What to Hang on the Wall Over Your Sofa

I’ve mentioned this before, but our living room in our first home was a bit of an odd shape. It was almost octagonal but not quite, as it only had seven walls and it opened to our entrance and to our dining room. It also had a corner fireplace, which is old and gorgeous, but tricky for arranging furniture. The room also had two very long walls opposite the fireplace, one of which we had a massive couch against (like over 90″ massive because my husband insisted and for some god forsaken reason I gave in). Although I’m a fan of floating furniture, for this particular room, putting the couch against the wall made sense and helped to create a nice seating area that faced the fireplace. We chose said very large couch both for comfort and seating and to fill the wall (and because my husband convinced me), but it means there was a lot — and I mean a LOT — of open wall space above the couch that we needed to fill. We tried several different options from a mirror that didn’t quite work to a large painting we had, and we struggled to figure out the right answer for what to hang on the wall over your sofa.

I know I can’t be alone in this dilemma. It looks so effortless in well designed spaces, but if you don’t have an amazing art collection already, it can be tricky to find the right pieces. I have been doing a lot of research on what to hang on the wall over your sofa, and I’ve found there are several answers that really depend on your space, style and budget:

Large Mirror
Large Photograph
Large Print or Painting
Gallery Wall of Assorted Art
Medium Sized Mirror or Art Flanked by Smaller Art
Matching Print Set
Set of intaglios

I find it’s easiest to start with what kind of arrangement you want to go with over the wall and then look for pieces that fit. Art and wall decor takes time to collect, so it’s nice to have an idea of what you want the finished product to look for so as you see pieces you love, you have a better idea if they’ll work with what you’re trying to achieve for the space. As always, I like to start my design process by gathering images of rooms I love and then trying to hone in on what I love about them and let that guide my design and search. Here are some ideas and inspiration I love for what to hang on the wall over your sofa.