Embellish Generic Wall Decor to Standout

DESIGN PROBLEM – WALL DECOR THAT MAKES AN IMPACT

You always want to make the most of your room décor. But when you have limitations on what you can do in your space due to location, size, or layout your décor needs to multi-task. My husband’s office is a renovated 1920’s house. When we finished the basement to add more office and conference space, there were definitely limitations with what we could do architecturally and layout-wise. So key design principles needed to be incorporated via decor choices.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR WALL DECOR

Basements of older homes come with some unique design considerations namely:

• layout due to utilities like HVAC and water heaters
• ceiling height, usually less than 8ft in old homes
• lighting, limited with small windows and cumbersome with low ceilings

The layout in my husband’s basement office was a bit disjointed due to the placement of the utilities. So I wanted to use wall décor to incorporate some sense of symmetry where possible. Further, in a 1920’s house, the basement ceiling was low in general and ductwork and piping created even lower bulkhead areas. In order to counteract this, I wanted wall décor to have a vertical element as well.

MY UPCYCLED CANDLE WALL SCONCE

Candle wall sconces nearly always come in pairs. This makes them excellent wall décor choices to create a sense of symmetry. Better yet, they are nearly always vertical. So I purchased a fairly generic pair and spray painted the metal sconces. Yet, in a smaller, awkward space I needed to make a real impact on both of these design elements. Hence, I needed to find ways to follow the Golden Ratio Rule and increase the visual space that the sconces occupied.

My first choice was to layer the metal sconce on top of a larger backboard. Since offices can often feel sterile, I opted to use a padded fabric backboard. This allowed me to add texture, color, and pattern to soften the space.

The backboard increased the visual space of the candle wall sconce, but it was still not large enough to really create the maximum visual impact. I could have chosen to create a much larger backboard to accomplish this. However, the ratio of the wall sconce size to the backboard size would not have been in the right proportion. So I instead, I opted to add another layer with contrasting paint behind the backboard framed out with molding. Molding not only increases the visual space by defining it as a grouping, but it also adds architectural interest to an otherwise blank wall.

DIY WALL DECOR FROM OFFICE TO BEDROOM

Looking to incorporate these same ideas into a more feminine space like a girl’s bedroom? Easy-peasy. Simply change the fabric and inset paint choices to match your color scheme. Finally, you can add more ornate decorative molding, even if it’s just in the corners, to really enhance your décor style.

Get access to the Style Library to see how I incorporated these painted molding areas throughout the entire office to increase cohesion with repeat patterns.