Are you looking for ideas for filling empty wall space? Maybe you’ve thought about putting shelves up or adding family photos, but you’re looking for something a little unique that expresses your personal style. There’s some amazing wall art out there that can be great for filling empty wall space with patterns, designs, and colors that speak to your individual interests and preferences. If you’re in search of some DIY home decor inspirations, take a look at these unique wall art ideas.

Unique Wall Art Belongs Anywhere

A lot of people think of kids’ bedrooms when they hear the phrase “wall art”, and that’s certainly one good place to get your creative juices flowing on your home’s vertical spaces. However, the little ones’ bedroom wall is hardly the only room that offers a blank canvas where you can flex your innovative muscles. You can also integrate wall art into your:

  • Living room
  • Accent walls
  • Dining room
  • Home office
  • Master and guest bedrooms
  • Hallways
  • Nurseries

In fact, artwork that’s strategically placed in certain rooms can completely change the way that space functions. Art is said to influence emotions because it raises the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is responsible for generating happiness, lowering anxiety, and improving memory. When artwork is added to workplaces, for instance, it can influence productivity and enhance the emotional state of employees in a positive way.

10 Wall Art Ideas

Your vertical spaces are great places to let your creativity shine. Need some ideas? Here are some starting points to get your inspiration flowing:

1. Apply Wall Mural Stickers or Decals

Some people think of wall murals as backdrops, but they can really bring personality and style right to the forefront of your rooms. Wall murals often make spaces feel more open and immediately draw people’s eyes right to the artwork. You can even use a mural as a focal point to the room.

Wall decal applied on bedroom wall.

“Tribal and Animal Stickers – Sun and moon tribal – Wall Decals , Home WallArt Decals” by Wicker Paradise is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Fortunately, wall mural stickers and decals make it easy for you to transform a blank wall into a gallery wall that’s covered with eye-catching wall decor. Wall art decal stickers are images that are printed on adhesive vinyl in the dimensions of the wall you’re covering.

Benefits

  • Resistance to humidity and moisture
  • Affordable and durable
  • Easy to apply, remove, and relocate
  • Come in an endless variety of colors, patterns, shapes, and characters

Difficulty

Wall mural decal stickers are easy to apply and can cover an entire wall with a single application. They can also be removed easily and leave no glue or sticky residue behind when you’re ready to change the look and feel of your space.

Cost

The cost will vary based on a number of factors, including how large the wall is that you’re trying to cover and what kind of design you’re ordering. The larger the wall, the more your wall mural decal sticker will cost. Additionally, if you custom-design your piece, as opposed to choosing ready-made styles, you might pay an upcharge. However, at the end of the day, wall mural stickers are among the most affordable wall art ideas. They can completely transform the look and feel of your rooms at an affordable rate.

2. Paint Your Own Wall Mural

Similar to wall mural sticker decals, painted wall murals offer a beautiful, stylish way to personalize rooms. However, the effort or money necessary to create a painted wall mural far exceeds wall mural sticker decals.

Benefits

  • Make a statement
  • Create eye-catching designs
  • Add unique appeal to vertical canvases

Difficulty

The difficulty of painted wall murals depends on which route you go. If you opt for the DIY route, you could soon find that this type of project is a lot harder than many people realize. Wall murals are definitely not easy to paint unless you’re a trained muralist, although one great trick that you could try is a projector. By projecting your design on a wall, you can trace the image with your brush!

Cost

Speaking of professional artists, if you decide to opt for a skilled muralist to complete your work, you should expect to pay between $2,500 and $7,000 (or more) depending on your region and your walls’ needs. The DIY option will be far cheaper, but it comes with its own stresses.

3. Paint Your Own Art on Large Canvases

Feel a creative itch scratching at your fingers? You can paint your own handmade custom artwork, and it’s not nearly as difficult as you might think it is. Plus, you’ll have conversation pieces around your home that will allow you to talk about how proud you are of the art you produced.

Get inspiration for your wall hanging from places like Pinterest and Etsy so you can figure out what you really like and what you want your room to look like. Opt for simple color palettes when you’re just getting started. Two or three colors are great for beginners.

Benefits

  • Every piece will be unique
  • Try out different mediums, colors, and textures
  • No experience necessary

Difficulty

You can make abstract art easily. If you’re opting for more solid objects or images, the difficulty level increases significantly. If painting isn’t your thing but you love the look of canvas wall art, you can find some great affordable canvas prints online. You can even order customized prints for fairly cheap.

Cost

It’s pretty affordable to paint your own canvases. You just need to buy a pre-stretched blank canvas, get a paintbrush or two, and buy your favorite colors. This is an economical way to transform a room.

4. Make Poster-Sized Art Prints of Your Photos

If you’ve snapped your shutter on the perfect picture, get it off of our memory stick and get it on your wall for everyone to see. Adding your own large-scale photos to your wall spaces can really add a personalized touch to your home that can’t be achieved through other wall decor options.

Benefits

  • Unique images
  • Ability to change to black-and-white for a different feel
  • Easy to change out and alter wall decor
  • Use editing services to add graphics, colors, textures

Difficulty

It’s very easy to make poster-sized photos. In many cases, you can simply order online, upload your photo to your company-of-choice’s website, and wait for your package to come in the mail.

Cost

Cost will depend on the size you want and the company you choose, but in many cases, you should expect to pay between $20 and $400 per print.

5. Create a Wall Collage

Choose images from your favorite magazines and tape them to your wall using double-sided tape to create a huge collage of inspiring imagery. You can choose themes or simply choose pages of images that tickle your fancy.

Additionally, consider adding:

  • Old postcards
  • Calendars
  • Posters
  • Tickets
  • Photos
  • Decorative wrapping paper

Benefits

  • Easy to create
  • Very affordable
  • Can be changed easily and often

Or if you want something a little more professional, you can order an assortment of small wall decals that you can peel and stick on your walls at any time.

Difficulty

Wall collages are super simple to create and require no skill. There are even collage kits available if you don’t feel like finding all of the images yourself.

Price

You probably already have everything you need lying around your house. A few old magazines and some tape will have you off and running with this project.

6. Create a Wall of Plants

Your wall of plants doesn’t have to be super extensive, but a few pots of living things that come in green can really liven up an otherwise sterile space. Get innovative with a mix of pots that are all different shapes and styles for an eclectic look, or get a cleaner appeal by ensuring all of the pots are exactly the same.

Benefits

  • Reduction of noise levels
  • Added layer of insulation between the plants and the wall
  • Reduction of ambient temperature
  • Air purification
  • Increased feeling of well-being

Difficulty

You can grow a simple vertical garden using just a few tools and a handful of plants. There’s plenty of room to get into the weeds with your plant project, too.

Cost

If you stay on the simple side, living plant walls are very affordable. They can be added onto in pieces so you don’t have to spend a whole bunch at one time.

7. Hang Floating Shelves

If you find that you could always use more storage space (whether for utilitarian household items or decorative trinkets), floating shelves can be a great way to take up some of your vertical space. Or if you’re a minimalist, you can use only one or two floating shelves to add a little bit of personality to a small space.

Benefits

  • Light and airy
  • Offer a clean look
  • Able to be arranged in stylish or traditional designs
  • Can be used in any room, including the garage

Difficulty

Floating shelves are easy to install. All you need is a power drill to secure your new shelves to the wall and a leveler to make sure they’re hanging in a straight line.

Price

The average floating shelf is going to be around $100 to $200. You can certainly find options that are cheaper or more expensive.

8. Hang Things You Care About

Do you have a collection of guitars or a ton of pint glasses you’ve collected from across the globe? Highlight your hobbies and the things you care about by turning physical objects into wall art.

Benefits

  • Unique way to fill space
  • Stylish and storage-friendly way to keep favorite items safe
  • Easy conversation starter with guests

Difficulty

The difficulty level here is super easy. There are plenty of tools, devices, and tricks you can use to hang pretty much anything on your walls.

9. Try DIY Faux Wallpaper

Faux wallpaper is similar to wall mural decal stickers. It saves you from actually having to hang anything because it covers your space from wall to wall, floor to ceiling.

Benefits

  • Peel-and-stick wallpaper is easy to apply and remove
  • Endless variety of patterns and colors
  • Long lifespan

Cost

Faux wallpaper is an affordable option. It’s usually sold by the square foot, so be sure to measure your space before you place your order.

10. Use Mirrors

If you’ve got an empty wall in a dark space, a mirror can instantly brighten things up. It’ll not only fill up the empty space, but it’ll also reflect more light into the room. You don’t have to hang up your mirrors; you can also get huge mirrors that can simply be leaned against the wall. This is a good solution if the mirror is super heavy.

Benefits

  • Produce the illusion of more space
  • Maximize rooms’ lighting
  • Bring good energy to rooms
  • Make a statement

Difficulty

Mirrors are super easy to hang, and as we mentioned, you don’t even have to hang them on the wall. You can lean large, heavy mirrors against the wall on the floor and still enjoy the brilliance they bring to a room.

Price

Mirrors are super affordable. You can probably even find unique, vintage options at estate sales and thrift stores.

Create Custom Wall Murals & Decals

There are a lot of ways to cover your blank wall space. These 10 ideas should help spark some individual inspiration. At Cardboard Cutout Standees, we offer custom, personalized wall decal designs in an assortment of colors and finishes. Our room decor pieces are removable, vinyl, high-quality, and self-adhesive. Get your Cardboard Cutout Standees, wall murals, or wall decal stickers today!

Author

  • Jason Frank

    Jason Frank is the Co-Founder and Vice President at Cardboard Cutout Standees. After 25 years of selling factory automation he started the company with one of his college roommates. The company has grown to one of the largest providers of large format custom printed products in the United States. Along with the namesake cardboard cutout standees, they also provide BigHeads, Point of Purchase Displays, Wall Murals, and Wall Decals to a diverse client base across the US and Canada. When not focused on the business, you usually find Jason either on the road biking or our in the woods and fields of western Wisconsin.

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