A good pub feels lived in, layered and local, and the walls do a lot of that work. The right prints make a room feel like it has been there for a hundred years, or like a smart gastropub, without a big budget. Here are pub decor ideas that suit each style and each part of the pub.
Traditional, gastropub or modern: pick a lane
Decide what kind of pub you are before you buy a single print. Mixing styles is the quickest way to make a room feel accidental.
- Traditional: warm colours, aged-looking posters and old maps. See vintage wall art.
- Gastropub: tighter colour palettes, food and drink prints and larger, calmer pieces.
- Modern: bold graphics, colour blocking and bright retro art prints.
Pubs also change through the day. A room that is bright and quiet at lunchtime is dim and busy by Friday evening, so choose art that looks good in both kinds of light. Strong shapes and clear colours read well under warm evening lighting, while very pale, delicate prints can disappear.
Snug, bar and dining room: art by zone
A pub is really several rooms, and each one asks for something different.
- The snug: small, close-together prints in a dense gallery wall give a cosy, collected feel. Try our gallery wall planner to work out the layout.
- The bar area: people stand and look here, so use larger, punchy pieces. Browse bar art prints. For bar-specific ideas, see our guide to bar decor.
- The dining room: calmer art that doesn't compete with the food, hung at seated eye level.
- Corridors and toilets: a good place for humour and small surprises.
Local history and place prints
Regulars love seeing their own town on the wall. Maps, skylines and street scenes tell people you belong to the place.
- Map and city prints suit a pub in any town or city.
- London wall art is a natural fit for a London local.
- Group several prints of the same area on one wall to make a feature of it.
Big walls need big art. In a large pub room, a single A0 print or a row of matching A1 prints looks more confident than lots of small ones scattered along the wall.
Beer, cocktail and food themes
Drink and food prints say what you serve before anyone opens the menu. Use them with a light touch.
- Choose one drink theme per wall rather than one per print.
- Cocktail prints suit a modern bar area, while classic pub scenes suit a traditional lounge.
- Pair a food or drink print with a place print so the room doesn't feel like a menu.
- Keep quirky prints for the areas people pass slowly, such as the corridor to the toilets.
Durability and fading
Pubs are hard on walls. There is smoke from outdoor areas drifting in, steam from the kitchen, sunlight through front windows and the odd knock from a passing chair.
- Frame every print and use glazing near the bar and kitchen, since prints arrive unframed.
- Keep art out of direct sunlight where you can, or rotate prints on a sunny wall each year.
- Fix frames securely in busy areas, with two fixings per frame or security hangers.
- Size up. Larger prints are harder to knock and easier to see across a busy room. Our size guide shows the options.
Keep the same look, vary the place
For a group, it works well to share a colour palette and frame style across all your pubs, then change the local prints so each one feels rooted in its own town. Regulars of each pub see their own place, while the group still looks like one business.
Ordering for a pub group
If you run one pub or a group, ordering the same set of prints in the same sizes makes every site feel part of the same family. Our trade programme gives businesses 20–30% off every order, with tiers based on your spend over 12 months. Read more on our hotels and hospitality page.
Prints are made to order on museum-grade matte paper and dispatched within 1–2 business days, in sizes from A4 to A0. Reorders are easy if you need to replace a print or dress a new site.
Pub decor ideas: quick answers
What wall art suits a traditional pub? Vintage-style posters, maps and local scenes in warm colours suit a traditional pub best, framed in dark wood or black.
How do I make a pub feel cosy? Layer the walls with a gallery wall in the snug, keep the colours warm and hang art at seated eye level.
Can I use the same art in the bar and the dining room? You can, but bigger, bolder pieces work behind the bar and calmer pieces suit dining, so choose by zone.
