Richard Felt: 24 Ideas on How to Decorate Tall Walls

I’ve got ’em, my friends have them, and chances are if you live in a modern day home, you’ve got em too. Hey guys! I’m Sarah from Just The Bees Knees, and I’m here today to help solve one of the biggest decorating dilemmas that plagues homeowners everywhere; what in the world to do with those tall walls?! The Remodelaholic team gets this question all the time over on Facebook (where you can ask your question for help from other readers, too!) so today I have some solutions for you.

Whether they are in a Foyer, your Family Room, or even a bedroom, those soaring ceilings look fantastic and create such an open, airy feeling to your home, but when it comes to decorating the adjacent walls, most people are left scratching their heads. My job today is help give you some ideas to decorate tall walls, as well as tell you what NOT to do!

24 Ways to Decorate Tall Walls

Use Large Scale Art

One of the BIGGEST mistakes that people make when decorating tall walls is they get the scale all wrong. If the objects you are trying to hang on the large wall are too small, they will just get lost in the vast space and end up looking cluttered. BIG walls require BIG, BOLD statement pieces to really show them off, and you will see that repeated in many of the examples I am going to show you.

Gallery walls and oversized art are probably the most common solution to fill up those tall walls. A large grouping of art or photographs are a great way to fill up the space.

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A single, oversized piece of art also makes a bold statement.

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Instead of an oversized painting, think outside the box and use other large scale pieces that act as art.

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This floor to ceiling art installation is a unique way to fill up a long skinny wall.

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Floating shelves are also a great way to display your art collection.

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Add Trim

Adding trim to your wall is also a great way to break-up the vastness of those soaring, double height walls often found in Foyers and great rooms.

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Use Color and Texture

Here, panels of trim are filled with grasscloth. Printed wallpaper would also look great and create the feel of an art piece.

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Paint is a very effective and easy way to add drama to those big walls without spending a ton of money. Try a BOLD and graphic mural!

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Choosing two highly contrasting colors creates interest in the space without having to add much to your walls!

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Here, the wall above the trim work is painted dark.

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If you love the look of trim, but don’t have the budget to do so, try faking it by painting only half the wall!

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Hang a Mirror

Mirrors are a great alternative to hanging art. Try a large oversized mirror, or a grouping of smaller mirrors.
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Install Shelving

If you are a book lover, consider adding some custom library shelves and make that open space functional!

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Distract!

And lastly, a great way to sole the big empty wall syndrome is to distract the eye AWAY from the wall by adding dramatic floor to ceiling curtains, or an oversized light fixture.

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I hope I have inspired you to go BIG and BOLD and finally show off those tall open walls in your home! Many of the ideas I gave you can be combined together as well. Take a look at the last photo above. It has trim, contrasting paint, dramatic drapes, oversized art and even a oversized light fixture. The perfect example of how to balance those soaring ceilings and walls.

Thanks to Cassity and the Remodelaholic team for having me today! I’d love for you to come and visit me over at my blog, where I also try and solve many other common Design Dilemmas.

xo Sarah