What prompted early man to start scribbling on the walls of his cave is a mystery, but Paleolithic cave paintings prove that right from start, the human race has shown immense interest in decorating their homes. From the charcoal drawings and etchings of cavemen to the sophistication of modern art, wall decoration has always been something of a staple in homes with an infinite range of options serving as decoratives. Though framed photographs, craft-inspired wall hanging, framed artwork and lighting fixtures have been traditionally favored wall decorations, offbeat and DIY ideas also have gathered momentum in the past few years with celebrities, artists and general public opting for unique ways to make the walls of their homes more expressive. Here are some fresh and offbeat ideas that can help you transform your wall with minimum efforts.
Decorate your wall with artistic stone wall decors
If you are comfortable using basic tools and have a few Benjamins saved up for home upgrades, you may want to invest in a solid stone wall treatment. Perfect for rooms with a little extra space, the treatment basically requires you to cover whole wall with stone tiles. The bare stone tile will add a lot of texture and elegance to your space and depending on the kind of stone you use would also help you save a bundle on maintenance and cleaning. You can opt to use the same stone all over the wall or mix and match to create interesting patterns using stones of different textures and colors to customize the whole wall. To make your stone wall even more interesting, you can always leave some space for recessed shelves that can be used to place candles or very simple decoratives.
Using wall stickers for wall decoration
For folks who want to upgrade a wall for less and do not have the time or resources for expensive or time consuming wall makeovers, a simple but effective wall decoration could be made using stickers. Of course, you will have to spend some time in finding stickers that match the color and textures you have in mind, but the end result is guaranteed to be satisfying in every way. If you cannot find any ready to use stickers in the market, you can simply use bits of square shaped wood or lightweight stones to create your own wall stickers. All you will need is a handful of wood chips/small wood blocks/small stones and some superglue or even double sided tape. You can either stick your stones or wood chips to the wall using double sided tape if you don’t plan on leaving your wall décor on for long or superglue them to the wall if you want a more permanent do. You can arrange the stickers in any shape you want and you have made yourself a simple, cheap yet stunning textured wall decoration without blowing a bundle.
Create leaf wall decorations
Leaf motifs have traditionally been bestsellers both as wallpaper designs as well as in other wall decoration pieces. And if you have a taste for leaf-like decorations and want a section of the wall to be covered, you can try making yourself some artsy leaf motif stickers. To make, you will first need a pattern of a leaf which you can source from the internet or even use a real leaf that you like. Once you have a pattern, you will need to transfer the chosen pattern on a sheet of colored/nude card stock and then cut out the pattern using a paper blade or a professional tool like an X-acto cutter. You can color the cut-out pattern with a hue of your choice and glue the leaves to the wall in a pattern of your choice for stunning effect.
Wall stencils to decorate a wall
Creating wall murals are yet another cost effective way of getting brilliant wall treatments for less. By using store bought stencils (or stencils made at home from card stock) and spray paint, you can create a whole array of stunning repeated pattern wall decorations. You can choose child-friendly silhouettes of animals and carton characters and use more abstract patterns in adults’ rooms to give walls a simple and colorful makeover.
Decorate wall with smart mirror reflection
Though mirrors fall in the more traditional categories of wall décor, you can still use them with an array of simple and colorful frames to make a wall over. Since mirrors create the illusion of space, they can effectively be used in smaller rooms preferably on a wall that is adjacent to a window instead of the one directly opposite to it. By using mirror reflections to ‘bring the outside in’ or even create a mirage of repeating patterns within the room, even bare walls can be made more exciting. Using large or small mirrors on a single wall is a great way to create the illusion of more space in small rooms and is also a great way to magnify the natural light in a room.
Have fun with colors
If you generally do not like cluttering your walls with frames and decoratives, styling up your house can be more than a challenge for you. However, by using simple yet bold colors to paint your walls can help you create a bold statement in a room without putting up a lot of decoratives. By using a single color on the wall and repeating the same shade throughout the entire room via cushions, upholstery, rugs and curtains, you can liven up a room without adding to the clutter.
Decorate with wall mounted TV
Wall-mounted television sets have become something of a staple in most urban homes. Sadly, most people do not think of wall-mounted televisions as wall décor unless they own a mammoth plasma display that takes up half a wall. However, even if you have a basic wall-mounted television display, you can still use a clever play of wall paint and textures to transform your wall and highlight your wall-mounted TV set as a work of art. You can either choose to simply ‘frame’ your television by coloring the wall around its edges a different shade than the rest of the wall or you can choose to add more texture to the wall by having a large square wooden mount installed on the wall and mount your TV on it to further highlight the various textures on the wall.
