Ask Joshua - Wainscoting Feels Limiting

Hi Joshua,

I’ve got an older home with frame-style wainscoting. It’s not just on the lower part of the walls, but goes all the way to the ceiling. It’s beautiful, but I want to put up art as well that I love. I’m not sure how this is going to look with the wainscoting, as that seems to be the feature part of the wall. Can you provide some help?

Thanks,

Aimee, Rochester, NY

Art gallery wall on wainscoting wall. Image created using AI via Canva

Hi Aimee,

Thanks for writing in with your design dilemma! Wainscoting, especially the kind that covers a wall, is gorgeous, but I can understand it presents a challenge to figure out how to decorate around it when it’s such a statement itself. You’re lucky you have the frame-style wainscoting, as that is one of the easiest to incorporate art into. I’ve included an inspiration pic above to illustrate the point. I’m not sure what you’re particular home style is, but this room is definitely eclectic with a little maximalism. As this picture shows, you don’t even need to stick with a single picture within each frame, mix it up with different sizes and style. This one even includes a stuffed parrot!!

I would recommend testing out your art arrangements first before making any holes in the wall to ensure you’ve got your spacing and proportions right. One of the simplest ways to do this is cut out newspaper in the sizes as your pieces of art and use painters tape (to prevent wall damage) to move your “art” around until you’ve got an arrangement that looks pleasing to your eye. You can also use craft paper instead of newspaper if you’re afraid of the print smearing.

I hope this is helpful. Have fun with the process and good luck!

Warmly,

Joshua

Have interior design related questions? You can ask Joshua here.