How to decorate your den or entertainment space with engaging and relaxing living room wall decor...

Our surroundings have the capacity to deeply alter our moods, our health, and our relationships. Because we choose how they function and what they look like, the interiors of our homes are some of the purest reflections of our personalities. They communicate what we hope to achieve in our careers, how we engage with our families, and what our priorities are. If your priority is creating a space that helps you breathe easier and enjoy the company of family and friends then you should consider approaching your living room wall decor from a biophilic point of view.

Focus on natural materials and organic shapes and colors; include plants and images of nature to connect your space to the outdoors without venturing from the comfort of your home. If you are searching for pieces that will transform your living room into an oasis of rejuvenation, serenity, and joy, follow below for a series of tips that will lead you to living room wall decor that offers life and vitality.

Nature-Inspired Wallpaper

Textured Wallpaper

Textured wallpaper is an excellent choice for living room wall decor because it is more subtle than a landscape mural or large-scale floral print. However, textured wallpaper still brings the outdoors inside because it offers all the organic colors and memorable textures we associate with nature! A textured grasscloth is perfect for accenting living room walls because it functions as a neutral wall covering without sacrificing style or interest.  

Landscape Tapestry 

Most amateur home decorators will find it difficult to afford - or even source - an authentic 17th century Flemish landscape tapestry. However, landscape tapestries are engaging and aesthetically stunning. They are also a major 2020 interior design trend, according to Elle Decor. In their article “The Top Design Trends in 2020, According to Designers”, Lucia Tonelli and Kelley Carter explain that antiqued landscape tapestries are very in this year. According to Brooke and Steven Giannetti of Giannetti Home, who Tonelli and Carter quote in their article, “tapestries are perfect as a focal point for a room…[they] bring the beautiful colors of the outdoors to the inside of a home... [and] their muted palette of greens, blues and neutrals [can] provide the inspiration for the colors and textures of the entire room." While woven landscape tapestries are stunningly beautiful and add incredible depth and drama to any space, you should also consider going the cheaper, more convenient route by purchasing a landscape tapestry wallpaper. 

Repeating Floral or Foliage Print Wallpaper

With the “Grand Millennial” style kicking off 2020, a shift towards antique furniture, increased interest in vintage interior finishings, and organic colors all named “Color of the Year” by industry-leading paint manufacturers, it should come as no surprise that floral and foliage print wallpapers are all the rage this year. Interviewed by Lucia Tonelli and Kelley Carter for their article, Caroline Rafferty of Caroline Rafferty Interiors explains that her “clients are gravitating towards fresh interpretations of floral patterns, like Raoul Textiles’ Celeste linen, which [can be] used...to upholster the walls.”

Scot Meacham Wood of Decorist notes that not only are floral and foliage wallpapers in, but single prints alone have become more popular in recent years. Wood expresses his own position, asking, “What could be more simple, yet incite more drama and style, than a room covered in the same print from floor to ceiling?” Consider pushing your living room wall decor a bit further than you typically would by going with a bold floral or foliage wallpaper on every wall!

Eco-Friendly Fireplace

One of the best ways to make your living room feel cozier as we head into winter is to add a fireplace or to update the one you already have. Fireplaces offer the gentle, warm kind of light that is rarely achieved through artificial lighting, but perfectly evokes the outdoors and offers a touch of biophilia to your interior design scheme. Embracing an element of the Nordic philosophy of Hygge, fireplaces also encourage intimacy in spaces where family and friends gather - as they often push people to huddle together, either to roast marshmallows or to simply enjoy the radiating heat. Fireplaces are also the perfect addition to your living room wall decor because they are physically set into the wall!

Consider capturing one of 2020’s primary interior design trends and committing to a more sustainable household by switching to an “environmentally-friendly fireplace.” In their article, Lucia Tonelli and Kelley Carter explain that electric, built-in fireplaces are better for the environment and for the aesthetic of your home. Interviewed by Tonelli and Carter, Jenny Dina Kirschner of JDK Interiors notes that her team “started incorporating environmentally-friendly fireplaces into many of our designs over the last few years” and that these models are preferable because they “can be installed with tremendous ease and and no necessary ventilation.” They are also perfect as decorative objects and make the perfect “stand-alone pieces that can simply be plopped down in any room of the house,” Kirschner offers.

Furthermore, Tonelli and Carter point out, conventional wood burning and gas fireplaces just aren’t trendy anymore. In her support of eco-friendly fireplaces, Kirschner adds that “conventional fireplaces require more maintenance and contribute to CO2 emissions.” 

Paintings and Photographs of Nature

In our article, "How Views of Nature Affect Health and Performance”, we discuss how even just looking at images of nature can ease anxieties, calm the mind, increase productivity, and speed up recovery from illness and injury. Quoting results of a study by researchers at Vrije University Medical Center in the Netherlands, Peter Dockrill explains in his article “Just Looking at Photos of Nature Could Be Enough to Lower Your Work Stress Levels”, that “looking at still images of nature is enough 'natural' stimulus to lower our stress levels.” Research scientists and psychologists believe this effect may be due to evolutionary relationships with the colors found in nature, our innate desire as humans to connect with the natural world, or both. 

A separate study entitled “Viewing Nature Scenes Positively Affects Recovery of Autonomic Function Following Acute-Mental Stress,” published by the NCBI found that interactions with nature, as opposed to an indoor or synthetic environment, can lead to “‘improvements in self-esteem, positive and negative mood, anxiety levels, and feelings of calmness and comfort.’” In our article, we added that “recovery time from physical injury or struggles with mental health episodes may also be reduced by interactions with nature or with images of nature.”

As such, consider peppering your living room wall decor with paintings of natural landscapes - coastlines, mountain ranges, woods, or tropical forests, to name a few. Hang photographs from your cross-country travels or prints by your favorite landscape artists, but be sure to do so in frames that also evoke the natural world!

Organic Shapes

Abstract your understanding of the natural world and what it means to feature it within your home decor by playing into the organics shapes trend. Bring in a bit of retro Italian flare with leather frames in contorted oval shapes. Add a bit of rustic edge with a driftwood-framed mirror. No matter how you choose to frame your mirrors, abstract prints, or personal photographs, choose pieces with unusual shapes to capture an exciting style and to refer back to nature.

Wall-Mounted Potted Plants

Of course, we absolutely could not forget about real plants. Arguably one of the best ways to create either an invigorating or relaxing space in any home is to add actual life to that space. Adorn your living room walls with plants hanging from hooks or perched on shelves to add an air of calm and serenity. Take a page out of writer and psychologist Susan McQuillan’s book and place plants around your living room to improve your mood and overall health. Referencing recently studied data gathered by Texas A&M University, Susan McQuillan notes in her article “11 Ways Plants Enhance Your Mental and Emotional Health”, that “people who surround themselves with plant life and other forms of natural beauty, indoors and out, experience emotional and mental health benefits that have a positive impact on their social, psychological, physical, cognitive, environmental, and spiritual well-being.”

The Respira wall mounted unit not only carries with it the inherent health properties of plants but also leverages the science of biofiltration to purify the air inside your home. Research done at the university of Guelph and continued at Ryerson University have proven that plants can clean the air inside your home, but it’s probably not exactly how you’d imagine. Learn more about how plants can remove toxins from your air by checking out some of our other blogs.