You have an empty wall (or part of a wall) and you've been wanting to fill that gap for a long time, but you just don't know where to start. Don't worry, it happens to everyone!

Decorating walls is a rather tricky subject: you have to choose what to put on the wall, but above all how! There are so many ideas that you risk getting lost. However, facing an empty space means giving freedom to your creativity and, once you have chosen the perfect accessory, you are already halfway to finding the design that best fits your needs.

We would like to offer you some original and modern furnishing ideas, together with a few suggestions on how to use that particular accessory and transform the empty space into a perfect composition for your home! Among the many different possibilities to decorate a wall, we will focus on these solutions:

• Shelves
• Pictures and posters
• Mirrors
• Clocks
• Plates
• Bookcases

Shelves

An encyclopaedia could be written about shelves, because there are so many different types. If you want to dare and be creative, choose designer shelves in bright colours or unusual shapes and have fun creating the right combinations; you can also opt for a single shelf, perhaps of large dimensions and with an extravagant shape.

We recommend Formae's HALF MOON, available in a variety of sizes and bright colours; it also has small hooks for hanging keys, so it could be the perfect choice for your hallway wall.

Alternatively, there are a number of simpler solutions suitable for any home that will ensure a great result. With shelves you can create lively compositions, perhaps by combining different sizes and staggering their arrangement. You can play with contrasting colours or textures, j navigating similar shelves in different materials. It is up to you to choose what you put on them, but try not to be banal: vases, knick-knacks, candles, books... A very modern choice, however, is to place paintings (or framed photographs) on the shelves (there are special models with a groove that makes the support of the frame more stable). For those with a green thumb, we certainly recommend giving a touch of liveliness with small plants or flowers, preferably hanging, to enhance and emphasise the verticality of the wall.

For example: the PELICAN shelf by Woodendot has an elegant and refined shape, so it furnishes very well, but it can be combined with other shelves of the same line with different colours. You can decorate them with small accessories of your choice.

For a more elegant and vintage style, we recommend wooden shelves: we love the RECLAIMED WOOD collection of designer shelves from Weld&Co. They are made from recycled wood and can be combined with lots of accessories, including bookends, photo stops and key rings. One of the main advantages of the shelves is that, by changing the accessories and decorations, it's very easy to change the look of the wall and completely renovate the house!

Paintings and posters

This may sound like a trivial option, but it's not. Pictures and frames are often underestimated, but their strength is their versatility: depending on how you arrange a series of pictures, how you combine colours or which frames you use, the final effect can be very varied. Compositions of pictures, photos and prints can create an incredible visual impact and represent your style.

The choice in this case lies between two macro-categories: the frame-wall or the single element. The same concept that we used for shelves comes back: we can combine many small pieces to create a composition or we can choose a single important work to stand out. This is certainly the case with the silkscreen prints by Enzo Mari for Danese Milano: the most famous are LA PERA and LA MELA, but there are many others such as IL GORILLA, LA PANTERA, L‘ORSO... these works of art are suitable for decorating a wall and immediately giving a pop look to the room, whether it is a living room, kitchen, bedroom or studio.

If, on the other hand, you want to personalise your wall more and create a collage (design experts call it a frame wall), all you have to do is find a selection of frames of different sizes but similar in appearance (there must always be a common theme) and fill them with prints, drawings, writing, photos and anything else you can think of! Very beautiful and modern are the black and white compositions.

Mirrors

Mirrors were originally designed for reflecting, so they are mainly used in the bedroom, bathroom or entrance hall. However, over time it has taken on a new meaning in furniture and today the mirror is no longer just for reflection, but for decorating, furnishing and illuminating. If your empty wall is in a dimly-lit room, instead of making it look heavier you might consider decorating it with a large mirror that reflects the light and makes the room look wider! You can choose a minimal, frameless or fine-edged mirror to decorate without being too bulky. Alternatively, if you have a large space that you want to fill with a large mirror, opt for something sophisticated, with an unusual shape or a large, eye-catching frame.

Remember that the obvious solutions are not always the best ones: have you ever thought of placing the mirror on the floor or on a shelf instead of hanging it? Placing a horizontal mirror with a particular frame on an old piece of furniture allows us to renew it by completely transforming its appearance.

For example: if you choose to furnish your home with a mirror that attracts attention, we recommend you take a look at the Gervasoni design mirrors, especially SWEET 97/98, whose elegant shape recalls a flower. For a more original and eccentric result, what about Mogg's SELFIE mirror?

On the other hand, if you want a mirror that is inconspicuous and furnishes without seeming excessive, what you need are the NO FRAME mirrors by Driade, whose clean and essential lines make them perfect for every corner of the house.

Clocks

One of the most revolutionised pieces of furniture is the clock. Nowadays, mobile phones are always used to tell the time, so the classic wall clock has been overturned, both in form and concept. It is no longer so important to tell the time: what is more important is the meaning and design of this accessory. Modern clocks are to all intents and purposes a piece of furniture and add an extra touch to the room. How can you use them to decorate an empty wall? Nothing could be easier: just choose the clock you like best! Opt for extravagant, colourful, unusual and original models: by choosing an eye-catcher you will not need to furnish the entire wall, but the clock will be enough to decorate the surface. What do you think of Progetti's CUCUBALL cuckoo clock? It will certainly not go unnoticed!

Have you ever thought about a modular clock? There are many models of wall clocks where you can freely place the numbers! An example is the RND Time clock by Progetti, where each number corresponds to a cube that you can fix to the wall at will. Find the ideal composition, play with the spaces and the arrangement of the numbers and get a unique and original effect!

Plates

Weren't we talking about walls? We are! There are plenty of decorative plates that you can hang on the wall to decorate your home, but I bet you never thought of that! Hanging plates on the wall may not seem very modern, because we are used to thinking of retro plates from grandma's attic. But we want to show you some really modern and contemporary collections of plates! You can use your imagination to choose how: how to arrange them, which piece to highlight, whether to mix different styles and collections. Take a look, for example, at these very original ceramic plates by SA13: their style is ironic, irreverent and pop. They are not just plates, but are more like small works of art to be collected. They are perfect for a contemporary home!

Bookcases

Another suggestion to perfectly solve the void in the wall is certainly a beautiful design bookcase. You don't need to think about a big, heavy bookcase that takes up too much space: modern bookcases have completely new styles and can revolutionise the look of an entire room. Unusual shapes, sophisticated designs and innovative materials are the ingredients that make designer bookcases unique! What do you think of Mogg's METRICA bookcase, for example? It is available in different sizes and colours to suit everyone's space. The structure is rigorous and rhythmic, but the final effect is one of lightness and harmony.

A more creative and less demanding solution is the SHOWCASE bookcase by Anne Linde. An alternation of full and empty spaces allows you to decorate without looking heavy, giving you full decorative freedom. You can place books in the closed spaces and decorate the open space as you prefer. Rhythmic movement is certainly a good way to give volume to the empty space on your wall.

As always, decorating is not just a matter of choosing an element, but of considering its context. We hope that some of our ideas inspired you and that that gap will finally be filled!