Decorating With Vintage Wall Art – All You Need To Know

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In my previous post, I talked about the best vintage wall art products. So now that we have the products, I want to talk about decorating with vintage wall art. This post will dispel your doubts regarding creating a beautiful vintage wall display and make you feel more confident in being your own home decor expert.

How Much Space Should My Retro Wall Art Take Up?

First of all, let’s talk about how much space your vintage wall art should occupy. The answer to that is: between 60% and 75% of the overall wall area (the area that is not occupied by furniture or moldings). Measure the length and width of your wall – the measurements should then be multiplied by 0.6 and 0.75. This will provide you with the perfect selection of canvas sizes for your room.

Where To Hang Your Vintage Pieces On A Wall?

Give your retro wall art enough room to hang without touching the edge of the wall. Before your print starts, there should be at least a foot between it and the edge of the wall. If you hang your work too close to the wall’s edge, the room will appear cramped and out of proportion. A balanced layout is vital since you want your interior to feel cozy.

Vintage Wall Art Ideas – Creating A Curated Vintage Gallery Wall At Home

Now that we have all the details covered, let’s talk about how we can go about creating a curated vintage gallery wall at home to achieve an awe-worthy collection. I have broken down a couple of different ways you can match vintage wall art prints or other items.

Sticking To A Theme

A good foolproof way to create a vintage gallery wall is to go with a theme. Some old-fashioned wall art themes may include:

Vintage wall signs – you could hang signs related to a specific hobby or interest, such as vintage automotive advertisements or food-related vintage wall art signs.
Old drawings – they can all come from different time periods, ranging from reprints of Italian Renaissance drawings through Ingres to 20th-century American drawings.
Nature – it will be a good idea to put up a couple of vintage botanical wall art prints alongside dried pressed flowers encased in vintage frames or shadow boxes and some vintage wall art prints of animals.
Vintage photos – these could either be reprints of iconic vintage photos, old family photos, or a mix of both.
Old book pages – group together pages from various old books (some with text and others with illustrations), music sheets, and even pages from books in other languages.

When sticking to a theme, all the other aspects such as size, vintage/antique style, or medium don’t have to match. As long as there’s a theme, the whole will be unified.

mixing and matching

To make your vintage-style wall art collection even more visually stimulating (and if you, like myself, are a maximalist), mix and match your items! Here are my ideas for vintage wall hangings that are seemingly unmatching, but can create a beautiful art display:

Different-shaped frames – go for round, oval, rectangular, square, arched, polygon, and whatever other shapes you find, as long as they’re vintage or antique-looking. If using large vertical frames, add some small horizontal frames or vice versa to give them more dimension.
Various types of vintage artwork – as long as they’re all vintage, hang your posters, prints, and drawings together.
A mix of 2D and 3D artwork – pair your 2D artwork with other vintage items such as mirrors, sculptures, reliefs, shelves, plates, and anything else that is capable of being hung on a wall.
Add lights – combine your vintage wall art posters, prints, and/or drawings with light sconces for an extra mysterious and dramatic look.

Another option here is to mix everythingThat is, different shapes of frames with different colors, items, and types of artwork. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re going overboard – it’s your home and your space, so as long as your vintage or antique wall decor forms a cohesive whole, go for it. Make your own aesthetic judgment and go with your vintage decor gut feeling

sticking to the same shapes and sizes

The opposite of mixing and matching is, of course, sticking with the same shapes and sizes, and it doesn’t have to be boring. We can keep our vintage gallery wall unified by going with the same:

Frame size – pick your favorite print dimensions and just get a bunch of frames in that size and hang them closely together.
Frame shape – choose your favorite shape and hang 4, 6, or 8 frames next to each other; if you’re into ovals, go for an oval-shaped curated gallery wall, and so on.
To add a bit more pizzazz to the gallery wall when going with the same size frame, it’s a good option to diversify the frame style. For example, get a couple more ornate ones and others that are a bit simpler. Differentiate in terms of color and material as well.
The same goes for frame shape – whether you stick to rectangular, square, oval, or something else, mix and match different styles.

Acting According To Color

If you’d like your gallery to look expertly curated, yet not too extra, let your pieces feature identical intensity and tone. Going by color is one of my favorite ways to organize items (for example books). Some ways to do this are by:

Going with the same color and its shades – for example red, purple, blue, yellow, or whatever color you love the most.
Going with a gradient or two different colors – you can create a beautiful vintage gallery wall by picking images that subtly transition from one color to another (for example yellow to orange to red, and so on).

FAQ

Let’s further explore the topic of decorating with vintage wall art by answering some commonly asked questions.

What are some vintage wall decor ideas for the bathroom?

Consider the dominant colors and stick to that color palette. Go for botanical prints, vintage figure drawings, or something related to bathrooms and bathing. You can also use old advertisements for skincare and shower products.

What are some vintage wall pieces to use in the dining room?

Vintage wall art for the dining room could include antique or antique-style mirrors, old paintings or reproductions of old paintings, decorative plates, or vintage posters.

How can I create a vintage curated gallery wall at home?

You can stick to one theme (for example, photos, vintage posters, botanical, etc.), mix and match different vintage styles, frame shapes and sizes, go by color, or mix 2D and 3D vintage artwork (posters and prints combined with shelves, wall sculptures, reliefs, mirrors, and shelves).

conclusion

Decorating your wall with vintage art pieces will not only make you fall in love with your interior even more but also leave you satisfied with having created your own curated gallery wall. My hope is that those who have reached the end of this blog post already have (or are about to have) an idea of what their dream vintage wall decor will consist of. Have fun hunting for vintage items!