Your living room is more than just a space it’s where life unfolds. From slow mornings to relaxed evenings, it’s the heart of your home. Yet many beautifully styled living rooms still feel incomplete. The furniture is right, the colours are balanced, but something feels missing.
That missing element is often the anchor piece.
A large-scale handmade artwork has the power to ground your space, create a focal point, and elevate your interior from styled to soulful. This guide will help you choose the perfect large wall art for your living room, with a focus on balance, emotion, and timeless design.
What Is an Anchor Piece in Interior Design?
An anchor piece is the main visual element that holds a room together. In interior design, this is usually a statement artwork that everything else revolves around.
Without an anchor piece:
Furniture can feel like it’s floating
Walls feel empty or unfinished
The room lacks direction
With the right large canvas wall art, the space feels grounded, intentional, and complete.
Why Large-Scale Wall Art Makes a Difference
Scale creates confidence.
Unlike small decorative prints, large wall art defines the room. It anchors your furniture, adds depth to the walls, and creates an immediate sense of sophistication.
Benefits of large-scale artwork:
Creates a strong living room focal point
Adds visual balance and proportion
Enhances luxury and design impact
Makes the space feel curated and complete
Interior designers often choose artwork first because once the anchor piece is in place, everything else falls naturally into line.
1. Choosing the Right Size: The Rule of Scale
One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is choosing artwork that’s too small.
As a general guideline, your large canvas artwork should be around two-thirds to three-quarters the width of the sofa or furniture below it. This proportion creates harmony and avoids visual tension.
For homes with high ceilings, oversized or vertical artwork helps draw the eye upward, making the space feel more open, grand, and luxurious.
2. Using Colour to Tie the Room Together
Large artwork acts as a colour connector.
If your living room feels disconnected, the right painting can gently bring everything together.
Neutral living rooms (white, beige, soft grey) benefit from bold abstract art or expressive handmade paintings that add warmth and personality.
Bold or colourful interiors are elevated by nature-inspired artwork, muted tones, or monochromatic palettes that calm the space and add balance.
The goal isn’t to match your décor it’s to create flow.
3. Handmade Canvas vs Prints: Why Texture Matters
Not all wall art is created equal.
Mass-produced prints often appear flat, especially at larger sizes. In contrast, handmade canvas paintings offer depth, texture, and movement.
At Soul Arts, each artwork is hand-painted, allowing:
Visible brushstrokes
Layered pigment
Natural texture that reacts to light
As daylight shifts, the artwork subtly changes creating a living, breathing focal point rather than a static image.
This is why handmade wall art feels more luxurious and emotionally engaging.
4. Choosing Artwork Based on Feeling
A large artwork doesn’t just change how a room looks, it changes how it feels.
Before choosing your piece, ask yourself:
What mood do I want my living room to have?
For social, energetic spaces, expressive abstract or animal-inspired artwork adds movement and conversation.
For calm, relaxing spaces, spiritual art, seascapes, or nature landscapes create a sense of peace and balance.
Because large-scale artwork holds so much visual space, it naturally sets the emotional tone of the room.
5. A Simple Styling Tip Before You Buy
Before committing, use painter’s tape to outline the artwork size on your wall. Live with it for a day. Sit beneath it. Walk past it.
This simple step helps you visualise scale and ensures the artwork feels right in your space.
Why Large Handmade Artwork Is an Investment
An empty wall is a missed opportunity.
A large handmade painting is not just décor it’s an investment in atmosphere, emotion, and longevity. It becomes part of your daily life and the backdrop to your memories.
At Soul Arts, every canvas is created with intention to ground your home, elevate your interior, and bring soul into your space.
Because the right artwork doesn’t just fill a wall.
It completes the room.
[Explore our Large-Scale Collection at Soul Arts Australia]