Create a Home with Walls You Love; 5 Tips for Minimalist Wall Decor

My neighbor’s greeting caught me off guard yesterday. “You’ve been hanging pictures again, haven’t you?” she said in a steady but kind tone. We live in a cute, 1,000 square foot apartment home, and she shares our kitchen wall. “Yeah,” I replied, smiling, “but there shouldn’t be much more of it.”

I was in the thick of decorating the walls of our new apartment. Covering those gray walls has been a challenge, albeit a fun one.  I wanted the decor to be intentional, minimal, cozy, family-oriented, beautiful, and within budget. And I wanted the wall decor to give me an uplifting, expansive feeling when I saw it. Every time. 

Being a highly sensitive person, I respond to my environment in ways other people might not. When I’m in a beautiful space, I feel more at peaceful, creative and focused than when I’m in a busy, distastefully decorated one. Gretchen Rubin’s quote that “outer order contributes to inner calm” rings true for me. So the wall decor was for more than my eyes – it was also for my soul. And it was for the enjoyment of my family and for friends who visit. 

I had a lot to keep in mind while choosing what would go on the walls. I took my time and am very happy with the results. 

Here are the top 5 tips I’ve learned through my minimalist wall decor journey.

1. Make your wall decor meaningful 

When I was first wanting to cover some walls, I found myself super tempted to buy cute things from Target and stick ‘em up around our home. I’ve done this before in past homes and have learned these items eventually end up in the donate pile. This time, I researched wall art on Pinterest and Instagram and found some artists who create meaningful pieces that met my wall decor criteria. Rose Harrington’s work is my favorite, and I now enjoy several pieces in our home.

2. Consider the room’s purpose

In Joshua Becker’s book The Minimalist Home, he discusses the benefit of considering the purpose of each room in your home. When decorating the walls, this is vital. If the purpose of your living room is to be a warm, inviting place for friends and family to gather, then wall decor should be warm and familiar not cold and formal. You’ll probably use browns and blues, not black and white. Is your dining room a place you want your family to feel connected and appreciated when gathering for a meal? Then hang pictures of them there to send the message they are loved and important. 

3. Discover what you believe to be beautiful 

William Morris said, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” Do you know what you believe to be beautiful? Or do you just have a collection of things, and, since you have them, you feel obligated to put them on the walls? But do you really love them? I began my wall-decor brainstorming on Pinterest. I began pinning ideas I liked and then studied pinned pictures to find similar themes. I learned that I find greenery in a room beautiful. I also found that I like a bit of a “Boho”’look if it’s not over-the-top. This inspired my mini plant wall, which I find beautiful, plus it improves the air quality in our home. Without some brainstorming, I wouldn’t have thought of this idea. Beauty is important in a home. Take some time to discover what you’d love on your walls.

4. Don’t overdo it 

Less is more when it comes to wall decor. Joshua Becker said, “A home with fewer possessions is more spacious, more calming, and more focused on the people who live inside it.” Just as too many possessions can be distracting, so can too much wall decor. “Wall clutter” can create a sense of stress inside the people who live there. Although wall decor is important, the people inside the home matter most, not the walls. Beautiful walls should support the people in the home by promoting inner calm, but these walls should not be the home’s focus. Don’t be afraid of white space on the walls – you don’t have to hang something in every open opportunity. If you’re hanging wall decor and even beginning to ask yourself if the number of pieces on your wall is too much, then, yes, it’s too much. 

5. Embrace contrasts 

Using wall decor that contrasts the home’s “feel” can help a room become more balanced and peaceful. Our apartment home, for example, is newly remodeled and modern. If I used extremely modern wall art with sharp lines and abstract shapes, the apartment’s feel would not be cozy and inviting. To offset the apartment’s modern feel, I made a traditional “wedding wall” with antique frames and old pictures. This wall softens the apartments feel with victorian-esque frames and sentimental images. Do you live in an old farm house? Try modern wall art, such as a piece by artist Anna Pepe. Is your home modern? Try some wall decor with an antique feel.

The best wall decor is intentional. It’s a reflection of you and your family, not a collection of the best deals you found at Target and TJ Maxx. 

Remember minimalism is, as quoted by Joshua Becker, “the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.” Let’s make our wall decor fit this definition and surround ourselves with things that help promote our best life, not distract us from it.