If you’re anything like me, it took not only blood, sweat and tears to put up that wallpaper but it took you weeks and lots of pinning just to get to a point where you felt comfortable to hang it at all. Now that it is up, you don’t want nail holes or blemishes in it, but you want some art on the walls to add to the wallpaper’s glory. But what size? But will look right? Will it be too busy? Let’s dive in.
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Size matters 😏
When considering artwork for your wallpaper, always take into account scale and size. If your wallpaper is really busy and/or bold in pattern, you will most likely want a large piece of art to command attention. At the same time, this also plays well with the wallpaper so they are not competing, but rather working well together. If you want a more gallery wall feel, you can also group pieces together to create “one” piece of art like in our half bath here.
Speaking of size, when your wallpaper pattern is big, the scale of your artwork’s subject should be small or smaller, so that they are not competing. Same goes for a small wallpaper pattern, the artwork subject should be large so it stands out and doesn’t get lost, like in this image with the dresser and large landscape art. You can clearly see how the wallpaper acts as a stunning backdrop but doesn’t take away from the art nor itself.
See how the landscape itself isn’t busy and is a much larger scale than the wallpaper pattern. That and the dark colors really make them pop off in a great way.
That leads me into color scheme. Also take note of the color schemes in both the wallpaper and the artwork. They should complement each other, are in the same color family, or have similar colors they share. When you have a really neutral wallpaper color, like the gray strokes above, it is easy to add artwork because many colors will go well with a really neutral color like a gray or black.
Don’t discount negative space
Just like in many design scenarios, I think so many people think there should be something on every blank space on a wall, above a bookshelf, or on top of kitchen cabinets. While I might slightly be standing on the edge of my soapbox, I’m here to tell you that in home design negative space is not the enemy. Sometimes your eye needs a rest. Period. The end. Ok, stepping off now…back to artwork on wallpaper. Eh hem. Negative space either in the artwork itself or in the form of a white matte around the artwork will give the eye a rest and let the art pop off the wallpaper. Here are a couple of great examples.
Gallery wall
A tall wallpapered wall might not feel like an ideal location for a gallery wall, but it can work very well as long as you maintain consistency in scale, framing and color palette. Colored wallpapers lend themselves perfectly to monochromatic art that will complement the wallpaper without creating competition. This stylish gallery is brilliant not only for its dramatic appeal, but for the way it has made use of the void above a stairwell. Smaller works definitely can stand up to a large expanse of pattern, be it a collection of frames up a wallpapered stairwell, like here, or a salon-style gallery on a feature wall.
Don’t forget the beauty of mirrors
Let’s not forget mirrors on wallpaper and list how gorgeous and simple this is in any space. Mirrors have a double benefit in that they are the simplest way to give some dimension to your wall and break up the pattern a little AND you can see the wallpaper reflected in it and it bounces light around. Here are some of my favorite examples of mirrors on wallpaper.
Resources
1 Landscape art | 2. Wallpaper | 3. Leaf wallpaper | 4. Chandelier | 5. Fox art | 6. Triangle wallpaper | 7. Lattice wallpaper | 8. Floral wallpaper | 9. Round Mirror | 10. Bamboo Trellis wallpaper | 11. Gold light | 12. Navy floral wallpaper | 13. Gold mirror
