c/blank-wall-art

Empty wall or gallery wall which looks better in a small living room?

I've got this 8 foot blank wall in my living room in Austin and I keep going back and forth. My buddy says one big piece of art keeps the room from feeling cluttered, but my sister thinks a cluster of smaller frames fills the space better. I tried hanging a single 3 foot canvas last month and it felt too empty, then swapped to 5 small frames and it looked busy. What's your take on this for a room that's only 12 by 14 feet?

1 comments

cooper.taylor•1d ago

Tried a gallery wall with 8 mismatched thrift frames vs one big statement mirror and the mirror won by a mile

The frames looked chaotic no matter how I arranged them, but the mirror instantly made my 10x12 living room feel twice as big. Anyone else ditch the collage approach for something simpler?

1 comments

wendyk63•2d ago

My entryway wall sat empty for 8 months because I was too scared to commit

I kept waiting for the perfect piece of art to come along, so I just left this big blank spot by the door that everyone walks past. Last week my neighbor dropped off a $10 mirror from a garage sale and told me to just try it, and now the whole hallway feels bigger and more welcoming. Does anyone else get frozen by decision paralysis when it comes to filling a wall?

1 comments

brookebailey•3d ago

My hallway wall went from blank to cluttered after I hung a single mirror too small

I used to throw up one random piece anywhere just to fill space, but now I measure everything and plan a layout after seeing how bad a tiny mirror looked in my narrow hallway for 8 months. What do you put on long thin walls that doesn't make them feel even tighter?

1 comments

perez.thea•3d ago

Changed my mind about gallery walls after seeing my neighbor's setup

Last month I was dead set on keeping my living room wall totally empty. I thought gallery walls looked cluttered and chaotic. Then my neighbor Sarah invited me over and I saw what she did with her big blank wall off the entryway. She had 9 frames arranged in a grid with family photos and a few small prints. It looked clean and organized not messy at all. Now I'm planning my own grid layout but I'm stuck on what size frames to pick. Anyone got advice for spacing between frames in a grid setup?

2 comments

river_jones•4d ago

That one neighbor who said my entryway wall looked 'sad' has me staring at it every time I walk in now.

She pointed at this 4-foot blank space by the door during a barbecue 2 weeks ago and said it needed something vertical like a tall mirror or a skinny piece of art, and now I can't unsee it - has anyone else had a random comment totally change how you see a wall?

2 comments

noah_rivera57•5d ago

This empty wall next to my stairs has been bare for 6 months.

I moved into my place near Austin last October and this big wall by the staircase has just been sitting empty. I'm thinking about putting up a gallery wall with maybe 5 or 6 frames but I'm not sure what size to start with. Anyone have a good method for spacing out frames on a tall empty wall like this?

1 comments

loganm52•6d ago

TIL those peel and stick wall murals are a nightmare to remove

I spent $150 on a big forest scene mural for my living room blank wall last spring and it looked great for like 3 months. When I tried to take it down yesterday it peeled the drywall paper off in huge strips and now I gotta patch and repaint the whole thing. Anyone else have a better way to cover a big empty wall that won't wreck the paint when you get sick of it?

1 comments

jamiekim•6d ago

When I used to stare at my blank wall for months before doing anything

Back in my apartment in Chicago around 2012, I'd just tape up a random band poster and call it done because I didn't think about what actually fit the room. Now I take a photo of the empty wall, measure everything twice, and browse secondhand shops for weeks before picking one piece. Do you guys plan your wall art for a long time too, or do you just grab something you like quick?

1 comments

eva_gibson•6d ago

Talked to my landlord about why that wall has been bare for 5 years

He said he kept it empty because that specific spot gets direct afternoon sun and anything he hung either faded or warped within a year, so now I'm looking at UV-resistant prints or maybe a metal piece instead of a canvas, has anyone dealt with sun damage like that on a particular wall?

1 comments

caleb_sanchez•9d ago

Hit 100 blank wall photos today and it caught me off guard

Didn't realize I'd snapped that many since moving in last spring, just been trying to figure out what to put up. Anybody else lose track of how many bare walls you've documented?

2 comments

fisher.taylor•10d ago

Met a guy at Home Depot who changed how I look at blank walls

Was buying paint samples last Saturday at the Home Depot on 4th street and this older guy just walked up while I was staring at swatches. He said "you're overthinking it, just pick a color that makes you feel something when you walk in the room." Never had someone put it that simply before. Has anyone else gotten random life advice from strangers while shopping for wall stuff?

1 comments

cooper.taylor•10d ago

PSA: don't listen to that guy at the paint store about peel and stick wallpaper

Dude at Sherwin-Williams told me peel and stick would hold up fine in my bathroom. Said he'd done it before. 2 weeks later the corners were peeling up from the humidity and the whole thing looked like garbage. I had to tear it all down and spend $60 on primer plus another $80 on actual wallpaper paste to fix it. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a store employee that cost them time and money?

1 comments

leo_lopez•11d ago

My dad swore I needed a gallery wall in my living room. I finally took his advice after 3 years of staring at a blank wall.

My dad kept telling me to do a big gallery wall over my couch in my apartment in Austin. I thought it would look cluttered and messy so I ignored him for like 3 years. Last month I finally put one up with 12 frames and it actually makes the room feel way bigger. Has anyone else had a parent give them advice that turned out to be totally right?

2 comments

logan_dixon18•11d ago

Gallery walls are overrated and I'm finally admitting it after 6 months of trying

I spent like $200 on frames and mats last fall to do that trendy gallery wall thing above my couch. You know, the kind where you lay everything out on the floor first and measure like 12 times. Looked fine for about a week until I realized I kept staring at the empty spaces between frames instead of the actual stuff on my walls. Now I just have one big piece (a 36x48 canvas from a local art fair) and it feels way less cluttered. The whole 'fill every blank wall' thing felt like a rule someone made up to sell picture frames. Has anyone else just given up on gallery walls and gone back to one big statement piece?

1 comments

charlesb42•12d ago

That expensive gallery frame I bought was a total waste of money

I spent $85 on a fancy black frame from a place online to hang on my living room wall. Got it home and the glass had a weird reflection that made the whole wall look bad. Then I noticed the corners weren't even cut right, like a half inch gap on one side. Anyone else had luck with cheap frames from thrift stores or is that just asking for more trouble?

2 comments

richard110•14d ago

Huge blank wall in my hallway looked sad for a year - found a cheap fix

Had this 8 foot stretch of nothing in my hallway in Phoenix. Drove me nuts every time I walked past. Tried a single big mirror but it felt weird. Last month I found three old black and white photos at a thrift store for $12 total. Framed them cheap. Hung them in a straight line. Now the whole wall has life. Anyone else thrift their wall art instead of buying new?

1 comments

sean_perry•16d ago

Gave up on filling a huge wall in my living room for 2 years

I had this massive 12 foot blank wall in my Denver apartment that I kept meaning to fill with some big art piece. Last month my buddy came over and just leaned a 6 foot mirror against the wall on the floor, nothing else. It totally broke the pressure I felt to buy something expensive and perfect. Now I just rotate random stuff there like a thrift store painting or a plant stand, and it looks way better than any planned gallery wall I ever tried. Anybody else have a frustrating wall that solved itself when you stopped overthinking it?

1 comments

stone.troy•16d ago

Found out my blank wall is fighting me on humidity

I was about to hang a big framed print over my couch, but I checked the wall with a moisture meter from Home Depot first (it was 15 bucks). Turns out that corner of the living room sits at 65% humidity on damp days, which is way too high for paper art without warping. Has anyone else dealt with this before I need a fix?

1 comments

stone.troy•17d ago

Gallery wall or one big piece - which route actually saves you money?

I spent $250 on a single oversized canvas print for my living room wall and it looks clean but now the rest of the wall feels empty. My buddy went cheap with a $60 set of 9 small frames from Target and his wall looks busy in a bad way. Which approach has worked for you guys long term?

2 comments

-1

the_barbara•20d ago

Hung a mirror too high and regretted it for 3 months

Last year I put up a big round mirror in my hallway right above the light switch. Thought it looked great until I realized I could only see the top of my own head in it. Everyone who came over had to stand on their toes to use it. Ended up taking it down last weekend and patched the holes. Anybody else hang something and realize later it was totally the wrong height?

2 comments

stella_foster•20d ago

Stopped into a small gallery in St. Augustine last month and noticed something strange

I was walking through this little art gallery off St. George Street, not really looking to buy anything. What caught my eye was how empty the walls were. Maybe half the frames that were up had nothing in them. Just bare white matting behind glass. The owner said she does it on purpose, lets the space breathe so people can imagine their own art there. She told me it actually sells better that way. People walk in and picture their own living room. I thought that was an interesting approach for a gallery. Has anyone else seen shops doing this with empty frames?

2 comments

cora_jenkins•23d ago

Framed mirror vs painting - which makes a small living room feel bigger?

I hung a large framed mirror in my 10x12 living room in Austin last month thinking it would open the space up. Instead it just bounced light into one corner and made the room feel weirdly lopsided. My neighbor has a big landscape painting in almost the same spot and her place somehow feels bigger than mine. Has anyone else run into this where mirrors backfire or did I just pick the wrong spot for it?

2 comments

gavin80•26d ago

Changed my mind after hitting up the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston last weekend

I always thought gallery walls were just random clutter, but I saw this one empty hallway there with a single HUGE painting and it hit me different. Now I'm thinking maybe I don't need to fill every square inch of my living room wall. Has anyone else tried just one big piece instead of a bunch of little ones?

2 comments

claire999•27d ago

I finally hung a big mirror in my living room after staring at a blank wall for 6 months

Walked past that EMPTY space every single day telling myself I'd find the perfect piece of art, then my neighbor gave me her old mirror for free and it actually opens up the whole room, totally changed how the light bounces around in there, has anyone else just given up on finding art and gone with a mirror instead?

2 comments