Wall art ideas for living rooms

There is no single right answer for a living room. A low sideboard wants something different from a long sofa, and a warm painted wall changes which prints look best. Pick the idea below that matches your furniture, then borrow the palette.

1. Start with a ledge

The Terracotta Ledge, shown at the top of this page, puts five prints on a single picture ledge above a sideboard. Frames overlap and lean rather than hang, so you can swap a print without filling a single nail hole. Keep the biggest frame off centre and let the smaller ones tuck in front of it.

The Terracotta Ledge: five prints on a ledge above a sideboard.

2. Let two big prints do the work

If the wall is wide and calm, a matched pair is often stronger than a crowd. The Indigo Pair hangs two large prints side by side in one colour family. Centre the pair on the furniture below, keep 5 to 8 cm between the frames, and aim for a total width of about two-thirds of the sofa or sideboard.

The Indigo Pair: two prints in one colour family.

3. Lean a trio low

Not every print needs a nail. The Sofa Lean Trio stands three frames at different heights along a low surface, so the art sits in the room rather than above it. It works well beside a low sofa or on a deep windowsill, and it suits renters.

The Sofa Lean Trio: three frames leaning at different heights.

4. Tell a story across the wall

A bigger wall can hold a mix of subjects as long as one thing stays the same. The Storybook Wall combines five different prints, but they share a warm palette and the same oak frames, so the wall reads as one piece.

The Storybook Wall: five subjects, one palette.

Not sure which sizes fit your wall? Try any of these layouts on a photo of your own room with the Gallery Wall Builder, or browse more ideas on our living room page.