This article was co-authored by Patricia Penker and by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Madden. Patricia Penker is an Interior Designer and the Owner of Exclusively To Design, one of the top residential design companies in South Florida. With over 25 years of experience, Patricia specializes in interior design, interior decorating, and home staging. Patricia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design from the University of Cincinnati and a Master’s Certificate in Digital Design and 3D Modeling from CADDTrain. Patricia’s interior designs have been featured on HGTV’s Rip and Renew and Save My Bath and in celebrity homes. Exclusively To Design has been recommended on Houzz, Expertise - Best Home Staging in Miami and Best Interior Designers in Miami, and Best of HomeGuide.
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Wall clocks are a great addition to any decor, especially when they are the largest thing in the room. Adding decorations around them can be a challenge since they tend to take up so much space and attention. You can hang pictures, artwork, and plants around your wall clock to emphasize it and make it look cohesive in your home.
Steps
Picking a Placement and Color
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1Choose a clock with an aesthetic that matches your existing decor. There are many different styles of wall clocks right now. Ones that are neutral can coexist well with minimalist decor, while wall clocks that have a pop of color call attention to an otherwise plain wall. Choose a wall clock that fits well with the room that you’d like to add it to.[1]
- You can find wall clocks at many home goods stores.
- If you find a plain wall clock that you’d like to add color to, use some acrylic paint to make it more your style.
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2Let your wall clock be the focal point of the room for simplicity. Since wall clocks are so large, they can hang on their own and draw attention to a specific wall. To keep your decorations simple, hang a large wall clock on one wall and leave the rest of the area bare.[2]
- This look works best if your clock is especially large and takes up more than half of the wall space.
- Step back and take a look at the room as a whole. Thinking about how you can integrate the clock in a way that it will fit in with the rest of your decor in terms of color, proportion, and style.[3]
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3Attach a few large clocks to your wall for an oversized look. If you don’t want to stick with just one clock, add a few large ones in a small area for an eye-catching design. This will really enhance any wall that you add them to while creating an oversized art piece.[4]
Tip: Make sure your clocks are all set to the same time so that they don’t look asymmetrical.
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4Place your wall clock near another focal point to draw attention to it. If your living room already has a focal point like a fireplace, place your wall clock on top of it to draw even more attention to it. Keep your wall clock neutral so that it matches whatever focal point you add it to.[5]
- Brick fireplaces look especially good with a brown or tan wall clock above the mantle.
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5Add the clock to your dining room or bedroom for a unique placement. Wall clocks are most often placed in the living room. If you’d like to switch up the order of things, put your large wall clock in your dining room, bedroom, or bathroom for an interesting placement.[6]
Tip: You can even add a large wall clock to your staircase to add some interest to it.
Hanging Frames and Artwork
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1Add small picture frames around your wall clock for a personal touch. Since a large wall clock will attract a lot of attention, you can give people something else to look at by adding a few small picture frames in an abstract design around it. Leave an area of about 6 inches (15 cm) around the clock to have a nice balance on your wall. You can put up photos of your family, your friends, or picturesque landscapes.[7]
- You can match your frame colors to the color of your clock, or use some plain black picture frames for a neutral choice.
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2Hang paintings around your clock for an artistic look. Pictures are nice, but paintings add an air of sophistication to your wall clock. Hang 2 to 3 small paintings in frames that complement your wall clock for some extra details around your eye-catching piece. Or, pair your clock with a large painting that sits underneath it for a more artsy effect.[8]
- You can find cheap paintings at most thrift stores.
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3Put up your initials or family name for a nice tribute. If you’d like to draw attention to your family name, hang up some wooden letters that spell out your full surname or your initials underneath your wall clock. You can paint the letters to match your other decor or leave them as plain wood for a more rustic look.[9]
- Most craft supply stores have wooden letters and acrylic paint.
Using Plants and Banners
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1Frame your clock with a garland for an eye-catching design. Old wall clocks look great when they have a nice garland hanging above them, especially during the holidays. Screw in a few hooks above your wall clock and hang a garland above your clock so that it drapes over it.
- Add a few small Christmas lights to your garland to draw even more attention to your clock.
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2Hang a banner underneath your clock for a festive touch. If you are hosting a holiday party, you can add a banner underneath your clock to emphasize the occasion. Use thumb tacks to attach a banner in a semi-circle underneath your clock that says “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Birthday,” or “Happy Holidays.”[10]
- You can buy banners from your local party supply store or make your own by cutting out triangles of construction paper, attaching them to twine, and writing your phrase one letter at a time with a permanent marker.
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3Border your clock with plants for a nice balanced look. A pop of green can really add a nice frame to your wall clock. Put up shelves and place potted plants or vases filled with flowers on them. Or, set the plants on a mantle underneath your wall clock.[11]
- Clay pots are a nice neutral look, while colored pots add a pop of color to your decor.
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4Attach some hanging plants to your ceiling for a natural design. Hanging plants provide a nice frame for your wall clock if you place them correctly. Screw 2 hooks into your ceiling and hang a plant in a hanging basket from each hook on either side of your wall clock.[12]
- You can find hanging plants at most garden supply stores.
Tip: Hanging plants look great if they have vines that hang below their baskets.
Expert Q&A
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QuestionHow would I decorate around a large wall clock?
Patricia PenkerPatricia Penker is an Interior Designer and the Owner of Exclusively To Design, one of the top residential design companies in South Florida. With over 25 years of experience, Patricia specializes in interior design, interior decorating, and home staging. Patricia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design from the University of Cincinnati and a Master’s Certificate in Digital Design and 3D Modeling from CADDTrain. Patricia’s interior designs have been featured on HGTV’s Rip and Renew and Save My Bath and in celebrity homes. Exclusively To Design has been recommended on Houzz, Expertise - Best Home Staging in Miami and Best Interior Designers in Miami, and Best of HomeGuide.
Interior DesignerIt really depends on the room and where it is. One of the main things is to sit back and look at the room. Think about how everything fits together—it's not necessarily about the clock, but how the clock fits into the room.
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References
- ↑ https://jenniferrizzo.com/2013/10/the-impact-of-using-large-clocks-in-decorating.html
- ↑ https://jenniferrizzo.com/2013/10/the-impact-of-using-large-clocks-in-decorating.html
- ↑ Patricia Penker. Interior Designer. Expert Interview. 30 September 2020.
- ↑ https://jenniferrizzo.com/2013/10/the-impact-of-using-large-clocks-in-decorating.html
- ↑ https://jenniferrizzo.com/2013/10/the-impact-of-using-large-clocks-in-decorating.html
- ↑ https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/decorating-with-clocks
- ↑ https://www.stonegableblog.com/using-wall-clocks-in-decor/
- ↑ https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/decorating-with-clocks
- ↑ https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/decorating-with-clocks
About This Article
Today clocks come in all sizes, shapes, colors and styles to serve a myriad of functions from waking you up in the morning to helping you cook dinner. If you want to decorate with a clock, first you want to ask yourself, will it have prominence in the room? Or, will it be a part of other decor in the room? For instance, do you want to put a clock on a bookcase? Or do you want to hang it on a wall so it is the main focal point in your room? If you decide to make it a focal point, let’s say it’s a 30 inch round clock and you plan to hang iit. Will it be safe to hang it over the sofa? And if it is, how do you decorate around that clock? Well, you can put ledges on each side of the clock and put pottery, vases or artwork on those ledges that anchor at that clock. The clock will be the main focal point. The items that you put on those ledges or shelves on each side of the clock should be rather small. If the clock is small, and you want to incorporate it into your room, then I would suggest putting it with several other decor items. For instance, coffee table books, a small plant or vases and bowls. A good rule of thumb when decorating, especially with smaller items, is that you always want to group things in threes. It could be a clock, a couple of books, and a plant or a clock, a small piece of artwork, and a sculpture. Three is the magic number when we're talking about decorating. If your clock is functional and purely functional you can put it on a nightstand or in the kitchen. Again, maybe give it a plant or a flower to better accent the clock.
