You've chosen your colour palette, your furniture is just where you want it, but something's still missing – and it's often what to display on the living room walls that can leave us pondering. That's why we've come up with 10 tips for decorating the wall behind your sofa, so you can make sure that the big expanse of wall behind your seating is just as eye-catching as the rest of your living room ideas.
If you're finding yourself wondering what to hang or how high to hang it, then you've come to the right place, as we've got lots of inspiration and styling tips to ensure you don't make an expensive mistake.
1. Hang a gallery feature wall
Gallery walls have become hugely popular, with a mix of framed prints and other objects used to create eye-catching displays. What makes living room feature walls particularly ideal for the wall behind the sofa is that you can add as many or few items as you like, meaning you can tailor them to the amount of space you want to fill.
2. Build bespoke shelving
There's no hard and fast rule that says your sofa has to sit flush against a wall, so why not pull it out and build – or hang – shelving behind it? That way you can fill the shelves with decorative objects that become the stars of the show.
Having shelves behind your sofa also makes it easy to reach behind to grab a book or place the remote control, and as long as the shelves don't jut out at head height, you don't have to worry about knocking things off. Here, the shelves have been painted the same colour as the wall, door and door frame in a beautiful blue-grey colour, while the rose-coloured sofa adds a punchy contrast.
3. Prop up large artworks or canvases
Hanging artworks isn't the only way to display them… buy large enough designs and prop them on the floor behind your sofa or on a slim console table. It's ideal for rented properties or if you don't want to mark the walls. Alternatively, wallpaper or paint tall canvases or MDF panels, which are easy to switch out when you grow bored of them, without the need for redecorating.
4. Create a theme
Use the blank wall behind your sofa to bring your scheme to life and show off any theme you might have. Here, a floral design has been carried through to the artworks, with a small table used used to display fresh flowers in the same colours. The birdcage ties in with the birds in the artwork and on the cushions, too.
5. Create height with a shelf
If you don't have the luxury of high ceilings, one way to cheat it is to hang a shelf up high, as it draws the eye up and creates the illusion of height.
Here, instead of having varying shelves behind the sofa, which can make a small room feel even more enclosed, one long floating shelf runs across the top of the wall, creating a neat spot to display accessories in an orderly fashion