Choosing artwork to hang on the walls can be intimidating, especially if you want to create a grouping with art. How do you know what “works” together on a wall? How do you pull the look of a room together, including art?
I’ve shared posts here on the blog with tips for artwork, like these two posts: How to Choose Art for Your Home (+ Favorite Art Sources), and 10 Helpful Guidelines for Decorating Walls (more in depth on why I choose certain art and placements).
Because it’s a question I get often, I wanted to share 3 common decorating mistakes or challenges when displaying artwork (and will show you a couple of fun art mood inspiration boards, too!).
Of course, art is so personal and there is not a “one size fits all” rule for decorating, if you ask me. I’ve seen amazing gallery art walls that break all the rules and I LOVE THEM! I hope you find these tips helpful as guidelines, but above all, do what you love! Find what works in your home and makes YOU happy!
Also in this post, don’t miss the buy one get one free art print sale and mood boards with pretty art combinations!
Here are 3 common decorating mistakes people often make with displaying artwork:

Using all small artwork

Choosing art in varied sizes, shapes and scales and including larger pieces will provide more visual interest than many small frames. If you feel like your room is too busy, look for oversized art that can make a statement without adding visual clutter.
2. Displaying too much artwork with quotes or words
Art displaying a quote or words can make graphic statement in a room. But too many quotes or words displayed on every wall can make you feel like you’re being shouted at from around the room. Many words in a room (on the wall or even pillows, for example) also can create a frantic mood because your eyes won’t know where to land (they are busy darting around the room trying to read all the things).
I prefer a room where art and design contributes to the overall mood but doesn’t overwhelm you with too many thoughts or competing elements. Words can be so meaningful though, so if you feel like you should pare down, pick your favorite piece and make that message a focal statement on the wall.
3. Not creating a cohesive design and color palette
Art can be a wonderful complement to your entire room and color palette, or it can make the room feel very disjointed. Think about your room as a whole, using the artwork as an opportunity to pull the room’s design, mood and color scheme together. Or use art to punch up the impact of one favorite hue to make a bolder color statement. To make a color splash, start with a palette that feels cohesive and pleasing through your accessories, furniture, and even plants/flowers. Then choose one favorite color from your palette for a statement art piece that will bring the room to life (and help bring your eye around the room to where that color appears in smaller doses!). Ideally, repeat your statement color three times around the room in smaller doses.
Be sure to consider the design of each of your art pieces for a wall or that you plan to have around the room, too, so you can pull together groupings that will make a pleasing statement overall. Varied pieces of art can be tied together with a unified color scheme.
We made a couple of art mood boards that you can see, below!
Learn more of my decor guidelines for hanging art here.
By the way, I stumbled on a wonderful art sale going on right now! Buy one get one free Rifle Paper Co art prints — ends 3/24.
Click HERE to shop!
I thought it would be fun to create two mood boards that show art pairings that I think work well together in a room (using some of the Rifle Paper art prints that are on sale right now!), as well as share a few tips on why they work.

For the mood board above, there are varied subjects with the botanical print, a portrait with the words “C’est la vie”, a landscape (Paris), and a print with small simple objects (bobby pins). The color palette of black and white with pops or red/orange tie this varied grouping together. The statement phrase sets a whimsical mood for the art and space as well! Note that red/orange is also reflected in the rug, so this palette will have a pleasing effect in the room.
Sources for above: Dresser // Faux Potted Rubber Tree // Poppy Botanical Floral Art Print // Paris Sketch Art Print // C’est La Vie Art Print // Bobby Pin Art Print // Patterned Rug // Rattan Lamp

For the mood board above, we paired a floral, quote, a detailed house landscape/pattern print, and a simple ostrich print. The house/landscape print pulls together a color scheme for the room. The sage green color, blues, black and tan work well together. The light green pillow on the sofa pulls out a statement color from the art and helps bring the eye around the room in a pleasing way. The rug and sofa are neutrals that let the art in this space be more in focus!
Sources for above: Sofa // Faux Green Leaf Tree // The World is Your Oyster Art Print // Sage Green Daisies Art Print // House Pattern Art Print // Ostrich Art Print // Green Pillow // Leather Storage Ottoman // Gold Shade Floor Lamp // Indoor Outdoor Natural Stripe Rug //
Buy one get one free Rifle Paper Co art prints — ends 3/24. Click HERE to shop!

Click here for a recent post with MORE pretty art for spring!
For more decorating tips, see my book But Where Do I Put The Couch? And Answers to 100 Other Home Decorating Questions.
How to Decorate (Room By Room Inspiration) More

A room always seems to feel more fresh and alive to me when there’s a plant in the room. Better yet, when there are several plants! I bet if you study photos of rooms you like, you’ll notice how many of them have at least one plant. Using faux plants in a room or a mix of real and faux is often a designer secret for more lush and beautiful spaces.
But plants are not just a designer trick for staging or beautiful photos, I think plants make a house feel more “homey.” While I always recommend trying real plants whenever possible for their health benefits and natural beauty, there are certainly times and spaces where faux might be the way to go.
I recently bought a couple of faux plants for our basement! Our lower level gets a good amount of natural light so plants can be quite happy down there, but sometimes I forget to water them. Faux plants were a great solution. I love this artificial potted jade plant, and these artificial potted moss plants. They need hardly any care, can be moved around anywhere, they always look green even when I neglect them. They make this room feel happier and more welcoming, and that makes me happier, too!

Artificial potted moss plant

Jack likes them too. 😉
PS. If you missed the full tour of our cozy cottage basement, click here!

Scroll and click the images below for details!

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More Sources:
Navy paint color: Hale Navy Benjamin Moore
White brick paint: Simply White Benjamin Moore
Flooring Details
Faux jade potted plant.
Faux potted moss.
Neva Sofa from Sixpenny in Jasmine Rice. Read more about our sofa here.
Blue and white patterned rug
Similar coffee table.
Similar leather pouf.
Our Leather Sofa
Similar blue and white pillows.

Want to know more designer secrets?
Click HERE for the secret ingredient every room needs!
Click HERE for my How to Decorate page (decorating inspiration room by room).
Click HERE for a post in my “Take Away Tips” series, sharing ideas from a charming home on Martha’s Vineyard.

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While I love finding style inspiration in the online community, one of my FAVORITE ways to expand and grow more confident in my own style is to study the images of beautiful homes in design books. Holding a book in hand, turning the pages at a leisurely pace is the best! It’s a return to the past, something I learned to enjoy back in the days before we had so much (too much?) inspiration at our fingertips. I love the slower pace of savoring books. I find I appreciate the details so much more than quickly scrolling past thousands of teeny squares.
My daughter Courtney and I recently did a LIVE video going through some of my favorite design books and talking about why we love them (you can watch the replay HERE).
I even like to look at books that I don’t think are necessarily “exactly my style” because they inspire me to think outside of the box! It’s easy to get in a rut or stuck looking only at what is current and trendy online. I find books are wonderful for expanding my point of view, learning about classic design elements and getting inspired by other color palettes, furnishings and architecture around the country and world, too.

Each time I move to a new home I get excited all over again to bring out my books (and add to my book collection) for inspiration! While my general style and sensibilities and things I love tend to go with me, each home offers new opportunities to mix things up and have fun with style. I love to blend my preferences with the home’s unique features and atmosphere to create a new look, one that feels fresh and yet makes me feel at home wherever I am. Beautiful design books are definitely helpful to me in the process!
If you’d like to watch the replay of our LIVE video on “finding your design style” and see some of our favorite coffee table books, you can watch it here.

Here are some questions you could use as a guide to help you learn as you’re studying and getting inspired by design books!

How would you describe this style?
What is the mood of the room? Why does the mood inspire you?
Describe the personality of people who might live in a room like this. Would their lifestyle resonate with you and your family?
What are the main things you see when you first look at the room?
What are some subtle features that you notice when you look more closely? Be sure to notice things like the shapes, the textures, the colors, the proportions, patterns…
What role does the architecture play in this room? Do you have similar architecture or would you be able to add something similar in your home?
Do you like the color palette? What if this same room had a different palette, would you like it better?
Look at the art and accessories. Also notice their placement. What do you like or not like about them?
What are some simple ideas you could take away from this inspiration room?

Click HERE to watch the replay of our live video (how to find your style and favorite design books)!
Scroll and click the arrows below for some of my favorite coffee table books:

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Click here for books by The Inspired Room, including my New York Times bestseller Love the Home You Have.

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Book sources above:
Beautiful
More Beautiful
Coastal Blues
A Place to Call Home
Timeless
One Man’s Folly
Nora Murphy’s Country House Style
Visions of Home
The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have
See more in our video! More

Cozy and Inviting (Get the Look!) is a fun periodic “mini-series” on The Inspired Room!
To get that “cozy and inviting” mood many of us crave for our home, in this series I share a variety of inspiration rooms that feel cozy and inviting to me (for a variety of reasons!). Then I quickly brainstorm a list of whatever elements I see that I think help create that mood. We will also feature items or tips to “get the look” into your own home.
Today’s inspiration rooms are all from a beautiful home I found in New England Home Magazine. It is a traditional look with a bit of a coastal vibe, it feels so cozy and collected! Enjoy the inspiration images below and then you’ll find some design observations and get the look sources below.

Wallpaper – KASAI Wallpaper at Thibaut

Here are some of my observations and notes on what stands out to me about this home. At end of this post you’ll find a design mood board and more pieces I would consider including in the design if I was styling a similar space!

Rattan accent pieces
Antique looking dining table and bed
Soothing paint colors
Fun pops of green
Accessories and furniture with a collected look
Fun patterns used in the window treatments, garden stools, wallpaper, artwork, pillows and furniture
Warm wood in every photo
Unique accent lighting
Twisted taper candles
Natural rugs with subtle patterns
Books (I have a fun post full of rooms decorated with books here)
Interesting details on furniture and accessories like fringe, tassels, trim
Fun pattern lampshades (gingham, scalloped woven, pleated with pattern)
Landscape paintings and chinoiserie botanical artwork
Decorating with collections (blue and white pottery, books, baskets, the green cabbage dishes, books etc)
Inviting seating areas (window seat, plenty of dining seating, conversation area in living room)
Lively plants and flowers

See more photos of this home here: New England Home Magazine

Mood board sources (click links below):
Turquoise twist taper candles
Green and white geometric ottoman
Gold metal adjustable wall sconce
Framed landscape summer mountains artwork
Round rattan wall mirror
Green and white floral vine curtains
Green ceramic lamp
Blue and white ikat pillows
Taper turned wood candlesticks
Green ceramic cabbage plate
6 light brass round chandelier with white shades
Taper turned wood candlestick set
Blue and white ceramic garden stool
Teak oval wood stool
Blue and white ginger jar
Blue and white ginger jar with lid
Striped jute sisal rug
Cane back wood dining chair (and here is a woven wicker dining chair with blue velvet seat)

More similar sources below (click thumbnails for details):

You can find other posts in the Cozy & Inviting Get the Look series below!
Cozy & Inviting: Dining RoomCozy & Inviting: Coastal Living RoomCozy & Inviting: Kitchen More

This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

Shopping for new things in a store or online can definitely be fun (especially when you’re excited about fall decorating or making your home cozier for winter!) but I think rearranging what you already have can be just as (if not more) rewarding! Do you agree?
If you’re new to decorating, I’m glad you are here to learn. Today I’ll let you in on my favorite decorating tip…a secret decor strategy you may have always wondered about (and I’ll talk a bit about why I moved my blue lamp to this room!)
Of course, if you’re a seasoned decorator, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you’ve been following me for years, you have watched me decorate this way over and over AND OVER AGAIN! It works and it’s fun, too. You’ve seen me decorate this way over time, through makeovers in a variety of rooms, homes, in all of the seasons.

When you are new to decorating, you might wonder (like I did years ago) if you have to buy things all the time in order to love your home. Have you wondered how some people’s styles can look so eclectic and unique, while some look almost identical to a few others you’ve seen?
Or maybe you’ve wondered if people have to redecorate to keep up with certain trends. Perhaps you have noticed how some people seem to pull together in room in a hurry without buying anything new. Maybe you (like I did!) wonder how others were able to afford all of that new furniture or decor!
It might seem like it’s all a mystery, or maybe just an endless cycle of spending a fortune is required to decorate or stay in style.
Sometimes people are able to spend a fortune on all new furniture or seasonal decor. It’s true. That’s one way to do it! But those of you who’ve been collecting their furniture or accessories over time know my style secret. Once you go this direction, it not only saves money but gives you a more unique and collected look that can stand the test of time. This secret offers you the opportunity to refresh your home every season without spending a fortune.

My secret decorating tip is to collect pieces you love over time. When you decorate this way, it’s fun to update a room even without buying new things because YOU LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE. When you chose wisely to begin with, your look doesn’t go out of style. You get to go shopping in your own home and quite often you’ll find just the right piece to complete a space or decorate for the new season.
And when you don’t have what you need but you have the funds to add to your collection or you find something special enough to buy, you can do that, too! Every time you add a new piece (or several) to what you’ve have collected over the years, you get a fresh updated new look and can quickly pull your home together in any season.
This is precisely what I’ve been doing in our new home, just like I have repeatedly in every home we’ve lived in. Sure, I might buy a new accessory, a rug, or even furniture if the budget allows and right item is discovered. But I also love when I do NOT have to buy something new. I enjoy mixing and matching and rearranging what I have until the room feels right to me.
If I stumble upon something somewhere that I love (or if what I have just does not work well in a new space), then hooray, I thoroughly enjoy adding the new item.
Source: Reversible Blanket on Back of Sofa
As you can see, I moved my blue glass lamp here from my upstairs office. I loved it upstairs (I love it in every room to be honest!), but I wanted a round lamp in this corner. I felt l like it needed a larger round lamp as a statement piece, but something that wouldn’t block the light from the window.
For a week or two I had a beautiful tiffany style lamp sitting there that we’ve had for several decades (and is apparently back in vogue!). We love it, but after living with it in that spot for awhile, I decided I’d like it better in the other corner. (Even if you’re a seasoned decorator, a lot of times decorating involves moving items around until you love them where they are!) So off I went to shop for something in my home that would work.
Turns out, the blue glass lamp was just right! It’s weighty enough to fill some of the space there, but airy enough to allow light and color from the outside window flows through the glass. I do miss this lamp upstairs, but I only have one so this spot took priority!
I bought that lamp on sale a few years ago for my last living room because it just felt like ME. Remember the blue glass lamp I made myself? I feel like blue glass lamps will always work somewhere in my home. Around the same time as the blue lamp was added, I bought this blue rug and now here they are, paired together again.
Buying new things over time expands your options and updates your current look. Pairing things you have collected over time, or with any new item you choose to get, is what creates your unique STYLE!
Do you like to decorate this way, too?
More Inspiration:
How to Decorate a Fall Mantel (Using What You Have)
Favorite Design Books + Video on Finding Your Style
How to Decorate: The Slow Process to a Style You’ll Love
Traditional and Collected Coastal Style: Get the Look
One Essential Decor Element You Probably Need More of In Your Home
The Secret to Finding Your Style and Feeling More at Home Where You Live
4 Important First Steps to Take When Designing a Room
My Decorating and Homemaking Books

Catch up on more posts in our Fall Nesting Series! More