Ideas for Decorating Your Office Wall for Video Backgrounds

Remote work is here to stay. That means so are video conferences and virtual meetings. While you may not have considered what was behind you in the past, you should understand that your audience stares at it throughout your meetings. Therefore, whether you work from home or in an office setting, you need a professional background that doesn’t distract your audience. These are a few ideas for decorating your office at work and home.

Focus on Color Psychology Colors

Did you know that every color has an impact? Some have cultural meanings, while others evoke feelings. For example, people associate greens with positive emotions, nature, and comfort. Blues is brain-friendly and suggests peace and relaxation.

Red is an aggressive color often associated with love, passion, courage, or evil. Orange evokes feelings of compassion and goodness. Yellow evokes creativity and positivity. Black suggests mourning as well as wealth. Neutral backgrounds, such as gray and beige, suggest sophistication. You can choose cool colors to create a calming environment. Blues and whites work well if you want a background color that looks great on camera.

Earth tones also look professional, and you can complement them with splashes of brighter tones, such as orange or gold. Avoid too many bold colors because they can distract your audience. However, you can incorporate small instances of bold colors to show personality and creativity.

Texturize Your Walls

If you wonder how to decorate your office in a minimalist style, you may start with textured walls. They give your audience an interesting background that somewhat fades from their perception, mainly if the pattern is large. It doesn’t become a distraction but stands out if you place a logo on it.

Common backgrounds may include wood, brick, wall-type textures, stacked stone, shiplap, a chevron pattern, or continent shapes like a flat globe. You can texturize your walls, or you can create a backdrop screen that has a texture.

Home Office Do’s

Bookshelves make eye-catching backgrounds, but carefully select the titles and objects on your shelves. Your audience may assume that you endorse every title on your shelf, and your attendees will certainly read the titles. Choose a location no more than 10 feet from the wall to limit the view. Remove piles of papers, nicknacks, laundry, and excess furniture from your background.

When you investigate how to decorate your office walls, focus on one main feature, such as your logo, a piece of artwork without a glass front, or a styled bookshelf. You can add personalized accessories, but not too many, and they shouldn’t be too large. Make sure your lighting is flattering. A ring light may help if you don’t have natural light, but avoid backlighting yourself.

Home Office Don’ts

Avoid political statements, signs, or images when decorating your office walls unless you work for a political campaign. Also, if you work for an international organization, you may want to avoid patriotic items. You may prefer using a headset and microphone on your calls, but they are not typically visually pleasing.

Your workspace likely has a door and may even have a closet door, but entries can become distractions, especially if anyone comes through them while you are on a video conference. Also, avoid digital meetings in your bedroom, especially if the attendees can see your bed. It is a little intimate for a professional meeting.

Also, avoid windows and artwork with a glass front due to glare. If you use a laptop for your calls, remember the camera angle and avoid pointing your audience toward the ceiling. Avoid family photos as well. Finally, keep your pets out of your office space while you are on a video call.

If you cannot create a desirable background on the wall behind your desk, consider using a virtual background. You can create an eye-catching background that seamlessly incorporates and highlights your logo.