Undoubtedly, brimming with immense potential, the empty space above the couch placed in your living room is a prime spot for featuring an incredible piece of art. That being said, it’s often quite confusing to determine what type of art should be displayed over the couch. While some stick with the traditional solution of hanging a single statement painting or an oversized photograph, there are plenty more options to choose from. Don’t feel overwhelmed with options available while you buy paintings or explore other works of art. Always go for something that you simply love!
Relax, switch on your creativity, and explore our list of interesting decor ideas.
Hang A Bold Piece of Art
The most common thing to fill up the blank space above the couch is to a single (maybe oversized) piece of art. However, it is very important that the art displayed is bold enough to make a statement, as the impact of a bland piece is minimal. While buying from a renowned online art gallery or directly from an artist’s studio, make sure that you choose a piece that is quite powerful, something that practically jumps off the wall.
Try to create an eye-catching focal point that commands the entire space and at the same time goes well with the entire decor of the living room. You can try something very huge in size, vibrant in color schemes, or graphically appealing in aesthetics and design. Ultimately, remember that the term bold is open to your own interpretation, you can define it in your own distinctive fashion, but ensure that it is striking enough to immediately draw everyone’s attention in the living room.
If stuck, take a cue from the design ideas of popular interior decorators or simply hang a colorful painting or compelling print above your couch to make a big impact in your living room.
Create a Gallery Wall
Sometimes you may find that hanging a single piece of art on the stark wall above the couch is just isn’t enough. This is when creating a mix of several artworks can really save the day. Creating a gallery wall gives you the opportunity to create a really dramatic impact in your den. However, always remember that while putting pieces for a gallery wall, all of the items chosen should together act as one cohesive unit.
Here are some tips for creating a stunning gallery wall:
- Ensure that the center of the entire display is at eye level.
- Go for using a level to hang at least the first couple of pieces of the gallery as if any row is crooked or slanted, the whole set up of the gallery would look off-kilter.
- While hanging the artworks go for uniform spacing so that the installation doesn’t appear messy, something maybe two inches (not more than five inches) is a good idea. For precision use tape as a measuring tool for the spacers. Uneven spacing or too much space between pieces will make the entire arrangement come off as haphazard.
- While creating a gallery above the sofa, it is always better to hang the bottom pieces of art first. You can start building the lowest row about eight or ten inches above the back of the couch and later move to expand the arrangement up.
Deciding on the layout is often the most confusing part of the gallery wall. So, it’s always best to plan the display layout before you start hanging. You can either use cardboard pieces of similar sizes as of the artworks and stick using painter’s tape on the wall or simply place the pieces on the ground and play around with the arrangement until you find the one that woos your heart.
Go for African Juju Hat
In most of the stylish home decor setups across North America, African Juju hats have become a trendsetter. Originally worn by tribal chiefs, royal dancers, and imminent dignitaries during royal court affairs in the city of Cameroon, these hats are made up of huge, wild bird feathers often colorful. Considered to be symbolic of prosperity, these hats are believed to possess all the inherent positive qualities of birds, such as freedom and liveliness.
These hats come in a multitude of colors that perhaps one can imagine, textures and designs. Acting as a statement piece, juju hat can dramatically transform your space. They look great in the modern global living room settings. You can either hang one above the couch creating a simple and stylish focal piece or display a few juju hats together for an even bolder impact.
Hang Floating Shelves
As homes get smaller in size, storage becomes more and more important, this makes most of us utilize every available bit of space to display our little trinkets, artworks, and treasures. For such homes with limited spaces. Shelving placed above the couch can be a great way to solve the pertinent issue of storage, at the same time allow you to creatively display your accessories. This is when floating shelves seem like a great option, so are shelves with pretty brackets. However, always ensure that they are sturdy enough to hold the weight and installed correctly, try putting it directly into a stud, so that doesn’t fall.
When installing these shelves, make sure to hang them at eye level—or if you go for a grouping of a few pieces together, keep the center of the entire group at eye level. You can either go for centering the shelves above the sofa or plan an asymmetrical arrangement. Also, for an eclectic look, you can consider combining shelves with additional uncanny sconces and artwork.
Mount An Interesting Sculpture
For creating unique and one-of-a-kind looks, you can consider hanging sculptures made up of interesting materials and unconventional shapes. Don’t restrict yourself to the traditional works of sculpture but explore the whole world of this medium. You can go for golden carved art, faux antlers, shining ceramic plates, spellbound ceramic works, or interesting punched metal sculptures. However, make sure to look for pieces that don’t have a lot of depth so they don’t end up infringing the space.
Place Mirrors
Most of us would agree that mirrors are important decor tools for any space. With the ability to reflect light, they open up the entire space and make rooms look better and comparatively larger. The wall space above the couch is a great place to hang a large mirror, but if possible try hanging it across from windows or some other decorative item that’s fascinating.
Don’t go for placing a mirror over the couch simply because you have one or two spare pieces available, however always ensure that it matches everything else in the living room. While hanging a series of small mirrors together over the couch, follow the same tips as while creating a gallery wall, ensuring to carefully consider size, shape, and the finish of the frames of the mirrors and treating them as one unit when deciding on placement.
Display Maps
Undoubtedly, maps are a fantastic way to add a sense of exploration and adventure to a space. They are also an interesting way of paying homage to the places you have traveled to or dream to go in the future. What’s great about considering maps to decorate the wall above the couch is that you have so many options to choose from — colorful, sepia-toned, black and white, vintage, city, country, transit, nautical and more.
You can easily purchase maps from any home decor store, antique shop, flea markets, or even use maps from old atlases and magazines. The key is to go for displaying a map that reflects you — imagination and dreams, something you relate to and perhaps is meaningful to you. Most maps often look best when framed, so you can consider having a custom frame made if your piece does not come with.
Final Words
When hanging a piece of art above the couch, the most common mistake that people commit is to hang something that is too small. Always keep in mind to go for a piece, whatever it may be, of size about two-thirds the width of your couch (unless you deliberately want something purposely over-scale). The same rule applies if you are planning to place a group of pieces. Other than that, all other suggestions can be manipulated as per taste, choice, and preferences — don’t hesitate to be creative, choose something that simply makes you smile every time.