I’m back from Dallas Market where I saw some great wall decor ideas after hitting many of my fave showrooms.
These were such great examples of some of the tips I’ve mentioned here before, I wanted to share them with you!
The nice thing about seeing all this in the showrooms, is that these vendors are bringing more products to market to solve so many of the empty wall problems that people have in their homes.
Wall decor is a big decorating problem for many. People either have too much wall space, not enough, or have awkward wall situations where just hanging some art doesn’t seem to really get the job done.
Why do I know this?
Not just because I do this for a living, but because I put out the call for your wall decorating design dilemmas a year ago, in April 2020. You know, back when we were all home staring at our walls!
Boy, did I receive a LOT of questions and images showing some challenging wall decorating dilemmas. After I was done, I wrote a book as a wall decor guide, that combined all my tips and tricks and many of the case studies, to help people address their big, empty walls.
Today, I’m sharing a few of the solutions that I talk about in my wall decor guide, paired with how some of the Dallas showrooms used these tricks too.
So, take a look at some of the pretty walls I saw in these Dallas market showrooms!
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Round shaped wall decor hung in various ways
One of the issues I saw a lot in the wall decor submissions I had were that people had a piece of art they liked and wanted to use, but it didn’t fit their wall space. Most times, it was too small, or maybe it was a vertical piece on a wide, horizontal wall.
One solution I often mentioned, was to add other smaller items around the piece to fill the rest of the wall space up.
Colorful discs mounted around a plain mirror frame jazz up this wall and create an interesting shape for a more personalized look to this wall decoration. Global Views Showroom, Dallas Market - carlaaston.com
While this mirror alone, in the pic above, might have been proportional to the console, as a plain mirror without much framing, it would have been rather boring. The additional round glass discs, mounted in an organic irregular pattern around the mirror, add so much character and personality to the wall.
Plates, baskets, or other round items can be overlapped and hang as melange of items that, seen altogether, feel more like one large art piece.
This bold basket wall in the Blue Ocean Traders showroom at Dallas Market makes a big impact on the wall. carlaaston.com
Decorate your walls with the objects directly in front of the wall, in mind.
Another concept I shared in the book is to use other furnishings items that are placed directly in front of the wall as part of the wall decor. Lamps, furniture, large decorative items sitting on the furniture….. all that plays a part in building the composition on your wall.
Many times, people had big empty walls, but really, the ideal solution wasn’t that they only needed to hang art on the wall. Often, the space itself needed more furniture or furnishings.
I found myself giving examples of how adding a console and some lamps and decorative accessories to a wall would help fill out the room in a logical and appropriate direction, bringing the blank wall space then into a more manageable scale.
See how beautifully the console and decorative items on top, below, work with the baskets and mirror used as wall decor in this showroom.
African baskets were used to create a lively wall decor backdrop for this organic console and African mask decor. It wall works so well together to make a colorful and lively statement wall in the In Detail Showroom at Dallas Market. carlaaston.com
Create organic shapes for oddly sized walls
I was excited to see these new wall decor pieces from Phillipps Collection. Succulents are so popular now, I’m sure these will be a hit.
You can create any shape of wall decor that you want with pieces like this. This is great for filling in smaller blank wall space or creating larger organic shapes. They work well on curved walls or, like the image above, wrapping around a corner.
Ceramic succulent pieces can be hung in all kinds of ways to create a really custom look for your walls. Seen in the Phillipps Co. showroom at Dallas Market. carlaaston.com
With these unique glass “rocks” below, from Global Views, you become the artist. Make any kind of overall shape you want to fill any type of wall space.
Flex your creativity muscle when you mount these in any kind of pattern or shape on your walls. Seen at the Global Views showroom at Dallas Market. carlaaston.com
Use Lighting And Light Fixtures To Decorate Your Walls
There are so many cool, wall mounted light fixtures coming out these days, especially more contemporary looks. The use of LED lighting has brought out the creativity in lighting designers!
These can be done in multiples on a wall and installed in so many different ways.
While this is a more permanent solution and obviously requires electrical installation, it is a more unique approach to adding something special to your wall.
With these below, I couldn’t help think about creating a Mondrian inspired wall grid of some kind.
This cool wall mounted fixture from Arteriors, below, creates an interesting pattern with ceramic bowl type discs. It can be installed in any kind of direction.
This one, from Sonneman, had my mind spinning with ideas of patterns that could be created on a wall.
Lastly, for hard-to-reach wall space like with a high ceiling, try light fixtures that cast unique shadows on the walls, like this pendant from Minka Lavery. It provides interesting pattern without putting a bunch of nails in the wall. :-)
I’m doing a summer sale on my Wall Decor Guide this week. $5 off to ring in the middle month of summer, July. Get it now, June 30th through July 7th.
There are lots of ideas for all types of walls with real life case studies and solutions to help you decorate your own walls like a pro!
