Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it never changes what we recommend. Read our full disclosure.
Art that looked great in the store often falls flat at home because the wall behind it has an undertone the art ignores.
Identify your wall undertone first
Hold a white sheet of printer paper against the wall. If the wall looks yellow or pink beside it, it is warm. If it looks gray or blue, it is cool. Almost every popular American neutral is warm.
Match temperature, contrast texture
### On warm walls
Choose art with cream, clay, ochre or muted green. Oak, walnut and brass frames extend the warmth.
When you want contrast
Use a wide white mat rather than a cool-toned print. The mat gives the eye a break without introducing a fighting undertone.
Frame finish rules that hold up
- Wood frames for photography and textured paper
- Thin metal for line work and graphic prints
- No glass in bathrooms and sunny south walls; use acrylic
Scale before style
Art should span roughly two thirds of the furniture below it. Undersized art is the most common mistake, and no frame choice fixes it.
