Aesthetic Wall Ideas

As far as interior decorating goes, we often unprioritize wall space. As tempting as it may be to resort to colorful, busy wallpapers, or even a tasteful accent wall, sometimes a white wall can truly be a decorator’s best friend. Like paint brushstrokes on a canvas, wall decor items can help bring dimension to a room, and turn even the most boring room into a wondrous marvel to look at. And naturally, we couldn’t just keep our aesthetic wall ideas to ourselves.

One of the best things about wall decor is that besides being aesthetically pleasing, it can be quite functional. In homes where horizontal space is lacking, it’s always great to make use of walls. Be it through mounted shelves, hook racks, or light fixtures, wall decoration items serve more than an aesthetic purpose.

It is with this in mind that today we bring you this article. Here at The Other Aesthetic, we aim to help you find your personal aesthetic and inspire you to give new decor trends a try (that maybe otherwise you wouldn’t). Through all aspects of interior decorating, walls are undoubtedly one of the most important elements. We hope that our aesthetic wall ideas will help you upgrade your space and make you feel happier at home.

Now, without further ado, let’s jump right to it!

Charm + Functionality

Who said that wall shelves have to be boring? Floating shelves might be the latest craze among millennials, but the rustic look of wooden slivers perfectly aligned with one another is not necessarily the most appealing solution for everybody.

Sometimes all you need is a little metal geometric accent or to have them hanging on with sturdy ropes. Although glass shelves are typically a bathroom staple, you can likely find a nice enough variation that is worthy of seeing the sun through your bedroom window. Likewise, you could always opt for acrylic or metal grid racks if classic wood is far too conventional for you.

The truth is that, besides being a charming feature, shelves offer surface space, which can be used to organize or showcase your belongings. Books are always an excellent go-to, but should you have an exceptional green thumb, having your plant babies on display may just be the best idea. You could also use these surfaces to set smaller decor items, picture frames, electronic gadgets, and pretty much any other object you could think of.

Dress The Walls

For many centuries, wall tapestries have been synonymous with color, art, and tradition. This textile-based decoration has been long favored by many cultures, often doubling as depictions of history. Nowadays, a good wall tapestry isn’t made available only to the wealthy and noble, and there are millions of variations in themes, patterns, and colors. Finding a tapestry that calls to you is most likely not that big of a challenge.

Nowadays, tapestries are a novelty once more, mostly used to bring life to an otherwise dull room. This home decor trend has gained so much momentum that even notorious artists are allowing their art to be featured in tapestries. From natural landscapes to astrological motifs, botanical imagery, and bohemian mandalas. There is truly no shortage of visual depictions, and the trick is in finding one that fits your color scheme and preferred aesthetic.

Fans of the goblincore and art hoe aesthetics might be better suited with botanical or tarot elements. Alternatively, fans of the vaporwave aesthetic would be most drawn to pastel color palettes or depictions of eastern Asian culture (such as the infamous Great Wave off Kanagawa). But if your loyalties lie with the grunge movement, you might be more inclined to keep it neutral, with a sizable black and white piece, maybe featuring astrology maps, skeleton portraits, or musical references.

Hooked On The Aesthetic

Hooks are a messy person’s best friend – truly! Say goodbye to the sad pile of tote bags and coats at the bottom of the bed or tangled necklaces in your vanity drawer. And by now you surely realize that hooks don’t have to be bland either. There is no lack of fun options, many of which take inspiration from natural elements and people’s passions.

Jewelry, keys, bags, and clothes are some of the items you can hang on hooked pieces. We’ve seen some very interesting decorative hooks made of plant and animal sculptures, guitar heads, and even amplifiers! If you would prefer something more on the minimal side, you can always opt for wooden knobs. If you’re a fan of the dark academia aesthetic, then maybe vintage metal hooks or wrought iron installations might be the best options for you. But should you prefer a more customizable option, you can always buy a metal grid and individual hooks and pins, and hang anything up to your heart’s desire.

Hanging By A String

No aesthetic wall ideas guide would be complete without a few hanging strings. Ivy and floral garlands are by far the most popular option, especially among cottagecore aficionados. Nevertheless, planet and moon garlands follow in a close second, undoubtedly thanks to all the astronomy and astrology-minded folks out there. What’s more, these popular variations are often merged with string lights – another major wall decor trend across aesthetics.

Speaking of lights, besides the conventional Christmas-ey type, we’ve found that shaped and adorned bulbs are beautiful additions to any room. And those who do default to the classical fairy lights have also found new ways to get creative with them. These can be hung vertically, parallel to sibling stings, to dress up a whole wall while simultaneously illuminating the room. Alternatively, some like to cascade the lights with small pictures clipped on them with little wooden clothespins.

And because they are mostly made up of hung strings, rope wall decor items are an inventive way to add some rustic charms to a place. Some of these may very well be laced with string lights, merging together these two major elements. Others can double as dreamcatchers, with intricate woven designs and feathers hanging from their ends.

Reflective Frames

No bedroom is complete without a good mirror, this much is not up for debate. The challenge is choosing one that will not stand out like a sore thumb in a room that’s decorated in a very different fashion. Luckily for you, we too enjoy a good reflective surface, so we have plenty of ideas to share on this front.

Standing mirrors are incredibly useful, and not just for outfit appreciation selfies! These can be beautifully adorned by a golden frame, which incidentally is very trendy across several aesthetics. Alternatively, they could have a very thin wooden or acrylic frame, tastefully contouring the glass. And you can choose to either mount them on the wall or simply have them leaning on it.

Makeup mirrors come in many shapes and formats, but they are a quintessential piece for any beauty lover. Vintage and minimalistic metal styles are by far the most popular. And to DIY a Hollywood-style vanity, you can always stick LED lights on a mirror table. As for handheld vintage mirrors, if you are able to collect a few, you can hang them as you would pictures, creating an interesting wall feature in the bedroom.

Other Aesthetic Wall Ideas

Regardless of the favored aesthetic, many people nowadays have ditched conventional framed pictures for more personalized wall murals. These are mostly made up of postcards, photographs, posters, and artistic or poetic drafts, all tastefully arranged in colorful collages. Some of these also feature other elements that we’ve mentioned before, such as string lights or ivy garlands.

Musical lovers have successfully transformed their preferences into wall decor items. These include records, band posters, album covers, and the odd neon light fixture, for rock’n’roll sake of course. Likewise, we can point out artsy folks’ ability to arrange watercolor drawings, pencil sketches, dried floral twigs, and botanical posters on the wall.

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What about you? What are some of your best aesthetic wall ideas? Have you figured out how to take your bedroom walls to the next level yet? We can only hope that this guide provided sufficient inspiration for that.

Now, if you’d like to browse some aesthetic-specific ideas, we recommend you take a peek into our indie room ideas or dark academia room ideas. You can also check out our room ideas index and find your favorite aesthetic.

Finally, make sure to browse through our shop not only for aesthetic wall decor items but for any others that will help you upgrade your space.

Happy shopping!