There’s a version of this that goes wrong very quickly. Too many frames, too many styles, too much happening, and suddenly a wall that was meant to feel considered looks accidental.
The good news is that mixing prints isn’t about matching. It’s about finding a reason for things to be together.
That reason can be a colour. Not identical colours, but a palette that runs through everything. A warm tone, a recurring shade, something that connects without being obvious. A graphic black and white print can sit next to something more illustrative if they share even a thread of the same mood.
It can also be a feeling. Prints that carry a similar energy tend to work together even when they look nothing alike. Something melancholic next to something quiet. Something bold next to something sparse. The contrast becomes intentional rather than chaotic.
What rarely works is mixing without any common ground at all. A very decorative print next to a very minimal one, in clashing frames, at random sizes. There’s nothing to hold it together. The eye doesn’t know where to land.
A simple way to test it: lay everything on the floor before anything goes on the wall. If it already feels like it belongs together down there, it will on the wall too. If something keeps pulling your attention for the wrong reasons, it probably doesn’t belong in that group.
Take a photo of the arrangement before you start hanging. It sounds obvious but seeing it on a screen rather than in front of you changes the perspective. What felt balanced on the floor can suddenly look off-centre, too heavy on one side, or missing something in a corner. The photo gives you distance.
Also pay attention to frame styles before you commit. Mixing prints is one thing. Mixing three different frame materials, four different widths, and two different finishes is another. You don’t need everything to match, but one consistent element across all frames — the same colour, the same profile width, the same finish — goes a long way. It’s what makes an eclectic mix feel curated rather than collected.
And if something still doesn’t feel right once it’s on the wall, give it a few days before moving it. First impressions on a freshly hung piece are rarely the right ones.
Prints don’t need to tell the same story. They just need to be able to share a room.
— Studio Ninette, designed in Belgium.