10 Wall Clock Ideas for Living Room

The living room is likely a spot where you spend a lot of time, so making it a space where you feel comforted and inspired can be quite a task. However, with a near-endless variety of clocks, your design and decor potential is limited only by your imagination and wallet. There are so many ways to decorate with a wall clock, or use timepieces as a central part of your decor. 

The best place to start is by considering your theme and choosing an anchor piece that reflects the core of that style. From there, you can branch out by considering some of the ideas below.

1. A Big Timepiece

Image source: etsy.com

If you’re looking to make a statement, pick a wall and hang a huge clock on it. It will be the defining feature of that wall, so make sure that it goes well with current or future decor. You can select something with a minimal or abstract face or go ornate with wood and accents for a grand effect. 

Make sure that you’re able to hang it securely and that if you do decide to decorate the rest of the wall, give the clock ample space on its own so that the wall won’t look crowded. A sleek look involves a huge clock, like Bramwell Brown’s largest model, paired with decor of varying height like an end table or shelves that back onto the wall but don’t actually occupy the same space.

2. Minimal Face

One way to create visual interest is to use the wall as your clock’s face. With a set of hands and hour-markers, you can make the clock as small or big as you want, so you’re able to tailor the design to the room. 

Once the mechanism for the hands is affixed to the wall, consider if you’d like to go minimal and use dots to mark the increments or go classic with Roman, Arabic or lexical numerals. You might even skip that and use framed photographs instead--each hour being represented by a precious moment captured on film.

3. Mirror Clock

Image source: www.wayfair.ca

If you’re short on space or want to create the illusion of depth, consider a clock with a mirror for a face. A bigger clock will reflect more space and light, but a smaller clock can also act as a hallway mirror to double check your appearance before leaving home.

Consider a mirror clock with minimalist numbers if you want the mirror to be functional as a looking glass, but don’t discount a clock that uses its mirror as an accent. The reflectivity of a mirror can play with light and colours in fun ways that you may not have considered. This could be a great piece for your current decor to highlight the ambiance that you’ve created.

Recommended Reading: Where is the Best Place to Put a Wall Clock

4. Dual-Purpose Clock

Image source: @oxfordone

If you’re looking to make the most of the space you have in your living room, think about a clock that can do double duty. You’ll be using space efficiently in your home if you have a timepiece that also has a second function. 

Bramwell Brown’s clocks, for example, use a barometer system to predict weather in addition to telling the time. Their line of clocks (Weather Clocks and Tide Clocks) features a window that displays weather graphics and a description of what you can expect for the day. It’s a perfect addition to nearly any style and with various sizes, you are likely to get something that fits great on your wall.

Other kinds of dual-purpose clocks are ones that keep track of the moon’s phases or ones that keep record of the day, month or even year. 

5. A Bunch of Clocks

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Sometimes it’s hard to compromise and pick just one favourite timepiece. If you struggle with choice and love clocks, consider a wall full of them! You can pick out clocks of various sizes, and fill a wall or section with wonderful timepieces. You can consider adopting a certain style, so that you can create a cohesive canvas of art, or go eclectic and put up any clock that resonates with you to make a collage of styles.

There are few ways to execute this idea wrong--so whether you want a big focal timepiece in the center and go from there with smaller clocks or you’d like to just have an array of clocks, it will look playful and amusing. Consider the layout of wall space that you’re using--and decide how many clocks you’d like to fit in one spot. 

If you like a tidier appearance to fit more with your current decor, consider a row of clocks. You can set them to different time zones, which can be handy if you have relatives living abroad or have business contacts in other countries.

6. Accent Shelves

You might find that the wall is a bit bare surrounding your clock, but it may be difficult to find something else to put on the wall that doesn’t pull focus from your timepiece. A simple and elegant solution is shelving on either side of your timepiece. You can do a symmetrical set on either side, or do a single shelf with an open panel for the clock in the middle, or get a little bit wild and stagger some shelves in an offset pattern for visual interest.

Once you’ve got your shelves set, you can fill them with anything that you desire. Some ideas might be a knick-knack display for little items that you’ve collected over the years and not had a spot for, or favourite books that impacted you, or sentimental gifts that you’ve received from special people in your life. You could even find three-dimensional art to fit your shelves that carry on the style of your clock to complete your aesthetic. 

7. Picture Frame

No wall is complete without pictures and photographs of the things and people you love. If you’re tight on real estate or just want your clock to pull double-duty, think about a picture frame clock. This clock features 12 empty picture frames arranged in a circle for you to fill up with photos from beloved memories. Use the frames to emphasize the people you have in your life and the things that you truly care about so that when you’re looking to see if it’s a quarter to 12, you’ll see your mom or dad’s smiling face.

You can take it a different route as well though, and fill up the picture frames with colours or art of the numbers themselves. Have fun creating a unique decor piece that has your own personal style infused into it.

8. Scattered Numbers

A cheeky idea for a clock is one that intentionally makes it harder to tell time. This kind of clock is ideal for a living room where you spend a lot of time relaxing and hanging out with friends--the kind of spot where time flies by and it doesn’t matter if you spend an hour with your chosen companions or an entire day, you’re having fun.

Looking up at a clock that still has functioning hands but has the numbers puddled at the bottom of the clock is a cute reminder that the time you’re spending in this room doesn’t need to be tracked and it’s not a place where you need to be punctual. It is a space without time constraints where you can be fully at ease and a sweet clock with drooping numbers can be a quiet reminder for everyone that these are the moments where memories are made.

9. Nixie Tube Wall Clock

Nixie tubes date back to 1955 and use cathodes to display glowing amber numbers. This cool steampunkesque invention houses its numbers in a tube that is filled with low-pressure gas like neon and sometimes mercury and argon, making it a lot like the neon lights that we have in store fronts. It is a cold cathode, meaning that it rarely gets hot and the anode made of mesh supplies the power to the cathode.

Though these clocks are often desktop clocks, they can be housed in a frame that can be hung on the wall. These clocks have a lovely warm glow that can evoke a retro feel. The tubes themselves will eventually burn out from use, but can often be easily replaced, especially if you have a common size. You’re sure to get comments on this clock, since it’s typically not found in big box stores and will have to be sourced through careful antique hunting or ordered online.

10. Projection Clock

The projection clock is a fun twist on a regular wall clock, and all it requires is a power source and a blank wall. Like a typical projector, this wall clock uses light to be displayed on a nearby wall to tell the time. It’s a great clock for someone who likes to change the look of their decor with regularity since you can change not only the colour and brightness, but style of the clock, going from a plain analog to Roman or Arabic numerals and faces that accentuate different styles.

The clock itself is likely not ideal for nighttime since it’ll be producing light that can disturb your sleep, but that can be a great way to detach yourself from the day and have switching off the clock as part of your sleep routine. The unit itself lends easily to being tucked away or stashed in a corner when not in use and is not a cumbersome device that will take up valuable real estate in your home.

Play around with some concepts, use the ideas above to create your own space. Maybe you can use a big dual-purpose clock like one from Bramwell Brown and complement the wall with shelves, or use multiple mirror clocks to create a stunning kaleidoscopic effect. Stick to styles that you love and you’re bound to find something wonderful.

A final note to keep in mind if you plan on keeping a wall clock for a long time, and perhaps passing it down to the next generation, is how well it can be maintained and what it requires from you. You might want to invest in something that you know is made with high quality materials and craftsmanship and can be serviced over your lifetime if it needs to be. Bramwell Brown offers a lifetime of service for all of their clocks and since pretty much every step of the process is a local production, you’ll never have to worry about trying to source parts for your one-of-a-kind clock.

A fantastic addition to any room: take a look at our Weather Clocks