The dining room can be such a challenge to design, so if you are feeling your way through it, I’ve got your back. It’s a space that serves very specific purposes throughout the year. Family gatherings happen here! It can be exciting and overwhelming. You want to be able to host your loved ones in a way that makes your time together special.
A lot of the time, you also want to be able to make use of the dining room when you are not hosting. It’s really nice when your dining room becomes a little bit more versatile. Whether it’s a place to do work, eat together even on weeknights, or have Sunday family dinner, you want to feel good when you’re there.
If you’re thinking about art for your dining room then you’re in the right place. We’re going to talk through where you should even start and walk together through each step along the way.
This post is all about art for dining room wall! Let’s get into it.
Where to start finding art for dining room wall
With a dining room, you want the art in the space to draw you in. This is such an important aspect of this room that could otherwise go unused on a day to day basis.
On the other hand, the purpose of the dining room is to be your space to entertain friends and family when you want to. In order to feel confident in entertaining people, you want to feel confident about how your space functions and feels. The design makes a big difference here. Especially the art that you choose to put on your walls – it can really boost your confidence and elevate the feel of your space.
I love this pin because it’s a great example of mixing casual and formal qualities in your dining room. Also, the way that the art is arranged on the wall is so tasteful. It adds so much to the design of this room.
The art on your dining room walls can draw you in on a regular basis. Do you see where I’m going here? The art you choose has a high impact. This information is not supposed to make you feel like it’s a high pressure situation. Rather, it’s supposed to empower you to feel like the time and money that you put into choosing the art for dining room is time well spent.
Ultimately, you want artwork on your walls that makes your space feel authentic and inviting. The authenticity will make the space feel like it’s yours, and the inviting nature of your dining room will draw you and your guests in. You will feel comfortable and confident in your space and be able to enjoy it that much more.
So, how do we get started? Typically, I recommend that you start by picking a layout of where you want art on your dining room walls. Let’s talk more about what exactly this means in the next section.
Figuring out a layout for the art on your dining room walls
This step is so helpful. We’re going to talk about the different layouts you can choose for your dining room walls. These layouts are the ones that I see being used most frequently. And more importantly, I think that they look the best!
Gallery wall
I’m sure that you’ve seen a gallery wall before, and I hope that you love them as much as I do. If you’re less sure about them, there are other options. But also, there are a lot of different ways to approach a gallery wall! You can have a more eclectic look or a classic and more traditional look.
This pin is a great example of a more eclectic layout. I personally love the way that the layout of the art on this wall feels so natural and whimsical. It is an imaginative way to create a layout. The trick with this kind of layout is that it looks effortless, but requires a good eye and some planning to do well. If you’re not sure where to start, try cutting out pieces of paper that are the same size as your frames and tape them up on the wall with painter’s tape. That way you can experiment with moving things around without getting a bunch of holes in the wall.
I love this next pin because it shows a more traditional gallery wall layout. Especially if you are doing all family photos, this has such a classic look. It’s a little bit easier to do because it is a grid layout. Be aware of spacing and how many inches you want between each frame. You probably don’t want more than 4 inches of space between the frames for this layout. Also, this layout definitely looks best with uniform frames!
I have a lot more inspiration saved for you to check out on Pinterest! Click here for more inspiration on gallery walls on Pinterest.
Triptych
Wonderful things come in three’s! Am I making that up or is that a real thing? Triptychs are a format of art where you have three separate parts that come together to make a whole. In my post about art for bedroom walls, I talked a little bit about how beautiful triptychs can look over a headboard in your bedroom.
Turns out they also can look really amazing in a dining room. If you’re looking for small dining room wall decor ideas, a triptych is a safe bet. It also can work really well if you are looking for large art for dining room. I know this might sound contradictory, but you can create a triptych with artwork of any size. As long as you find a art in a size that works well for your space, this format is foolproof.
Sometimes you can find art that is meant to be a triptych, like the flowers in the pin below. This of course works wonderfully. The cool thing about this layout, though, is that you can also create a triptych with art that you put together yourself. When you’re finding you art for dining room wall you can keep this layout in mind and find three works of art that work together. I love how you can get more creative with this format if you want to, and add your own flare to it.
Layering
Working in layers is probably the hardest layout to do really successfully. If you feel less confident in your design abilities, I would recommend going for one of the other two options. Gallery walls and triptychs are so beautiful and tend to be easier to make really personalized and unique. Layering different pieces throughout a room is not easy.
One way that you can create layers of art throughout your dining room is by having one large piece of art and then a few cute pairings of art. Or, like in the pin below, you can have a few different cute pairings of art. I love how the art in this pin has all different frames, and has two opposite stacks. On the left the larger piece of art is on the bottom, and on the right the larger piece of art is on the top. This creates a well curated feel and looks unique and beautiful.
Find your art
This search can be really tough! You’ve already done so much thinking about this and probably are feeling ready to see the end result. This last part is worth slowing down and taking your time on, though.
Eventually (hopefully in the next year!) I will be curating collections here on Garland Collections so that you can buy your art right here. I can’t wait to work with emerging artists and share their art with you. For now, I encourage you to look for local artists in your area by doing a little bit of Google searching. Another great option is Etsy!
If you’re interested in getting hands-on design help from me, you can reach out to me using the email listed on my contact page. All inquiries can be directed there!
My main piece of advice with finding art is to take the time to find something unique that you love. Don’t go to TJ Maxx and Target for art. They’re great stores for so many other things, but not art. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the appeal to shopping there for art – it seems quick and easy. But art that you take a little bit of extra time to find will be so much more meaningful to you and will add so much character to your home. It also makes your house look more high-end, which is a plus.
The next step once you find art that you’re excited about is to pick out frames!
Find your frames
I have a blog post all about frames. You can learn more about framing and all things frames here. I go over some helpful dos and don’ts of how to frame your art and talk about my favorite places to shop for frames.
I will say, if you decide to do a gallery wall in your dining room, there is a helpful rule of thumb that you should know. A common question with finding frames for gallery walls is whether you should get frames that are uniform or if you should mix and match a variety of frames.
My rule of thumb is that if you mix and match a variety of different sizes of art in your gallery wall, you should mix and match your frames as well. If you choose to do all uniform sizes of art or photos, then keep the frames uniform as well.
Hang up your art!
This is the final step and the big moment where you can take in your hard work. Because yes, finding art for your home is hard work! My hope is to take some of the stress out of it and make it more fun for you.
Hanging up your art is not something to be afraid of. As long as the art is not crooked, you probably are off to an awesome start. I recommend hanging your art so that it is about eye level for an average height person. The mistake to avoid is that you do not want to hang your art too high up. Going lower tends to be safer. But, for reference, you probably wouldn’t want a kid below the age of 5 to be able to reach it easily.
An easy tip for art for dining room walls is to hang your art so that when you are sitting down at the table, you just barely have to lift your chin up to see it. And once you do that, you’re done!!! And you can just enjoy how it looks.
Art in your dining room is so meaningful. It sets the tone for how you feel during family gatherings, and invites your guests into your space. I hope that you feel inspired to hang up some beautiful art.
This post was all about art for dining room wall. I hope that it helped inspire you about what to hang up on your walls!
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