The walls of our homes have the power to speak volumes about our lives. Filled walls produce a lived-in look packed with personality, while blank walls suggest that you don’t plan to stick around for long. All that empty space is just a missed opportunity. Perplexed by a blank wall? Here are 10 uniquely creative ways to jazz it up without having to reach for a brush and bucket of paint.
Literally Speaking
No need for expensive wallpaper when you can adorn your walls with the pages from an old book. This is a wonderful project for thinking outside the binding—outdated textbooks, dictionaries, and coffee table books are great resources.
Hang In There
Pay tribute to the good old ’70s with a splash of macramé on your wall. You can buy or DIY samples of this classic hand-knotted art for a happy hanging that’s not-so-standard.
Wall of Washi
Change your wall decor as easily as you change your mind—with washi! This wildly popular Japanese masking tape comes in several widths and literally hundreds of designs, so there’s never a shortage of inspiration. Stripe your wall vertically, horizontally, or even diagonally to create a wallpaper-like pattern that’s easy to remove.
Plans to Decorate
You’ll always remember the creative phase of your remodeling project when the blueprints are memorialized on your walls. Try decoupaging your own old blueprints on the walls of a small space.
Magnificent Mural
A large-scale mural guarantees that a wall will make a statement. An elegant backdrop like a mural of the Musée du Louvre may appeal to you, or you can enlarge a black-and-white photo of your own and print it out panel by panel in several engineer prints for something more custom.
Natural Elements
For a soft and earthy look, try lining an accent wall with a sheet or tiled squares of cork. You’ll be excited to know the end result is both eye-catching and eco-friendly: Natural cork tiles are a renewable resource, because the bark is merely “trimmed” and allowed to grow back.
Worldly Design
A wall-to-wall map adds a dramatic, globe-hopping thrill to any room. The look is impressive, but wall murals—or even just giant classroom maps—like these are easy to install and just as easy to take down, so you can take the world with you wherever you may go.
Gallery Appeal
Create the sense of a sophisticated gallery with a wall collage of photos from the pages of magazines. Start with a unifying theme—whether it’s black-and-white portraits or world architecture—and then flip through titles known for spectacular photography, like Vanity Fair or National Geographic, for your clippings.
Weave Walls
One temporary, renter-friendly fix for a blank wall is to stick up your favorite print fabric. Look for a piece large enough to cover most of the wall; tapestries, patterned rugs, window treatments, or even shower curtains will get the job done.
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