Maximalism is the idea that more is more. More colour, more pattern, more pictures, more of what you love. On a wall, it means art from the skirting board to the ceiling, frames edge to edge, a room that tells you at once who lives there.
Done well, it is the most personal and generous way to decorate. Done badly, it looks like a storeroom. The gap between the two is small, and it comes down to structure. A maximalist wall isn't a wall without rules. It has more rules than a minimal one, because there is more to hold together.
Rule 1: choose one thing to hold constant
This is the rule that matters most. When everything varies, the result is noise. When one thing stays the same across every piece, the eye reads the wall as a set, and the variety becomes richness.
Choose one of these.
- A palette. Every piece shares two or three colours. The subjects and styles can be anything.
- A frame. Every piece in black frames, or all in white, or all unframed canvas. The pictures can be as mixed as you like.
- A subject. All space. All animals. All cities.
- A style. All neon, all monochrome, all one artist or studio.
- A background. All pictures with dark grounds, or all with pale ones.
One is enough. Two is safer. If you hold nothing constant, the wall will look like an accident.
Rule 2: keep the gaps even
On a crowded wall, the spaces between frames are what the eye uses to find order. Make them all the same: 2 to 3 inches. Tight, equal gaps turn twenty pictures into one large shape. Uneven gaps make even five pictures look scattered.
Cut a strip of card to the width of your gap and use it as a spacer.
Rule 3: give the wall an outline
The whole arrangement should have a clear outer edge. A rectangle is the usual choice. The outside frames line up to form straight sides, even if the inside is irregular. Or the group can run the full width and height of the wall, edge to edge, like wallpaper.
What doesn't work is a ragged cloud that trails off at the sides.
Rule 4: start with an anchor
Every full wall needs one piece that is clearly the largest. It goes near the centre, a little off-centre is better, at about eye level. Everything else is arranged round it. Without an anchor, a wall of similar-sized frames has no focus, and the eye wanders without settling. See one canvas as the anchor of your living room.
Rule 5: vary the sizes
Mix large, medium and small. Roughly one large, two or three medium, and several small is a good proportion. Pieces all of one size make a grid, which is a different and more formal thing. Pieces of every size, with no pattern, make a mess. Three sizes, repeated, give rhythm.
Rule 6: spread the weight
- Spread the colour. If three pieces are strongly pink, put them in different parts of the wall, in a rough triangle. Don't put them together.
- Spread the dark and the light. Don't put all the dark pictures on one side.
- Spread the sizes. Balance a large piece on the left with two medium ones on the right.
- Put heavier, darker pieces lower and lighter ones higher, as a rule. A wall that is heavy at the top feels as though it might tip.
Rule 7: include some quiet
A wall where every piece is loud is exhausting. Mix in pictures that rest the eye.
- Black and white. Black Hole, Modern Angel. See black-and-white art in a colourful room.
- Soft abstracts. Liquid Metal Mist Pink, Chrome and Blue.
- Calm landscapes. Blue Mountain Fog.
About a third of the wall should be quiet. The loud pieces look better for it.
Rule 8: calm everything else
A maximalist wall is the star of the room. Give it a plain setting.
- One wall, not four. Cover one wall densely and keep the others spare. A room with every wall full has no relief.
- Plain wall colour behind it. White, or one deep colour. A dark wall behind a dense hang looks very rich. See wall art for dark walls.
- Simpler furniture and floor.
If you love pattern everywhere, tie the wall's palette to the room's. See the 60-30-10 colour rule.
The method
- Gather everything you might hang. More than you need.
- Choose your constant (rule 1) and take out anything that breaks it.
- Lay it out on the floor in front of the wall. Mark the wall's width with tape.
- Place the anchor first, then the medium pieces round it, then fill the gaps with the small ones.
- Check the outline, the gaps and the balance. Photograph it from above. Faults show in a photo.
- Trace each piece on paper, cut the shapes out and tape them to the wall in the same arrangement.
- Live with the paper for a day.
- Hang, starting with the anchor and working outwards, using your spacer.
See building a gallery wall and how to measure a wall for art.
Mixing formats
A full wall is more interesting with more than one kind of object.
- Canvas, for depth. It stands out from the wall.
- Framed prints, for crisp edges.
- Posters, clipped or framed, for the smaller spots. They are the cheapest way to add numbers.
- Things that aren't pictures: a small mirror, a clock, a mask, a shelf with an object on it.
See mixing canvas, framed prints and posters on one wall.
A maximalist wall in neon
Our art is bold, and it suits this treatment if you follow rule 1 strictly. Two examples.
Pink and blue
Constant: palette. Anchor: Koi Attack. Round it: Purple Pink Wormhole, Light Nebula, Hand of the Stars, Trippy Holographic. Quiet pieces: Liquid Metal Mist Pink and Black Hole. All in black frames, on a white or charcoal wall.
Blue animals
Constant: palette and subject. Anchor: Wolf Pack. Round it: Blue Crow, Frost Owl, Cosmic Deer, Blue Sky Dragon, Blue Fox in Space. Quiet piece: Blue Mountain Fog.
Common mistakes
- Nothing in common between the pieces.
- Uneven gaps.
- No anchor.
- Stopping half way. Eight pictures on a big wall is neither minimal nor maximal. Commit, or cut back.
- Too high. The centre of the whole arrangement belongs at about eye level, 57 to 60 inches. A full wall can run from near the floor to near the ceiling.
- Every wall full.
- All loud.
Building it over time
A maximalist wall doesn't have to be bought in one go. Start with the anchor and three or four pieces, arranged with the final outline in mind. Add to it as you find things. Posters and small prints fill gaps cheaply. See starting a collection.
For the opposite approach, see the one-piece rule for minimalists who love loud art and dopamine decor. Browse the poster prints and canvas art collections.