By Michelle Ullman

White Walls

There’s a reason why just about every rental has walls painted some version of white: It looks clean and fresh, it works with every other color, it isn’t difficult to paint over, and standard white paint tends to be one of the least expensive options at your local home improvement center. Still, if you are lamenting your home’s white walls but are prevented from repainting them because of rental restrictions, budget woes, or design disagreements among family members, take heart. There are plenty of decorating tricks that make the most of white interior walls.

Over the Rainbow

If you like the color but are stuck with white walls, no problem. In fact, a room filled with a rainbow of colorful furnishings and accents benefits from white walls’ effectiveness at preventing eyeball fatigue. So go ahead and mix and match your favorite bright colors on furnishings, rugs, window treatments, and decorative accents. Those white walls will keep the look fun, not dysfunctional.

Scandi Style

If you lean toward a clean, minimalist look, then your white walls are the perfect base for Scandinavian style. The hallmark of this peaceful and uncluttered look is lots of white—particularly on the walls—with touches of soft gray, blue, and tan to add serene contrast. Functional, clean-lined furnishings, lots of plants, and nubby-textured fabrics enhance the aesthetic.

One-Color Contrast

White on its own can be a bit sterile, but too much color can lead to overload. The perfect compromise is a room that marries white with one strong color, which could be navy blue, red, emerald green, sunny yellow, or even purple or pink. Spread your accent color throughout the space: Curtains, throw pillows, bedding, rugs, artwork, and light fixtures can all add a punch of color that relies on the white walls to keep things controlled, yet never boring.

Spectacular Accessories

Every room deserves something special. Let your humdrum white walls fade into the background as a fabulous accessory takes center stage. In the bedroom, beautiful bedding can play the star, while in the living room, let a showstopping light fixture steal all the attention. Even a very large houseplant—weeping fig, fiddle-leaf fig, rubber tree, yucca, Norfolk Island pine, jade plant, and ponytail palm all reach five feet or much more—can serve as a room’s focal point.

Show Off Your Library

Do you love to read, or do you have a collection of favorite art objects to show off? Then let a tall bookshelf do double duty as a spot to stash your reading materials and as a cover-up for an otherwise bare white wall. If the wall is long enough, you can even set two bookcases side by side for more storage and greater impact. It’s a win-win.

Pattern Play

Many would-be interior decorators want to try mixing and matching colorful patterns but fear that they’ll end up with a clashing cacophony. If you’re lucky enough to have white walls as a backdrop, there’s far less chance of design dissonance, so you can feel free to get just a little bit crazy with pattern. For the best effect, however, unify all the patterns with at least one shared element, such as a color, shape, or theme.

Serenity Now

Instead of fighting white, embrace its strengths. Decorating a white-walled room with other soft, nature-inspired colors, such as foggy blues, muted sands, dove grays, and mossy greens, creates a relaxing vibe that welcomes you home at the end of a long day. A serene color scheme is especially effective in a bedroom, where it helps you drift off to a good night’s sleep.

Conceal with Curtains

If white walls aren’t your thing, detract from them by hanging curtains in a contrasting hue—yes, even in a rental that already has blinds or shades in place. Whether you go for a bright color, a pastel, a neutral, or a bold and dramatic muted shade of blue, gray, or black, curtains provide a strong, vertical slash of color that attracts the eye, leaving the surrounding white walls to fade into the background.

Look Up

There’s a fifth “wall” in every room of your house that you probably don’t give much thought to—the ceiling. Painting it can be a great way to switch up an otherwise boring room. While this may not be an option for everyone, it’s a wonderful idea for those who own their own home but don’t want to paint the walls, or for renters who can make changes as long as they restore interiors to their original condition before they move. Ceilings aren’t particularly easy to paint, and they can be rough on the back, but with a roller mounted on an extension pole and plenty of drop cloths to protect surfaces, most people can do a pretty good job. Try a dark hue if you love drama, bright color for a touch of whimsy, or pastel for subtle impact.

Get Artsy

If you find white walls boring, then liven them up with something far more interesting—a collection of your favorite posters, prints, paintings, or photographs. Go with one oversize piece, a collection of smaller works, or a carefully curated gallery wall of photos of memorable vacations, beloved family members, or pets—whatever you like best. For a cohesive look, keep a thread of similarity running through the art. Matching frames, unifying themes, or coordinated color schemes are easily achieved possibilities.

Time for a home refresh? These decor ideas will bring new life to bare walls.

Empty Walls Are Filled with Potential

An empty wall is like a blank canvas, and how it’s decorated tells a story. Items hung on a wall can ground a space, open it up, add vibrancy, create a clean look, and invite guests to admire and discuss. The transitional concepts below will work with any style, allowing the decorator to display their taste and lifestyle.

Pile On Plants

Turn a wall into living art. This idea features stylish wooden shelves that offer a neutral holding place for vibrant, green plants to flourish. Play with either a uniform look using matching pots or mix it up with a combination of clay, baskets, and ceramics. You could even go with wood containers for an allover earthy feel.

Children’s Art

Frame your children’s best masterpieces and display them with pride. They’ll feel like a proud artist, and won’t have to spend a fortune on art—it’s a win-win. It can look refined when professionally done with clean, modern frames and then arranged in a classic floor-to-ceiling grid. Take note from this charming contemporary family room designed by Lilly Bunn, where colorful art animates the entire space.

Create a Gallery Wall

A gallery wall is a coordinated yet collected look of multiple pieces of art that makes a big impression. For a luxurious meets laid-back look, try these eight carefully curated prints in neutral tones. The prints come with high-quality wood frames, milled with simple clean lines and presented with a satin finish.

Create Dimension with Molding

Combine traditional and contemporary design by installing this flexible panel molding. The DIY project features soft baroque curls and minimalistic design. It’s made of a high-quality polyurethane blend created in steel molds, making for an ideal replication of plaster.

Clipped Art

If you live in a minimalist environment, this project is for you. Simply tack up a photograph you love, frame-free. This way, you won’t damage any artwork but you can also go frameless.

Beaded Hanging

Create your own wall hanging with beads and a branch. We’re loving the bohemian elegance of this asymmetrical one. It has a more whimsical look and takes up less visual real estate than a woven hanging.

Affix Bunches of Baskets

Diverge from the typical picture frame and decorate walls with baskets. This set of three Bohemian-inspired baskets feature rattan, bamboo, sedge fiber, and jute. They’ll add a burst of color and texture to any space.

Mount a Mirror (or Several)

There’s no easier way to add luxury to a home than with the use of mirrors. Mounting just one, or several, opens up the space as well as making a sophisticated statement. Hang mirrors opposite windows to take advantage of natural lighting. This unique, modern geo mirror is cut, soldered, sealed, and assembled—all by hand.

Hang a Bicycle

Whether you want to hang an antique bicycle for style purposes only or prefer to hang one that sees regular use, bicycles offer a playful way to decorate the walls. This 100 percent oak wood bike hanger is ideal for keeping a bicycle stored off the floor while putting it on display. The hanger doubles as a shelf to store other items, like keys, or to decorate with a vase of flowers, a framed picture, or some books.

Install Floating Shelves

Floating shelves provide a minimalistic design that looks clean on the wall. This streamlined floating shelf comes in a slim and sleek design that allows decorations to take center stage when placed on top.

Display Your Hat Collection

Let the most stylish hats in the closet decorate a wall in the bedroom. Simply grab some nails and hang the hats on them so they overlap and form a piece of artwork. Another option is to space a few large decorative hats out to fill up more of the wall.

Hang a Wall Clock

Clocks are a classic way to decorate a wall. This clean and retro look will go with any style. Go for a bold effect, and add a pop of color to the space by choosing the saffron yellow hue.

Pegboard

A pegboard looks good basically anywhere, and you can customize it as much as you want! 

Memories All Around

You can update your photo wall. You can display your life story with awesome photos depending on the space available.

If you are planning to add photos to the living room, then you may need a more formal approach by using a photo frame.

But for your bedroom, you can incorporate string lights and simply hang the photos with clips

Change Your Decor

No, I am not talking about choosing elegant furniture and spending a hefty sum on it. A simple way is to bring in accessories. You can either buy new accessories or just shuffle the place of accessories which you own.

For example, a vase that has been kept in the living room for a long time can be kept in the kitchen for some time. This gives your room a new look without burning a hole in your pocket.

Rearrange and Restyle Your Shelf

This is very simple. Shuffling and rearranging things around on a shelf can make your shelf look very different. You can also keep away things that have been kept on display for a while and substitute them with things that are in storage.

Handle Your Handles

Handles and doorknobs are very inexpensive and can be changed whenever you feel like it. 

Changing handles and doorknobs can definitely give the rooms a makeover. Wall Upgrades

Painting the walls is the first option that comes to our mind. Yes, you can definitely do that but it takes time. Another, easy and fast option that just takes a few hours to install is adding wallpaper. 

It looks stunning and is less tedious as compared to painting.

Wallpaper changes the entire look of the wall and seeing those prints on the wall is something different. To make a lasting impression, you can choose a bold print even if it is not in a bright color.

Hanging flower vases

Add greenery to the living room with beautiful hanging planters that you can create using recycled plastic bottles, coconut shells, or metal bowls. These plant hangers will save you the money you would otherwise spend on expensive planters from a store. Suspend the planters using nylon rope, copper, or brass tubing.

Changing the Covers

Change the covers of cushions, dining tables, etc. every once in a while. Get 2-3 varieties of covers for a single cushion and change it periodically. You can make it a regular phenomenon as it gives variety and a new look to your household stuff.

The Window Needs Some Attention too!

Windows are more often overlooked while redesigning the interior. Pick curtains that are both stylish and functional. Luxurious fabrics add to the richness of the house.  

Swap out your throw pillows

A simple home decor idea for our living room is to replace your throw pillows. Throw pillows are an easy way to accessorize and brighten a room, whether you buy them or make your own. Jillian says homeowners should throw out their older throw pillows and replace them with bright, fuller pillows—or just buy crisp new pillow covers. “Mix and match colors and textures, and blend different groupings,” she says. But more is not better. “There can be too many pillows, so make sure you don’t go overboard.” You can even change your pillows to coincide with the seasons.

Accent with accessories

Magazines are a great source of home decorating ideas and inspiration for how to accessorize a room. However, homeowners should expect to shop around for a decorating on a budget-friendly version of anything they see in a design magazine. “Accessories vary significantly in cost, but if you’re looking for a great deal there are plenty of discount home stores that offer stupendous finds, says Jillian. “My ‘go-to’ store for a lot of home design items (especially for clients decorating on a budget) is HomeGoods.”

Use bookshelves for more than books

Lines of books don’t have to look like a stuffy library. “Intersperse with a few framed photos and interesting bookends,” says Ana Cummings, design expert on CTV’s Homes & Lifestyles Canada. “Make sure it is neat and tidy—that alone speaks volumes.” For some interior design ideas, these vintage shelves offer enough room for both books and trinkets.

Stick to classic neutral walls

When in doubt on paint color, choose a classic neutral. Colors like beige, gray, greige, and yellow will always look fresh and on trend. What’s more, they pair well with everything. Limit bold accent colors to accessories, and you’ll never have to repaint an entire room because a bright color choice got to be too much.

Handmade rugs

You can adorn the kitchen floor using custom rugs. All you need is a sewing machine and some old fabric, towels, t-shirts, etc. You can also make a jute mat with a roll of rope. Create these DIY rugs for your kitchen area in any shape, size, or colour of your choice.

Ladder shelf

Building a vertical storage space from old ladders is a trending DIY room decor idea, especially for houses with space constraints. It is a versatile storage solution, as the ladder can be used as a bookshelf or as a flower pot stand in the balcony or patio. Simply repaint a wooden ladder in your favourite colour.

Gallery wall

A gallery wall, whether with artwork or family photographs, can enhance the beauty of the hallway. Create a fun statement by mixing a display of photos with wall art, quotes and quirky patterns. Fairy lights, wall photos, wooden hanger frames, or a grid panel are some DIY room decor ideas for a gallery wall.

By Jennifer Noonan

Assemble a Gallery

Use a blank wall to exhibit your best photos, be they of family or life’s adventures. You’ll become curator of a gallery that will interest your guests and let you take a walk down memory lane each time you pass by.

Display Dishes

Make a big impression by artfully displaying a collection of dishes or other objects on a blank wall. Use objects that are similar in color and tone; for example, devise an arrangement of simple white plates of varying shapes. A scheme using mirrors, hats, or vintage posters would be just as compelling. Let your creativity run wild.

Play With Plants

Breathe life into a room with a living wall of lush plants. Any well-lit, vertical space is a suitable environment. A living wall is not only a beautiful design feature, but it can also reduce noise, improve indoor air quality, and relieve stress through its calming effects. Can’t you just smell the pretty?

Show Off Mirrors

Round up an assortment of mirrors and hang them in attractive groupings, and your blank wall will become an artful centerpiece. A cluster of mirrors lends drama and distributes reflective light throughout your space as well.

Install Salvaged Wood

Give a blank wall a warm, rustic finish with an expanse of salvaged wood. Because every board has a story, the highly individual color and texture of weathered wood can imbue a once-sterile space with character.

Paint a Chalkboard

Your blank wall will truly become a canvas if you cover it with chalkboard paint. Let your wall reflect your current mood or just help you keep track of your slate of projects. Chalkboard paint is available in a variety of colors—one is sure to complement your design palette.

Store Your Wine

Let your blank wall do double duty by serving as both a work of art and a wine rack. This particular model is modular and comes in several finishes, but choices abound. No matter the size of your wine collection, there is a wall-mountable rack to suit your style.

Hang a Few Lights

Brighten up your blank wall—and your entire room—with a collection of wall lamps. Whether you choose a monochromatic scheme or a rainbow of colors, you’ll bring some major atmosphere into your space.

Dress It Up With a Decal

Apply a bit of wonderful to a blank space with a super-size wall decal. Decals are simple enough for a DIY beginner to handle and can make a huge statement with very little effort. Better yet, they are easily removable when it’s time for a change.

Put Up Shelves

Arrange those favorite objects and mementos on a display shelf, and your blank wall becomes the center of attention. Buy it or DIY it—either way, a shelf lets you enjoy your cherished pieces, turning them into focal points and conversation starters.