Apartment Wall Decor Ideas: Budget-Friendly Living Room Decor

Are you looking for ways on how you can spice up your apartment? Then, let me ask you to do something. Look at your wall. Is it blank and plain? If it is, then you have just found the perfect way to improve your living space! 

Whether you’re a fan of maximalist decor or you prefer minimalist aesthetics, or someone who appreciates a mix of styles, I have here several recommendations of beautiful and budget-friendly apartment wall art ideas that can easily bring life to your bare wall! 

The Best Wall Decoration Home Decor Ideas 

Gallery Wall 

If you are someone who loves taking photos and creating memories, then you can create a stunning gallery wall by arranging a collection of framed wall artworks, photographs, and prints. Feel free to mix and match frames in different shapes, sizes, and colors for a more fun look! 

Gallery Wall 
Credit: Cottage on Bunker Hill

Fun Wallpaper or Wall Art Print

You can easily give life and color to your apartment living room by adding wallpaper! You can use a removable wallpaper so you can easily replace it whenever you feel like it. You can go for bold patterns, geometric designs, botanical prints, and other wall art prints you prefer. 

Fun Wallpaper or Wall Art Print

Credit: Katie Woods

Floating Shelves

Installing floating shelves can make a great apartment decor while being functional. You can place several wall decoration items, books, plants, and more while adding character to your space.

Floating Shelves

Credit: Blogs By Aria

Macrame Wall Art

Are you going for a boho look for your apartment interior design? If that is the case, then why not add some macrame wall art to your living room wall? Macrame is basically intricately knotted pieces that can be used as wall decor art and wall hangings – perfect for a boho wall look. 

If you are going for a modern minimalist look, you can choose neutral colors or any colors to suit your overall color scheme. 

Macrame Wall Art

Image Credit: Mary Maker Studio

Tapestry Wall Hangings

Another great home decor idea for your wall is by using tapestry wall hangings. Most of the time, the larger the tapestry, the better! These fabric pieces add color, warmth, and personality to your blank wall. And if you are going for a bohemian theme, then tapestry wall hangings is a great wall decor boho idea! 

Tapestry Wall Hangings

Credit: House & Credit

Mirrors On The Wall

One of the best apartment space tips for making your space look bigger than it is is by adding mirrors! Aside from giving the illusion of creating more space, it also adds elegance to your apartment decoration.

Now imagine this: how about a bunch of mirrors on the wall?

Mirrors On The Wall

Credit: shopcandiceluter @ Etsy

Vintage Wall Decor 

As ironic as it sounds, vintage will never get old. And they will especially be great wall art for apartments! You can hang some old mirrors, wall clocks, old frames and more which you can quickly get through thrift stores, flea markets, and antique stores. 

Vintage Wall Decor

Credit: Inspired By Charm

String Lights and Fairy Lights

You can now add a magical and cozy ambiance to your small space by using string lights or fairy lights without sacrificing extra space since these lights are reaaally small. You can easily drape them along your walls and around your windows. 

String Lights and Fairy Lights

Credit: RobShopStudios @ Etsy

Metal Wall Art

If you want to add a luxurious, sophisticated touch to your apartment or home wall decor, then you should definitely try incorporating metal wall art! You can use metal sculptures, metal frames, geometric designs, and more to add that contemporary vibe. You can go for metallic finishes like gold, silver, or bronze. 

Metal Wall Art

Credit: monicabenavidez

Chalkboard or Whiteboard Wall

Another great apartment dorm wall decor that can both add personality to your wall space while providing functionality is by adding a chalkboard or whiteboard on your wall! You can use these boards for notes and doodles as art decor.

Pro tip is to use colorful chalk or markers for a more preppy room decor vibe. 

Chalkboard or Whiteboard

Credit: Potterybarn

Ceramic and Wall Planters

Plants just add life to any space. But if you are living in a small apartment and you want to have plants without taking up space, why not hang them on your walls instead of placing them on your floor? You can even choose various planters with different colors or shapes to make an eclectic gallery wall of plants.

Ceramic and Wall Planters

Credit: A Beautiful Mess

Typography and Quotes

A great idea for decor wall art is by decorating your wall with quotes and typographies. If you are looking for minimalist wall art ideas, then some motivational one-liner quotes or one-word quotes can make your apartment or dorm decor all come together. 

Experiment with different fonts, text sizes, layouts, and frames!

Typography and Quotes

Credit: The DIY Playbook

3D Wall Panels

A great way to add depth and texture to your entire wall is by adding 3D wall panels. These panels can come in different patterns and styles making it a focal point of your home living room or dorm room. You can also try and paint the panels in contrasting colors to make your living room look more personalized.

You can also place the 3d walls in a certain portion of your room and create an accent wall.

3D Wall Panels

Credit: GALwooddecor @ Etsy

Tribal and Cultural Accents

If you love traveling and you have a bunch of souvenirs or trinkets from different countries and cultures, then why not showcase them on your wall? This is a great conversation starter and adds personality to your room decor aesthetic! Your décor can range from baskets, masks, ethnic patterns, and more. 

Tribal and Cultural Accents

Credit:  Maria Killam

Mural Painting 

One fun way of decorating your entire living room wall is by adding a mural painting! If you want to save on expenses, you can hand paint your wall and create some funky wall decor art or trendy wall art – depending on your taste. 

Mural Painting 

Credit: A Beautiful Mess

Oversized Wall Calendar 

Are you someone who always forgets what day it is? Maybe a huge calendar plastered on your wall can help solve this problem! This can be treated as a normal poster wall decor but, well, in calendar form. You can also treat it as a huge planner and keep track of your events and tasks on it! 

Oversized Wall Calendar 

Credit: In My Own Style

Wall of Baskets

Another fun idea to make your plain white wall look fun and interesting is by adding wall baskets! This is more targeted to those who love collecting baskets but even if you do not collect any, maybe you can start now because they make a great wall décor! 

Wall of Baskets

Credit: Kelly Elko

Hang your Hats

Do you love collecting caps and hats? Or maybe you simply just do not have the closet space to hang them anymore. Well, a great way to have them organized (and to show them off) is by hanging them on your walls and create a little hat wall collage! 

This makes a great preppy wall decor that screams modern abstract depending on the way you arrange everything! 

Hang your Hats

Credit: Collective Gen

Add a Pegboard 

Another great functional dorm apartment decor is by adding a pegboard to your wall (in your home office, living room, bedroom wall, etc). With that, you can place or hang anything on it – car keys, hats, bags, tools, and more! This gives you more organized storage in your room without compromising space. 

Add a Pegboard 

Credit: The DIY Mommy

Hang a Rug

Did you know that rugs actually look cute when you hang them on the wall? Try it and see how many questions and praises you will get from your visitors! Definitely a unique and fun apartment art wall idea. 

Hang a Rug

Credit: House Mix Blog

Map Wall Decor Art

If you are a traveler at heart, then you would want to consider adding an oversized map as wall decor for your home! A fun use of this is that you can add notes, pins, or marks to places you have been to! This is a trendy living room wall decor idea while showcasing the places you have traveled to.

Map Wall Decor Art

Credit: I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Open Book Look

Do you love books? Do you like collecting magazines? If you said yes to any of those answers, then I am sure you have been looking for ways to display and showcase your collection. A great idea is to hang them on your wall! You can have them closed – showing the cover page.

And if you want an abstract piece, go to your favorite page and stick your books on the wall with the pages open! 

Open Book Look

Credit: Eryn Whalen Online

Flower Wall

Botanicals just add more life to any space. And if you love plants or maybe you just want your first apartment room to look more comfy and alive, then why not hang some flowers and botanicals on your wall? 

Flower Wall

Credit: viktoria.dahlberg

Instruments on the Wall

Are you a musician? Maybe you have a musical instrument that you do not really use but you still keep. Instead of just storing these instruments while collecting dust, you can display them on your wall! 

You can easily hang guitars, drumsticks, violins, and more! 

Instruments on the Wall

Credit: Notice The Little Things 

Candle Holders

Candles and candle holders can make great wall decor art especially if you are looking for a vintage feel for your apartment decor. You can hang candle wall sconce or even vintage lamps with candles in them! 

Candle Holders

Credit: Pender and Peony

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