Tree of life wall art: the symbol, its styles and its rooms.

What the tree of life means

Tree of life wall art draws on one of the oldest images people share: a tree whose roots reach down and whose branches reach up, joining the ground to the sky. The Book of Genesis places a tree of life in the Garden of Eden. In Norse mythology the great ash Yggdrasil holds the worlds together in its branches and roots. In Irish the tree is the crann bethadh, and Celtic belief honoured certain great trees as links between earth and heaven.

Islamic art drew the tree of life in strict balance on carpets, mosaics and carved panels, and the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah turned it into a spare diagram of ten points, the sefirot. What these versions share is a sense of growth, continuity and connection, which is why the motif sits so easily in a home: it says something about family and roots without needing words.

Four styles of tree of life wall art

The golden, spiralling version most people picture comes from Gustav Klimt. Between 1905 and 1911 he designed the Stoclet Frieze for a dining room in Brussels, a great tree spreading spiral branches set with eye motifs. The Ochre Tree of Life works in that language: spiral after spiral fills the sheet on a warm ochre-gold ground, with a dark mosaic trunk and small jewel-like blossoms among the curls.

The Celtic style turns the tree into knotwork. In The Tree of Life Mandala the trunk, branches and roots pass over and under one another inside a gold ring on deep black, so the eye travels round rather than up. The Emerald Tree of Life is closer to Islamic symmetry, with crown and roots mirrored inside a circle in raised gold on deep green.

The fourth style is the Arts and Crafts one. The Morris Tree of Life sets a straight gold trunk between symmetrical branches, with red pomegranates and small blue birds on warm cream, as balanced as a woven textile.

Let the colour choose the room

In tree of life wall art, the background colour changes the mood more than the drawing does. Tree of Life Under the Stars places swirling gold branches and a thin crescent moon on midnight blue, a still, night-time picture that belongs in a bedroom. The Blossoming Tree of Life does the opposite: soft pink blossom in a hazy crown on blush and cream, held up by a slender gold trunk, light enough for a pale room or a guest bedroom.

For a dining room or a warm living room, The Autumn Tree of Life has a copper-gold spiral trunk and red, amber and gold leaves blowing loose across deep burgundy. The White and Gold Tree of Life is the quietest of all, raised gold lines on soft white plaster, and it changes with the daylight more than any coloured version. Tree of Life with Birds, with its teal birds and coral blossoms on cream, suits a kitchen or a child's room.

Where to hang tree of life art

Above a bed is the classic place for tree of life wall art, and the symbolism helps: roots below, branches above, rest in between. Choose a centred, symmetrical design there, because a bed is itself symmetrical and an off-balance picture will fight it. An entrance hall is the second natural home, where a tree of life greets people as they come in, and a dining room is the third, the room Klimt's frieze was designed for.

Circular designs such as the mandala or the emerald medallion need clear space on every side, so give them a wall of their own rather than squeezing them into a group. Trees that rise from a ground line, such as the blossoming or autumn versions, can sit lower, above a sideboard or a chest, with the trunk roughly in line with the centre of the furniture.

Size, framing and light

Tree of life wall art is full of fine detail that rewards a close look, so size it generously. The works come as printable downloads, and the portrait files at 7168 × 10752 px print sharply to about 60 × 90 cm. Each download also includes a Frame TV version, and printed versions are available on the site.

Match the frame to the ground. Dark grounds take a slim black or dark wood frame; cream and white grounds suit pale oak or a thin gold moulding. Soft side light from a window flatters the fine gold detail better than a lamp straight in front, which can also cause glare on glass. Hang the centre at about 150 cm, or 15 to 25 cm above the headboard.

One tree, or a set of seasons

Tree of life wall art also works in pairs. The blossoming and autumn trees make a natural spring and autumn pair either side of a window or a bed, because both grow from a single gold-toned trunk into a full crown. Hang them at the same height with a gap of 5 to 8 cm, or wider if they flank something.

Avoid mixing styles in one group. A Celtic knot beside a Klimt spiral beside a Morris textile reads as three separate ideas. Pick one language, then vary only the colour, and the wall will look planned rather than collected.