Framed abstract wall art displayed in a living room
An expressive framed abstract artwork provides a focal point in a furnished living room.

Guides

How Do I Mix Different Art Styles in One Room?

First Published:

Last modified:

Mix different art styles without making a room feel disjointed. Learn how to connect abstract, botanical and figurative prints through scale, colour, framing and carefully edited arrangements.

Begin with one artwork that sets the tone

Yes, you can mix abstract art, botanical illustrations, photography and figurative prints in one room. The key is to give the collection a visual hierarchy rather than asking every piece to match. Start with the artwork you most want to look at, decide where it belongs, and use a few deliberate connections to make the other styles feel at home.

This is different from buying a complete matching set. A large abstract might establish the room’s colour and energy; a detailed butterfly study could offer a quieter counterpoint. The two pictures need not depict related subjects. They only need a convincing relationship when seen alongside the furniture, walls and objects already there.

Walk into the room and identify the first wall your eye meets. That may be the space above a sofa, the chimney breast or the wall opposite the door. Consider placing the strongest piece there. Secondary works can occupy narrower sections or a smaller grouped arrangement. This gives visitors somewhere to look first and somewhere to discover detail later.

If the room already contains an emphatic patterned rug, sculptural lamp or richly veined furniture, the artwork need not compete for attention. A restrained botanical can become the anchor, with a bolder abstract on an adjacent wall. For a starting comparison, look at Westloft’s Grey & Mustard abstract print beside the Fern Leaf botanical print. Their different mark-making is useful precisely because the room need not become a single-style display.

Botanical wall art prints
Botanical art prints offer finer natural forms to contrast with bold abstraction.

Find a connection without making everything match

The most useful link between different art styles is often modest: a repeated dark line, one accent colour, similar pale backgrounds or related frame proportions. Choose one or two of these threads. Repeating all of them risks making an eclectic collection look like a shop display; repeating none can leave the pictures competing.

Suppose a room has an olive sofa, warm timber and off-white walls. A blue-and-gold abstract may seem unexpected until a small blue detail elsewhere in the room connects it. Alternatively, you might choose a black-framed botanical and a monochrome photograph whose strongest shapes share a similar visual weight. The relationship is about how the images behave together, not their labels.

Compare the colours at the same time of day and under the lamps you normally use. A print that appears warm on a phone screen can read differently against the actual wall. Lay photographs of possible works beside a photograph of the room, but treat the result as a shortlist rather than a faithful colour proof. If you are unsure, compare printed samples or the actual artwork where possible.

One piece can also provide a bridge between apparently distant styles. The Pomegranate Fruit print brings a recognisable subject into the mix without insisting that everything be a still life. It can sit beside an expressive abstract when the palette or frame finish gives them a reason to coexist. Browse the botanical art collection and abstract print collection to compare compositions rather than trying to assemble a rigid set.

Cozy living room with dark walls, a large window, and decorative wall art.
A dark-walled living room illustrates how varied artwork relates to furnishings and colour.

Use scale to give contrasting styles different jobs

A collection of varied art styles becomes easier to read when the works are not all shouting at the same volume. Let one picture lead through size, colour or placement, then choose supporting pieces with less visual weight. A small, intricately detailed illustration may command as much attention as a much larger pale abstract, so judge the composition as well as the measurements.

Take a hypothetical 210 cm-wide sofa. A single 120 cm-wide framed abstract above it could serve as the main work. A 35 cm-wide botanical on a nearby wall, rather than immediately beside it, can introduce another style without breaking up the sofa’s focal point. If you prefer a pair above the sofa, two frames 55 cm wide with a 9 cm gap create a combined width of 119 cm. Both are plausible starting arrangements, not fixed formulas.

Include the full outside dimensions of the frames when making these comparisons. A mount or broad profile changes the occupied wall area. Cut paper templates for the proposed pieces, then view them from the doorway and the usual seating position. Pay attention to the space around the group: a good arrangement often has as much to do with what is left uncovered as with what is hung.

The Ocean Galaxy abstract print is a useful example when considering a bolder focal piece; a detailed Morpho butterfly illustration offers a different kind of attention. For a fuller treatment of proportions, see what size wall art you need for your room.

Cozy living room with a vintage sofa, framed artwork, and decorative items.
Framed fashion illustration and vintage-style furnishings offer a different visual language.

Pair styles that offer a purposeful contrast

Rather than grouping works only by category, compare the qualities of each image. A graphic abstract has broad blocks of colour; a botanical drawing may offer delicate detail; a figurative image introduces a human presence; a photograph can bring a different texture or sense of place. Combining two different qualities often gives the room more depth than choosing several pictures with exactly the same energy.

For example, place a loose abstract above a sofa and a precise botanical study beside a bookcase. The abstract can carry the broad colour statement while the botanical rewards closer looking. A Scottish Stag print or Leopard print could introduce an animal subject into a collection of shapes and leaves. The aim is not to build a theme around wildlife, but to vary the visual language.

Try not to put three equally busy images side by side merely because their colours match. If the wall feels restless, replace one with a quieter composition or move it to another part of the room. Look at where each image has its darkest area: several strong marks clustered together can make the display feel lopsided even when the frame sizes are identical.

It can help to make a simple two-column comparison: ‘bold versus delicate’ and ‘representational versus abstract’. Choose pictures from different positions in that matrix, then look for a shared thread in colour or framing. This is a practical way to create contrast without relying on vague decorating labels. A collected room should retain the personality of each piece rather than ironing it into one fashionable style.

A kitchen gallery-wall arrangement demonstrates grouped pictures in an everyday space.

Arrange the frames as one composition

Mixed styles can share a wall, but the spacing and framing must make the group legible. A gallery wall does not require identical frames. Black, timber and warm metallic finishes can sit together if their distribution feels intentional. Repeat one finish at least twice or let the most substantial frame anchor the group. Check the actual finish against the wall; names such as ‘walnut’ and ‘gold’ do not guarantee the same tone between different products.

Begin with the largest picture on the floor and place smaller ones around it. A landscape image can provide a horizontal base; a portrait can introduce height; a small square can settle an awkward corner. For medium frames, gaps around 5–10 cm are a useful starting point, although a tighter cluster may suit smaller works. Measure the outer silhouette and check it against the furniture below.

If a gallery wall sits above a sideboard, account for the lamp, ceramics and anything you need to use on the surface. The arrangement should be visible without asking you to clear every useful object. On a wall with no furniture, choose a centre that relates to normal eye level and the room’s sightlines rather than the height of the ceiling alone.

For a practical method of testing the whole layout, read Westloft’s guide to hanging a gallery wall and guide to choosing two prints that look good together. Those explain the mechanics; here, the question is whether the different artistic languages feel like a deliberate conversation.

A dark walnut-coloured frame detail shows how frame finish can help connect different artworks.

Edit the room, then live with the collection

Before buying another picture, look at what surrounds the existing ones. Cushions, books, ceramics and lighting can create a visual bridge between art styles, but too many coordinated accessories make the room feel overworked. Remove one decorative object and see whether the artwork becomes clearer. Sometimes a small change in the room does more than a new purchase.

Try a three-picture exercise. Choose one abstract, one representational work and one image with finer detail. Photograph them at similar apparent sizes, then arrange the photographs in two possible groups. In the first, use a shared frame finish. In the second, vary the frames but repeat a colour. Compare which arrangement looks more convincing in the actual room. The exercise helps reveal whether the problem is style, proportion or placement.

Allow different walls to play different roles. A statement work above the sofa can coexist with a compact group near the dining table and one quiet picture beside a reading chair. They will still belong to the same room through the furnishings and light. Avoid placing paper prints where they face repeated splashes, direct heat or persistent condensation. For framed work, use fixings appropriate to the full weight and wall construction.

There is no requirement to finish the collection at once. Live with the first arrangement through daylight and evening light, then move a piece if its place feels wrong. For more ideas about how an individual room can carry different subjects, see how to choose art prints for a personal, collected home. A convincing mix of styles is usually the result of considered editing, not a perfectly matching shopping list.

Selected for this story

Shop the Editorial

Swipe or scroll to explore

Abstract composition with grey, mustard and black expressive marks on a pale background

Abstrakte Wand Kunstdruck 'Grau & Senf', moderne abstrakte, große abstrakte Kunst, abstrakte Wanddekoration

From £54.99

Green fern-leaf illustration with expressive marks on a pale background

Botanisches Wandbild 'Fernblatt' - Pflanzendrucke, botanische Kunstdrucke und botanische Illustrationen

From £54.99

Granatapfel-Frucht-Wand-Kunstdruck

Granatapfel-Frucht-Wand-Kunstdruck

From £54.99

Großer blauer und goldener abstrakter Wandkunstdruck Ocean Galaxy', moderne abstrakte, große abstrakte Kunstwerke, abstrakte Wanddekoration

Großer blauer und goldener abstrakter Wandkunstdruck Ocean Galaxy', moderne abstrakte, große abstrakte Kunstwerke, abstrakte Wanddekoration

From £54.99

Wandbild Schmetterling 'Morpho'

Wandbild Schmetterling 'Morpho'

From £54.99

Weihnachts-Hirsch-Wand-Kunstdruck, moderne und stilvolle Weihnachtsdekoration, alternative Weihnachtsdekoration

Weihnachts-Hirsch-Wand-Kunstdruck, moderne und stilvolle Weihnachtsdekoration, alternative Weihnachtsdekoration

From £54.99

Leopard-Wand-Kunstdruck

Leopard-Wand-Kunstdruck

From £54.99

Written by

Hannah Fraser

Hannah Fraser writes for Westloft on interiors, art, vintage furniture and seasonal living. Her features focus on practical decorating ideas, collected homes and the ways artwork and objects shape how a room feels.

Further Reading

Liquid error (sections/westloft-editorial-article line 627): Array 'metaobjects.glossary.values' is not paginateable.

← Back to Guides