For an ancient decor theme, try using an whole wall as a single decor element. Historically, Egyptian and Mezzo American hieroglyphic art, and Chinese Calligraphy and paintings, have been used to cover entire walls or pillars. It is advised that you do this with only one wall per room, or that each wall be a continuation of the same theme. Don’t over do it.
If you are hoping to create a hieroglyphic decor theme for a wall, it is best to use stamps or stencils directly on the wall, as these will keep the hieroglyphs uniform when they are repeated. Hieroglyphs typically look best when you vary them in size. For instance, on the wall of a temple, you will usually find a major theme in large hieroglyphs in the center or to one side of the wall, and smaller hieroglyphs above, below and to the sides of the main figures, telling the story. Hieroglyphs also make pretty borders for where walls meet ceilings or floors. Be sure that you research the meaning of the hieroglyphs first, as many have spiritual meanings that may not be appropriate when used in your home decor.
Chinese calligraphy is typically done on scrolls, but some of the scrolls are so large or so long, that they can dominate a whole wall or pillar. The characters on huge scrolls can be very large and spaced accordingly, or the scroll can be filled with many lines of small characters. The effect of huge brush stroked characters on the room’s atmosphere is profound and can be a very elegant, graceful, and uplifting decor focal point. It can also make the room feel bigger. The effect of densely gridded smaller characters is more like the effect of wallpaper with a busy pattern; it is usually best reserved for smaller surface areas, like spaced panels. Calligraphy stamps can also be used to decorate the borders where a wall meets a floor or ceiling. Again, research the meaning of the characters, separately and in combination, before you choose them.
If you find a classical Chinese or Japanese painting you like, you can scan it and enlarge it to the size of your wall, then print it onto a translucent material that will look like a paper screen. When you install soft back lighting for this membrane stretched over the wall, you turn the whole wall into a giant Asian art screen. Imagine a landscape of misty mountains and trees with rivers and waterfalls in grey-scale on the largest wall in your living-room. Imagine Xu Beihong’s Six Horses in your office. They don’t always have to be grey-scale images like an ink brush painting. Li Zhen-wei’s Butterflies and Peonies covering your dining room or kitchen wall would add a warm sunny background and rosy pink tones to make you feel optimistic when you sip your morning tea. For a more subtle design , you might like Drunken Spring by Yung Tao, Chinese Orchid by Chen Du, or a traditional painting of bamboo.
Ancient beauty becomes modern sophistication when used tastefully in wall decor.
