7 Helpful Tips for Decorating a Large Wall in a Living Room

Decorating a large wall in a Living Room, Dining Room, or Bedroom can be challenging. Here’s 7 HELPFUL tips to help you decorate a large wall in any room in your home!

Helpful Tips for Decorating a Large Wall

Hello, hello! I’m back with another look at my recent Family Room Makeover. Today is all about the HELPFUL TIPS that I use when trying to figure out how to decorate a large wall in my home.

As you can see in the pictures I went with 3 EXTRA LARGE vintage-style travel posters to fill the 15 foot long wall above our couch in that room.

Image showing Living Room wall with large wall art. Text says "7 Best Tips to decorate a large wall in any room."

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BUT, the 7 tips I have for you today work with any style room or wall art. And, I have some great example photos from my home to help you figure out the best way to decorate a large wall in your home.

Tip One: Go Big!

The most important tip I can give you about decorating a large wall is to go for extra large prints or canvas wall art. I used to always make the mistake of going too small on large walls.

BUT, over the years, I’ve learned that every time I buy wall art, home décor and even light fixtures that I think might be too big, it looks better than the original size I picked.

Image of a Framed Wallpaper Mural DIY for a post about how to frame a wallpaper mural with picture frame trim on a wall. — I used this Super Easy Peel And Stick Framed Wallpaper Mural DIY to fill the HUGE empty wall in our Master Bedroom.

Check out how great an extra large chandelier looks in our Master Bathroom Remodel here.

Small or even average-sized wall art on a large wall will always seem wrong. Even if it’s the best piece of art you’ve ever bought.

Image of a Family Room with blue grey built ins and light walls. — Here’s a peek at that Family Room I recently remodeled. I went with 3 large prints when I decorated the large wall over the couch. That extra height made sense on those 9′ high walls. You can see how I painted the built in bookshelves in another post.

Tip Two: Use Painters Tape To Check The Size

Most wall art on Etsy and Amazon is sold in multiple sizes. So, you can pick the perfect size for your wall in so many fantastic styles.

Image of painters tape before hanging wall art evenly spaced on a wall. — Ignore the messy room. I was too busy using painters tape to check the size of the posters I was about to order to clean. 😉 But, I had actually just cleaned that couch with my Bissell.

I recommend using painter’s tape to tape off the shape of the wall art before you buy it. That’ll help you make sure you get the right size wall art for decorating a large wall.

The best part about painters tape is that you can easily reposition it, if you decide you need to test a different size of wall art. Or, you just want to test different spacing between multiple pieces.

Set of 3 vintage travel posters framed over a couch. — I went with 3 large vintage travel posters over the couch. You can find those posters in this Amazon wall art store. How cute is my cat sleeping in that DIY Wooden Cat Tower?! You can see 55 Absolutely Beautiful Vintage Style Art Posters for Your Walls in another post.

Tip Three: Odd Numbers Are Best

And, of course, hanging 3 large prints or canvases seems to always look better than 2 on large walls. I tend to prefer 2 prints together on shorter sections of walls.

Or, you can go with 1 extra wide canvas to make a statement on a wall.

Here’s 3 beautiful, extra wide canvases that would look perfect alone on a large wall.

This abstract oil painting of colorful flowers, on Etsy.
This moody, stormy sky landscape is AMAZING.
I LOVE this bright & fun colorful abstract painting too.

You can also use 3 columns of art on large walls, if you want to create a gallery wall with 6 or 9 total framed or canvas pieces.

Image of decorating a large wall in a Dining Room with canvas art above a grey buffet. — I went for one large canvas over the buffet in our Dining Room. You can see how I painted it in this DIY Distressed Gray Chalk Paint Furniture Makeover post.

Tip Four: Buy Ready Made Sets

I went with 3 large vintage travel posters that are sold separately. So, I picked the locations and style I liked best for our repurposed formal living room.

BUT, you can buy beautiful wall art that’s already sold in sets of 3. Buying a set of matching prints or canvases can definitely make decorating a long wall easier.

Here’s 3 absolutely beautiful options for decorating a large wall that are sold as a set of 3 on Etsy.

This very affordable set of 3 Gustav Klimt Prints is gorgeous.
I LOVE the BOLD blues in this abstract set of 3 framed prints.
Here’s 3 stunning framed prints of the Amalfi coast.

Another great option that makes decorating long walls easier, is buying a whole gallery wall set of prints or canvases.

This can be a super affordable way to fill a large wall with art if you are able to print the art at home, or locally. Here’s 3 cheap, digital gallery wall sets that would look beautiful.

This orange and green themed printable gallery wall is beautiful!
This eclectic set of some famous artwork is perfection.
Here’s a great set of flower market prints that I LOVE too.

Image of examples of examples of 7 helpful tips for decorating a large wall. — Don’t forget to Save or Share these DIY Tips.

Tip Five: Remove Reflective Plastic In Frames

Most cheap frames, like the 3 I bought at WalMart, come with a cheap, reflective plastic instead of glass. I always remove that plastic so that I can see my wall art instead of the reflection from my windows.

This easy trick is a quick way to improve the look of your wall art that most people are afraid to try. But, go for it! It’ll definitely improve the look and feel of your whole room.

Image of light reflecting off the plastic on a picture frame. — The reflection of the windows on that cheap plastic film ruined those fun posters. Removing it let the bold colors POP against that light paint color on the wall. You can also see how I used boards (Tip 6) to get those posters level and evenly spaced in this picture.

Tip Six: You Can Hang Pictures Evenly Spaced Without Nails

One of my favorite DIY tools is those amazingly handy 3M Command Strips. I use the velcro and sticker versions all the time around here. In fact, I always keep a big box of them in my closet.

With light frames, like the 3 I used in my Family Room, I use Velcro Command Strips to hang my pictures without nails. The velcro makes it easy to slightly reposition frames, if necessary.

AND, I also used those command strips to temporarily hand an 8′ long, level board across the wall before I hung the pictures. I used that level board as an easy way to get those 3 picture frames level across the bottom.

Then, I used another board between the 3 posters to make sure the spacing between the pieces was even too.

That little hack makes hanging pictures evenly spaced and level super easy. Watch this video below for a better look at how I use command strips and that long board.

How to Hang Pictures Evenly Spaced and Level - Without Nails!

Watch this video on YouTube

Tip Seven: Molding Can Make a Huge Difference

And, finally, my last tip for decorating a large wall is to fill that wall with beautiful molding. Sometimes you just need some great wainscoting to add extra detail to a long, boring wall.

Image of a Siamese Cat in a Dining Room. — This wall in our Dining Room is 15′ long, making it hard to fill. BUT, that chair rail wainscoting along the bottom fills the bottom third of that stretch. That helps just one canvas decorate the large wall.

Other times you need a full wall of finish carpentry or trim to add some big style to a hard to decorate wall. Check out my easy tutorial for DIY Board and Batten Wainscoting, for one idea.