The ways we adorn our walls tells a lot about us. It also can help to drive home a design. Scale, colors, texture and pattern have to be correct for these items to really work. When people hire me to work on their homes often the décor scale/proportions are too small in relation to the wall space. I'll talk about some ways to add variety and correctly use your walls to amplify your design.
(photography by Caitlin Antje, LLC)
Wall hangings such as art and wall sculpture pieces are an investment and should be chosen wisely. Typically I'd recommend starting with hanging art or wall sculptures 8" above tables or sofas/chairs and lifting from there. It's important to select pieces that are not too small for the wall size or for the scale of the furniture they are hung over.
Mix it up. If you have a large canvas on one wall in the room, the next area should be a pair or a sculptural piece of something different. This is similar to mixing patterns in a space- the rule of thumb is that all the patterns shouldn't have the same scale. It's nice to vary the scale so things are balanced. This similar concept applies to your wall décor.
When considering your walls don't forget the window treatments, wallpaper or other textural feature walls. Be sure to select these intentionally. The areas you add a feature to should be the main wall you want to focus on when you enter the room. For example, this would be the fireplace wall or the wall in the bedroom your bed is on, etc.
(photography by Caitlin Antje, LLC)
In summary, smart decisions about size, scale and proportion of your wall décor really have an impact on the way your space feels in the end. It's important that each thing on your walls is proportionate and well balanced. This is something that is planned and verified when you hire me to help with your design. ;-)