography-themed elements

Put your devotion to a particular decorative device on full display by extending it to your wall art. In this calming living room, the love of typography is bold and unapologetic, and the scheme is kept in check by employing soft textiles and neutral colours. Beyond soft furnishings and ceramics, the theme is taken to the wall via a homage to vintage printer type. It's all a bit font-tastic.

Letterpress print
The Tom Paine Printing Press (opens in new tab)
Sofa
Graham & Green (opens in new tab)

3/10Framed seed packages

Even a garden room or utility space would benefit from the addition of wall art, especially when the chosen works are a playful extension of the room's purpose. Case in point: these seed packet prints, with their vintage-look illustrations and vivid colouring, simply explode with charm and take this potting space from functional to fabulous. The repeated use of a single frame in a bold colour is an effective way to create a strong look that is effortless to achieve.

Seed packet prints
The Old Design Shop on (opens in new tab)Etsy (opens in new tab)
Frames
Ikea (opens in new tab)

4/10Renaissance painting bathroom mural

For those so inclined to take their art appreciation to new heights (and widths), make the wall the art itself. Advances in surface printing technology have allowed for the production of wallpaper and mural panels to rival any fresco. Even the cracking of an aged work comes through in stunning detail. A bathroom is a great place to try this out. However, if you're daring enough to give this a go, keep the rest of the room sparse and the palette simple.

Mural
Surface View (opens in new tab)
Bath
Catchpole & Rye (opens in new tab)

5/10Embroidery hoops used for decorative display

Wall art should escape the confines of canvas and paper to include materials of all kinds - especially now, when affordable fabrics in gallery-worthy designs are at an all-time peak. Look equally to the reemergence of needlepoint and ink-work, and you have a slew of textile styles from which to pick or mix and match. What better use for a small scrap from a recent sewing project or that vintage fabric swatch you never knew what to do with but had to buy anyway?

St Ives fabric
Sanderson (opens in new tab)
Suvi fabric
Romo (opens in new tab)

6/10Contemporary art print in an ornate frame

Nothing shows artistic spirit more than the breaking of the rules. In truth, the only rule should be: if you like it, then do it. Here, a contemporary black and white typographic print is mounted against a bold paper and framed in a weathered baroque frame. Hung on a Grecian repeat wallpapered wall, this should be a total mess, but actually it shows fabulous individuality and cheeky charm.

Small Talk print
Design Vintage (opens in new tab)
Similar frame
Marks & Spencer (opens in new tab)

7/10Plates and platters wall display

Plates and platters are a simple yet simply striking way to adorn your walls. While respect should be paid to the Limoges and Royal Daltons of the past, this display doesn't have to be a selection of your nan's wall plates. From contemporary graphics to photo-realism to naive illustrations, a collection of glass, ceramic and even melamine dishes will serve up piled-high plates of chic.

Similar plates
John Derian at Liberty (opens in new tab)
Similar wire bowl
Nkuku (opens in new tab)

8/10Artwork tile kitchen splashback

Ditch the expected repeats or fussy mosaics that make up most of the kitchen walls out there and delve into a bit of artistic flair. Give a humble splashback the star treatment via wall tiles that come together to create an Art Deco mural on a subdued scale. It's a look that says, "Cooking is not the only good taste you will find in this space".

Tile mural
Fine Art Tiles (opens in new tab)
Similar kettle
Wesco (opens in new tab)

9/10 Children’s room with giant wall sticker

Keep your child's room playful and fun, but maintain the contemporary cool you demand of the rest of your home via a wall sticker in its smartest form. This ever-so-popular take on peel-and-stick wall decoration channels the simple times of outdoor play in a sweet cut-out shadow effect. And most importantly, this choice of artwork can't be knocked off the wall as a result of overactive playtime.

Wall sticker
Amazing Sticker at (opens in new tab)Etsy (opens in new tab)
Similar dolls house
Wooden Toy Store (opens in new tab)

10/10 Contemporary pet artwork in a kitchen

Who doesn't want to pay tribute to their pet in a playful and artistic way? Whether you commission a bespoke pop-inspired portrait, find a fun and funny likeness of your pooch or have a go at painting it yourself, a cool contemporary kitchen is a perfect spot for a bit of puppy love. Play it practical by framing your work of art in an easy-to-clean frame or go for a glossy, wood-mounted, wipe-clean likeness.

Similar artwork
Etsy (opens in new tab)
Kitchen countertops
Acqua Kitchens (opens in new tab)