1) The goal of your gothic wall
So alright, this might sound a little weird, and you might think "well I just want a wall that I can decorate and that will look nice". Of course, but you might also want to use your wall for photoshoots, seasonal decoration or even advertisement. You might think about the following points:
- does this wall get light?
For example, if you are using it for photoshoots or selfies, it's better to have a window nearby.
- will you change the decoration often?
If yes, can you drill or nail this wall multiple time?
- do you have space for your camera if you need to take a picture?
This might seem a minor inconvenience, but if you have to take a picture and your camera doesn't have enough space (or you don't have enough space), this can be inconvenient.
👉 What I wanted:
I wanted a gothic wall that I can definitely use for product pictures and background, but also for full length photoshoots or portraits. I knew I would fill it with light frames, mirrors, skull and antlers which I would change depending on my mood and seasons.
Sneak peek of how it looked before with my jackalope (just a normal wall):
2) Which wall will you turn gothic (and how)?
This can be obvious, but you don't have to transform your whole house or room into a gothic mansion. This is why I never did this decor, I always thought: either I'm going all in, or I do nothing. Which in fairness brought me nowhere.
You can only select a wall in your bedroom, living room or cabinet and take care of it. This can be the bed head wall, sofa wall, TV wall or a plain wall with no other feature that you will have plenty of space to customize.
To be honest, starting with one wall is a great beginning: it already takes some time, and once you have your wall you want to fill it up with stuffs, which you have to buy. So to some extent, starting small is also a way to avoid spending too much!
👉 My apartment and the wall I chose to turn gothic!
I live in a city apartment which I rent since few years. When I moved in, it was in a good state but not refurbished, which meant the floor has stain, marks, same for the wall. Therefore, I felt free to make my own changes. I took it upon me to add this wallpaper and will have the ability (hopefully) to remove it if needed when I leave.
I chose the wall below where my jackalope is, which is a 2-meter width wall on my living room, next to a window, which has high ceiling (more than 3 m).
3) In practice: black paint or black wallpaper?
You don't need to look for the fanciest shop or buy the most expensive product to start the base of your wall. In fact, every DIY or Home & garden shop will provide black wall paint (or the equivalent in green, blue shade if you look for something more colorful) and a wallpaper which can be assimilated to something of a gothic style.
You can get a plain black wallpaper or something with texture or pattern depending on what you like.
Putting wallpaper require at least 2 people, especially if you want to set a wallpaper with a pattern which needs to be fitted at each row. But even with minimum skills, a ladder, a good help or 2 and the correct equipment you will make wonders!
👉 The black damask wallpaper I chose and the overall cost
I went to Hornbach which is a typical DIY/Home shop here in Austria and bough 3 rolls of this wallpaper (each roll was 17€ and I actually used only 2), glue (5€), a brush (5€). We had a ladder in our apartment building, and the only thing I wish I had bought was a tool to get rid of air bubbles.
It took only a couple of hours and 👉 here is a time-lapse 👈 of us doing our gothic wallpaper, from buying it, to the finish result!
4) The fun part: decorate your gothic wall
Once your gothic wallpaper or paint is set, your playground gothic wall is ready! It's up to you to see if you want to have a masterpiece surrounded by small pieces, some "flat decor" (frames, prints), skulls or antlers trophies.
You can play with shapes, sizes, materials and hang smaller items to bigger ones, etc. The possibilities are infinite!
👉 How I decorated my gothic wall:
👉Here is a time-lapse of me decorating and setting all my decor!👈
- The central piece is a wood cabinet with drawers and glass doors which I painted black and gold. I use it to store herbs, glass bottles, incense, candle, crystal and other small witch accessories.
- The big gold baroque frame on the top comes from the Naschmarkt Saturday's flea market in Vienna.
- On the right is a small but fancy gold mirror (bought in SEWA) which is just above a wood sconce which was given to me from my boyfriend's granny (which I painted in black and gold too). It's the perfect stand to display and showcase my pieces for photoshoots or product photo.
- Most of the gold frames are from SEWA too and still waiting on receiving pictures.
- I purposely left an area without decoration on the left side, in case I need a plain wallpaper background.
- I moved my altar table (bought on Amazon) underneath, which is nice to display my accessories and also can be used to photoshoot my skull on a flat surface. This altar table can also easily be moved, which is handy when I need less distraction in the background.
On my altar are all my tools, accessories and various decor which I gathered from different places. There are candles, wood and stone mortar, incense holders, plants, books, curios items, etc.
5) Use your gothic wall it and show it off!
Right, you got your amazing gothic wall, and you can't stop staring at it, well, let the world know about it!
- I used mine for full length photoshoots and portraits.
- Secondly, the area with the sconce and mirror is beautiful for product photo and the windows nearby which allows different lighting and styles.
- It's also a very nice background for close up, detailed or lifestyle photoshoots and to give an idea of how my decorated skulls and witch items can be set up and used.
This set up allow my decor to be versatile and fit for most of my purpose.
👉 Here is the first quick video I made of my wall once finished and it blew up on Instagram (300K views!)
To conclude:
- Creating this wall was not very expensive as I had most of the decorating parts and the surface wasn't huge to cover.
- Making this gothic part in my apartment made me happy and gave me a new impulse for my content, in real life but also on Instagram and social medias!
- For my products and photoshoot, it gives the vibe that I actually like the most: a dark moody and opulent decor, black and gold with touches of color and many details.
If this blog article inspires you or helpes you to create your gothic wall head to my Instagram and message me or better, send me pictures of your new gothic wall!