Best prints for home: Wall prints to add art and personality to your home
Wall prints are a great way to add colour, style and beauty to any home decor scheme
Whether you’re decorating a new space or refreshing an old one, prints are an excellent way to bring character to your living space. With such a wide range of options when it comes to prints for your home – from photographic prints and typographic prints to prints of paintings, whether you prefer realism or abstraction, vibrant colour or muted monochrome, and so much more – there’s no shortage of incredibly beautiful wall art available for you to choose from.
You can choose a single, bold statement piece that will stand out in a room, or you can create a gallery wall of several coordinating prints. Whatever your preferences for wall art, the possibilities for decorating your home are endless.
Choosing art is very personal, but making the most of your wall space depends on your style, your home decor colours, and a host of other factors. To help you narrow down your choices, we’ve made a list of just a few of our favourite prints for the home, as well as a brief guide to a few things to consider when shopping for prints.
Best prints for home: At a glance
- Best overall print for home: Anna Mörner Pink Lemons Print | £45
- Best kitchen print for home: Yum Spaghetti by Fox & Velvet | £75
- Best fashion print for home: Vogue December 1968 by Cecil Beaton | £135
- Best print for animal lovers: Highland Cow Canvas Wall Art | £17
- Best photograph print for home: Amsterdam Bicycle Framed Photographic Print | £160
- Best typographic print for home: When In Doubt Framed Wall Art | £45
How to choose the best prints for home
There are primarily three types of prints available on the market to choose from:
Framed print: This is an image – whether it’s a photograph, a painting or a design – printed on high-quality paper and placed inside a frame. In some cases, the print includes a mount with the frame, which can help the print stand out and offer space between the print and frame. Frames most often come in neutral colours, but some prints will be offered in more vivid frames that complement the artwork.
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Canvas print: As the name suggests, the image is printed onto canvas rather than paper. The canvas is then stretched over a hidden frame. It’s usually hung on the wall as it is, with no additional features.
Unframed print: A print that comes without a frame gives you more options. Many people hang such prints as posters, without a frame, choosing to use something like mounting tape. But the other option is to purchase a frame separately, allowing you to select something you feel complements both the artwork and your home decor.
If you’re planning on adding some prints to your home, there are some key things to consider:
Location: Consider where the art is going to hang in the house and the role you want it to play. In a bedroom, for example, should it evoke calm, with neutral tones? In a living room, do you want it to pop against the other decor? Even if it’s just going to hang in the loo, it’s good to know what you want the print to bring to the wall and the room.
Measurements: It’s important to determine beforehand whether or not the print will fit comfortably on the intended wall. This is especially crucial if you’re planning on building a gallery wall with several prints together.
Price: There are absolutely gorgeous prints at just about any price point. Whether you’re hoping to splurge on an incredible print or hoping to nab something delightful below £25, you should be able to find what you’re looking for within your budget.
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The best prints for home to buy in 2022
1. Anna Mörner Pink Lemons Print: Best overall print for home
Price: £45 | Buy now from Rose & Grey
This bold print of lemons is a perfect splash of colour for just about any room in the home. A bright, minimalist depiction of four lemons with dark green leaves on a pink background with a beige border, it brings vibrancy and warmth to whatever space it occupies.
This piece of art is a giclée print. Giclée is a printing method that helps achieve bold artwork permeated with colour. Together with the high-quality natural art paper, the print conserves its wonderful intensity, making it resistant to ageing.
The simple subject paired with the cheerful tones can work wherever you like, from the bathroom to the bedroom, the living room to the kitchen. Overall, it’s a perfect piece for pretty much anywhere and, since it doesn’t include a frame, you can find one that matches the rest of the decor in whatever room you choose.
Key specs – Size: 40 x 30cm (H x W); Frame included: No; Mount included: Yes; Material: Natural art paper
2. Yum Spaghetti by Fox & Velvet: Best kitchen print for home
Price: £75 | Buy now from Rockett St George
If you’re looking for a whimsical addition to your kitchen decor, this print is ideal. This modern take on classic Italian cuisine depicts a minimalist face enjoying a plate of spaghetti in tomato sauce. In a style reminiscent of the work of Saul Bass, the print makes use of quirky shapes and fun typography to add a touch of personality to your kitchen.
This eye-catching print is primarily teal, with a white border accent, allowing the yellow and red of the abstract spaghetti dinner to pop, as well as the green “yum” on the plate. The bright colours are accented by the black wooden frame that the print comes in.
A perfect, lighthearted piece of art, this print can easily be the centrepiece of your kitchen, or even dining room. The best part is that it comes ready to hang – no need to waste time and money trying to find the right frame.
Key specs – Size: 42 x 29.7cm (H x W) (before frame); Frame included: Yes; Mount included: No; Material: Paper, acrylic and wood
3. Vogue December 1968 by Cecil Beaton: Best fashion print for home
Price: £135 | Buy now from Heal’s
Almost nothing elicits the image of fashion as much as the word Vogue. Selected from the British Vogue archive, this print is a candid photograph from renowned photographer Cecil Beaton, capturing a moment at the studio of famous artist David Hockney.
In the photo, Hockney stands casually in front of a small rolling shelf covered with paints and brushes. He’s looking over his shoulder towards noted model of the time, Maudie James, who is looking and pointing back at him while draped in a full-length, glittering lilac coat with a long, matching scarf. Sitting on the floor is Peter Schlesinger, Hockney’s then paramour. And on the wall behind them hangs Hockney’s painted portrait of Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy.
It’s a perfect capture of the era, and a great addition to any fashion lover’s home. This photographic print comes ready to hang with a beautiful solid wood frame.
Key specs – Size: 74 x 74cm (H x W); Frame included: Yes; Mount included: Yes; Material: Semi-gloss paper, wood
4. Highland Cow Canvas Wall Art: Best print for animal lovers
Price: £17 | Buy now from Matalan
It can be difficult to find a stylish way to add pictures of animals to your walls. This canvas print does a great job of making animal artwork fit in any home, thanks to its neutral colours and textured lines.
The artwork depicts an adorable Highland cow with long hair covering its eyes. Its long horns reach to the corners of the canvas and the cow’s muzzle pokes out from under its woolly coat. The canvas is primarily beige, with long strokes of multiple shades of brown outlining and shading the cow. Some light shading on the bottom gives the painting a little extra depth.
It’s a canvas print, so it doesn’t require mounting or framing – the canvas is stretched over and attached to a wooden frame, ready to go straight on the wall. This neutral print can work in any room in the home.
Key specs – Size: 50 x 70cm (H x W); Frame included: N/A; Mount included: N/A; Material: Canvas
5. Amsterdam Bicycle Framed Photographic Print: Best photographic print for home
Price: £160 | Buy now from John Lewis
A photograph is a classic choice for wall art, and works for any area of the home. This particular photographic print is in simple black and white, so it can easily match with any other decor around the house.
The photograph shows one bicycle, and part of another, secured to the railing alongside a canal in Amsterdam. Above the bikes, flowers cascade down from the railings. In the background, the water of the canal shimmers before a bridge. And behind the bridge, and across the top of the photograph, trees thick with foliage line the view.
Made in the UK, the print comes with an off-white matte mount in a beautiful, glazed, gloss black frame, ready to hang in whatever space in your home it’s best suited for.
Key specs – Size: 65.5 x 85.5cm (H x W); Frame included: Yes; Mount included: Yes; Material: Paper, wood, composite wood, glass
6. When In Doubt Framed Wall Art: Best typographic print for home
Price: £45 | Buy now from Oliver Bonas
One fun trend that has taken over the world of wall art in recent years is typography. This is art that uses words or phrases, or simple letters and numbers, as its main visual element. It’s a neat alternative to landscapes and other common subjects, as typographic art allows you to display your favourite movie quotes, song lyrics, or any other delightful sayings you love.
This particular typographic print uses an off-white background to allow the text to really pop off the print. The phrase “when in doubt dance it out” is written in large, pink bubble letters, with each word on its own line. The lettering has a thick, red shadow behind it, giving the image depth and structure.
The print comes in a bright white frame – a slight contrast to the print background – and includes styrene safety glass that’s resistant to shattering.
Key specs – Size: 43 x 32cm (H x W); Frame included: Yes; Mount included: N/A; Material: Paper, MDF wood, plexiglass
