Making your home feel lively and fun doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Infusing playful and unique art styles throughout your rooms can completely transform the look and feel of your space. From graffiti art in the kitchen to pop art prints in the living room, creative touches go a long way.
In this article, we’ll share some playful art style ideas to liven up your home decor. Whether you want to give your space a bold, colourful look or add some whimsy and character, these fun art styles will inspire you.
Graffiti Art Adds Edgy Style
Once seen only on city streets, graffiti art has become a popular decorative style for the home. This edgy and urban art form packs a punch of colour and attitude. Graffiti art styles range from simple monochrome images to elaborate, vibrant murals.
For a striking focal point, commission a graffiti mural for a large wall or choose a colourful printed canvas graffiti piece above your sofa. More subtle applications of graffiti art include stencilled designs on accent walls or hand-painted details on everyday objects like vases and trays.
Graffiti lettering also makes a fun DIY project. Find free graffiti art templates on the Adobe website that you can customise yourself. Use paints in bold hues to colour them in. Display your custom graffiti letters together to spell out words or phrases.
Pop Art’s Bold Graphics Energise
The bright, bold graphics of pop art are perfect for adding punchy style to your home. Pop art typically features simple depictions of everyday objects and celebrities printed in vivid colours. Think Andy Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe portraits or Roy Lichtenstein’s vibrant comic book scenes.
Incorporate pop art’s lively aesthetic by hanging graphic art prints in high-contrast colours. Black and white pop art imagery also packs visual impact when coloured frames or matting are used. For a coordinated look, use pop art prints in a gallery wall display or cluster several together over a sofa or sideboard.
Large-scale pop art wall decals can transform a blank wall into a focal feature. Opt for decals of citrus fruits, flowers or commercial goods scaled to dramatic proportions. Pop art decals in playful shapes lend a whimsical touch when applied to furniture like cabinets or side tables.
Street Art and Stencils Add Quirky Cool
For an offbeat style that doesn’t take itself too seriously, street art and stencils are the perfect choice. Street art encompasses a range of unconventional methods for creating images in public spaces, including stencilling, wheatpasting and mural art.
Use repositionable wall decals and prints to bring street art indoors without the hassle of painting directly onto walls. Fun motifs include tiled patterns of animals or faces, cheeky plaques and signs with clever sayings, and oversized numbers or letters.
DIY custom stencilled art is also easy for the home. Cut your own stencils from cardstock and use them with spray paints on canvas, wood or walls. Use repetitive prints of quirky images like birds, bicycles or foliage to adorn furniture, borders and artwork.
Collage Creates Vibrant, Eclectic Displays
For people with a passion for crafting, collage art allows unlimited creativity. Collages involve assembling various materials, including paper scraps, fabric swatches, ticket stubs, dried flowers, and photographs, to create a new work of art.
Collage art brings vibrancy and texture when hung in grouped wall displays. You can continually add to a collage piece over time. Under glass coffee tables and lampshades also provide fun surfaces for decoupaging paper collages.
As a frugal craft, collage art provides great flexibility, too. Simply reuse magazines, newspapers, old book pages and fabric scraps you have around the house as materials. Raid your recycle bin for unique bits and bobs to incorporate.
Get Inspired by Your Favourite Art Movements
Beyond specific art mediums, decorate your home with pieces inspired by your favourite art movements. Mid-century modern graphic prints nod to styles made popular in the 1950s and 60s. Shop for bold geometric patterns reminiscent of Mondrian, colourful motifs that mirror Murakami, or soft pastel prints with a Matisse vibe.
You can also infuse playful touches inspired by major art movements like Impressionism. Try clustered small prints that show close-up “impressions” of flowers and landscapes. Or make like Monet and hang oversized water lily prints around your home.
Light and space are central to minimalism, too. Try spare, abstract prints with lots of white space for a minimalistic look. Another approach is filling a whole wall with a grid of dozens of matching simple prints.
Final Thoughts on Playful Home Decor
Whether you prefer edgy graffiti, bold pop art, or artsy collages, artistic decor makes a lively statement. Playful art styles not only energise your home visually, but also showcase your personality.
Experiment and find the art styles that resonate most with your tastes. Mix and match prints, paintings, wall decals and DIY art projects in the same space for lots of character. Replace pieces periodically for an ever-evolving look as your mood and inspiration change. Most importantly, have fun unleashing your creativity at home!
