Home Living Room Our Best Living Room Wall Decor Ideas By Grace Haynes Grace Haynes Grace is a former Associate Homes Editor for Southern Living. She covered a variety of topics for print and digital, from design and flower arranging to cottage gardens and pets. Before moving to the Homes team, she joined Southern Living as a copy editor. Off the clock, find her strolling through neighborhoods around the South to admire the houses and snapping photos of colorful front doors. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on June 16, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller Wake up dull living room walls with creative decor ideas. Transform stark, sterile spaces by adding warm, welcoming accents that will make the living room the most inviting space in the house. Hang a gallery wall of thrift store finds, cover the walls in patterned paper, or put a collection of antiques on display—there are countless ways to show off your personality and bring a boring living room to life. Here are 20 of our best decorating tips for making a living room the most popular hangout space in the house. 01 of 20 Create a Gallery Wall Mary Katherine Morris In our 2016 Idea House, decorator Lauren Liess hung a gallery wall over a blue settee to add interest to a quiet seating area. She scored all the framed pieces from local antiques malls. "I want everyone to realize that you can arrange something interesting out of imperfect finds," she says. 02 of 20 Make a Bold Statement Evan Sklar A vibrant painting pops off the pastel blue walls of this pool house in Lexington, Kentucky. The artwork, a nod to the horse pastures surrounding the home, complements the interior's punchy color scheme. The large painting makes a statement and holds its own under a stunning chandelier. 03 of 20 Cover Walls in a Favorite Pattern Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Lizzie Cox A scrap piece of favorite wallpaper served as the starting point for Whitney McGregor's bright living room. She layered the blue-and-white wallcovering with colorful artwork in complementary hues to bring the space to life. Coordinated colors allows the space to feel more cohesive. 04 of 20 Enlarge the Room with Mirrors Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller Designer Margaret Kirkland incorporated pieces of the homeowners' antiques collection in this formal living room featuring greens and golds. Framed prints are paired on either side of the bay window. A large ornate mirror reflects light, making the room appear larger. 05 of 20 Display an Antiques Collection Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Barbara Schmidt In the living room of the Jacksonville, Florida, river house, designer Stephanie Jarvis hung a trio of brass botanicals found at the Marburger Farm Antique Show in Texas. The botanical theme is repeated on throw pillows. 06 of 20 Put Creative Storage on Display Laurey W. Glenn Storage doubles as decor in this mid-century modern home, with tucked-away firewood becoming a rustic statement piece in the living room. Stacking the wood sideways shows off the multi-hued grains in each log in an artistic fashion. 07 of 20 Play with Pattern Laurey W. Glenn Richmond-based designer Janie Molster used a striking Suzani to dress up with wood-paneled walls of her Nags Head summer home. Hanging a pretty textile curtain-style defines a seating area and breaks up the long, vertical lines of the walls. It also adds a pop of color to an otherwise monochromatic space. 08 of 20 Use Your Imagination Annie Schlechter; Styling: Matthew Gleason Whimsical faux-taxidermy heads add fun personality to the white walls of the kids' playroom in Holly Williams' Tennessee home. A gallery hung on the adjacent wall shows off a collection of sentimental family photographs and prints, while the wallpaper overhead makes us dream of shapes in the clouds. 09 of 20 Make Smart Substitutes Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller Covering an entire living room in luxe wallpaper is pricey. In her San Antonio home, designer Nicola McLaughlin instead framed two panels of de Gourney's Badminton pattern to lend a refined accent. Gold and black frames contrast with the blue hues in this space. 10 of 20 Show Off Pieces with Meaning Laurey W. Glenn Keeping with the neutral palette of his Birmingham bungalow's living room, architect James Laughlin framed six sketches from his college thesis and hung them in a grid. It's a personal touch you're certain not to find anywhere else. 11 of 20 Bring the Outside In Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Elly Poston Cooper Graphic designer Hanna Seabrook chose collections of botanical-themed accessories to carry out the English garden look of her Louisville, Kentucky, living room. Creating a large gallery wall of prints allows their subtle hues to shine. 12 of 20 Dress Boring Walls With Wood Helen Norman; Styling: Lizzie Cox Richmond-based artist Dana Gibson couldn't stand having a plain wall in her living room, so she covered the boring drywall with wainscot. "I'm not a fan of drywall and will do anything to make it more interesting," she says. The upper fifth of the wall was coated in a striking bright yellow (Bridget Beari Colors' Bing Bong). 13 of 20 Embrace Funky Finds Mary Craven A quirky red-and-yellow hat-lady print pops off the powder pink walls of Brittney Forrister's Nashville bungalow. Though Brittney's fond of the print, she's not so keen on its color scheme. "Even the things you don't love can work in the right space," she says. 14 of 20 Use Every Inch of Wallspace Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Matthew Gleason Every inch of this living space is functional with built-in open shelving for displaying a bookworm's collection and a cozy upholstered bench for curling up with a new novel. Task lights and plush pillows make the space even more inviting. 15 of 20 Make Unexpected Artwork Helen Norman A personal piece of décor hangs in garden designer P. Allen Smith's Little Rock cottage. He mounted an assortment of old farm tools over the mantel. The idea is cost-efficient, and he says, "Original artwork adds so much soul to a home." 16 of 20 Display Intriguing Objects Heidi Harris; Designer: Morse Design A pair of built-in, floating shelves displays vases, pottery, sculpture, and baskets. Repeated shapes and themes, such as the birds shown here, ties an eclectic collection together. 17 of 20 Celebrate Architectural Features Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Lisa Tudor/FT45 The living room of this New Orleans shotgun house plays with an assortment of neutral wall colors alongside a dramatic deep blue. The texture of old plaster is celebrated, rather than hidden, along with the partially exposed brick of the chimney. Interesting architectural features can serve as wall decor on their own. 18 of 20 Make a Fireplace a Feature Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Lizzie Cullen Cox This mountain home's fireplace makes a stunning statement in a wood-paneled room. Cladding the chimney and surrounding wall with stone from floor to ceiling made it the primary feature of the living room. A cowhide rug adds to the rustic feel. 19 of 20 Go Wild With Paint Hector Manuel Sanchez Birmingham decorator Fran Keenan hand-painted this large-scale, Greek-key motif in a repeated pattern to look much like a true wallpaper. She'd intended to re-cover her sister's old zebra-print sofa, but the more she looked at it, the more she thought it just worked. "There's a lot of fun in not overthinking," she adds. 20 of 20 Share Heirlooms With a Story Photo: Annie Schlechter; Styling: Matthew Gleason Holly Williams displays her dad's cherished dog painting over the living room sofa in her Nashville, Tennessee home. "This is a family home in every sense of the word," she says. "I've loved that piece ever since I was a little girl." Other meaningful items on display include a duck-hunting scene painted by her mom's great-grandmother. Was this page helpful? 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