How to decorate a board game room, and why the art on the wall matters
Wyrmspan happy players
If you've ever walked into someone's home and seen a dedicated board game room, you know the feeling. It's not just a shelf of games. It's a statement: a whole world built around the things they love.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, partly because I spend a lot of time creating the art that goes inside those games: Origin Story, Wyrmspan, Dragon Academy, Floriferous, Delicious, and more coming soon; and partly because our own shelves at home have quietly taken over an entire wall. I'm not a gamer myself, but I live with several, and watching a collection grow is its own kind of beautiful chaos.
The art already exists, it just never leaves the box.
Board games are full of extraordinary illustration. But once the box is closed, all of that art disappears. It lives in a 30 × 30cm cardboard box, seen only during setup and pack-down.
There's something a little sad about that, honestly.
When I painted the 200 dragons for Wyrmspan, each one was a hand-painted watercolour original: real paper, real brushes, real paint. I paint them in large sizes, so the level of detail in each dragon is designed to reward close looking. But at card size, most of that detail is invisible. Printed large and framed on a wall, those same paintings become something else entirely.
One of my dragon coming to life with water and pigments
Wyrmspan board game: all the components were originally painted in watercolour.
Origin Story: paintings lined up in my little studio.
Origin Story board game: all the components were originally painted in watercolour.
Seeing the originals displayed like that, all together, in a real room, is genuinely moving. These paintings spent months flat on my desk, one at a time. Seeing them fill a wall is something else.
It's not always about the most impressive dragon
Not every piece of art earns its place on a wall by being dramatic. Sometimes it's something much simpler.
A customer recently got in touch to tell me they'd put George on their wall. George is a Wyrmspan hatchling: small, round, and possessed of an absolutely fun grumpy face. My customer told me he makes them laugh every single time they walk past him or play in the room.
That's the thing about art on a wall, you live with it daily. A painting that makes you smile at 7am on a Tuesday is worth more than an impressive one that you stop noticing after a week.
What to look for when buying board game art prints
Not all art prints are equal, and it's worth knowing what you're getting before you buy. The things that matter most: archival paper (it won't yellow or fade over decades), professional printing process, and whether the print is a mass-produced run or genuinely limited. A signed and numbered print from a small edition has a different relationship to the original work than a poster printed in the thousands.
For my own games, I offer original paintings from all the titles I've illustrated, and limited edition prints for Wyrmspan, Dragon Academy, and Origin Story. Each print is hand-signed and numbered to just 10 copies per size — A2 and A3.
It's also worth thinking about who made the art. There's something meaningful about hanging a print by the actual artist who illustrated the game you love, a direct connection to the person and the process behind it, not just a licensed reproduction.
Rochefort: Limited Edition print A2
A note on framing
Taure: Limited edition print A3
The frame matters as much as the print. For watercolour art especially, a simple white or natural wood frame with a generous mat lets the painting breathe and keeps the focus on the colour and texture. A glazed frame with UV-protective glass will protect the print from light damage over time. A2 and A3 sizes work beautifully, large enough to see the detail, small enough to group into a gallery wall of your favourite game art.
I wrote a little framing guide, you can read it here
Making the room feel like yours
The best board game rooms aren't decorated around a theme, they're decorated around a feeling. The games that meant something. The art that stopped you mid-setup. The characters you kept coming back to. Or, in George's case, the grumpy little hatchling.
If any of the dragons, or superheroes, or flowers, have been living rent-free in your head, you're welcome to browse the shop. Original paintings and limited edition prints, all hand-painted, all made with actual brushes and a lot of fun!
Boardgame rooms from my customers
