How to paint your walls orange and decorate them with posters and wall art

One of the trickiest decisions when it comes to decorating our home is the colour to use when painting the walls. Whether we are furnishing an empty house or want to refresh the atmosphere of one that is already furnished, it is very important to choose the right wall colours to create exactly the atmosphere we want.

In this guide we will focus on how to decorate a home tastefully using the colour orange in its various shades. We will also accompany the text with some suggested photographic prints that you can use to decorate your rooms. In our gallery you will find many more posters for sale online, wall art and prints that you can buy in just a few clicks!

1. Painting your walls orange

Orange is a warm colour created by combining red and yellow. As such, it inherits the energy, passion and drive of red, feelings softened by the brightness and cheerfulness of yellow. It is therefore a perfect colour for creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere without the risk of an overly intense, aggressive mood, as can happen with red. It was very fashionable in years gone by and is perfect for recalling the atmosphere of the 1960s and ’70s.

A room decorated in orange encourages activity and social interaction, immersing us in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. This type of décor is particularly well suited to a study, where concentration needs to be stimulated while keeping a sense of calm, or to a living room that invites conversation or reading. Thanks to its soft, warm tones, it is also ideal for warming up a north-facing room.

Bear in mind that, for all this, orange remains a fairly strong, bold colour. For this reason it is best used sparingly and on limited surfaces. If, on the other hand, you plan to make it the dominant colour or paint an entire wall with it, we recommend choosing light or pastel shades to keep the atmosphere light while creating a particularly elegant effect.

Lightened, orange becomes apricot, a colour that is easy to match with many styles of décor but can lack personality. Conversely, a darker orange becomes terracotta, a particularly warm, soft but less vivid colour that blends beautifully with natural tones and materials.

2. Making the most of complementary colours

Since it derives from the two primaries red and yellow, orange is the complementary colour of blue. As we explained in our article on colours for the home, placing two complementary colours side by side makes each one stand out more, thanks to the phenomenon of compensation. We can use this effect to add liveliness to a room that feels too dull or monotonous. It is important to stress that contrasts like these must be created with great care so as not to be too harsh; we therefore recommend limiting any combinations with blue to small areas.

A cheerful, quick and easy way to achieve these contrasts is to use decorative prints, such as the ones we suggest below.

3. Wall art for orange walls

When hanging pictures and posters on a wall in orange or one of its variations, there are three main options to choose from:

• Use prints with orange as the dominant colour. This creates a very strong harmony through a “tone-on-tone” style that gives a soft sense of order and uniformity.

• Choose prints in complementary colours, gently using the contrast to make both colours stand out and bring energy to a room that needs livening up. Prints in cool colours, such as sea pictures and posters, are perfect for this effect. Take a look at our suggestions!

• If the room is already full of colour and we prefer not to add further colourful elements, we can use black and white posters or prints that decorate elegantly and lighten the colour scheme. Images like these are versatile and can be used in both modern and classic interiors, depending on their subjects. Here are some suggestions that work with a range of décor styles and go well with rooms decorated in orange.

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Don't forget that our gallery has canvas prints for sale of all the images in this guide!