The first piece of Islamic home decor I ever bought was a big gold Bismillah sign from Amazon. It had a thick fake wood frame and a glittery background, the kind of thing you’d see in a hotel lobby. I hung it over our couch and felt pretty proud. People came over, looked up at it, and didn’t say a word. Three months later, it was in the closet. We still laugh about it.
That sign taught me a lot. A Muslim home should feel calm and lived in, and a lot of the decor sold online looks more like a hotel than a home. So this is what I changed in my own place, what I’d buy again, and what I’d skip.
1. Islamic Home Decor Starts With One Good Calligraphy Piece
Arabic calligraphy is usually the first thing people buy, and it’s where I wasted the most money. A lot of the cheap stuff online has gold splatter, shiny backgrounds and letters that don’t line up right. It looks printed because it is.
Buy one real piece instead of five cheap ones. A hand-painted piece costs more, but you only need one over the sofa. I found a small watercolor of Surah Al-Fatiha at a local market last year. It was forty bucks, and almost every guest asks about it. Not one person ever asked about the gold sign.
If you can’t spend much right now, you can make your own. I get to that further down.
2. Buy A Padded Rug For Prayer
For years I used a thin Turkish prayer rug. It felt like kneeling on cardboard, and my knees hurt after every salah. I finally paid more for a padded one with a geometric pattern, and I wish I’d done it years earlier.
The same goes for the living room. One good geometric rug does more for the room than wall-to-wall carpet. Islamic geometric patterns have been around for more than a thousand years, so a rug like that looks right in a Muslim home and still works in a regular living room. If you have kids, go with a darker color. Mine spill everything, and the dark rug hides most of it.
3. Use Lanterns And Lamps, Not Bright LED Strips
Last Ramadan I bought LED string lights that said “warm glow” on the box. Our living room looked like a video game, and my mother-in-law squinted through the whole iftar. Never again.
What works better in our place:
- One brass pendant lamp over the dining table, or two small Moroccan lanterns on the coffee table
- Softer bulbs in the regular lamps during Ramadan
- Candles in glass holders on the shelf for iftar nights
- Floor lamps with fabric shades instead of the ceiling light
Moroccan lanterns with cut-out metal throw little patterns on the walls when the big light is off, and that’s the whole reason to own one. I’d stay away from bright white ceiling lights in general. They make any room feel like a clinic.
4. A Prayer Corner Can Fit In A Small Apartment
When we moved into our apartment, I wanted a whole prayer room. Floor cushions, a wooden screen, maybe even a small fountain. Then I remembered we live in a two-bedroom with a toddler.
You don’t need a room. You need one corner that’s only for prayer. Mine is the space between the bookshelf and the window. It has a prayer rug and a small floating shelf for the Quran, and that’s it. The laundry is still three feet away, but I don’t think about it much for those ten minutes.
A few things that help:
- Hang it on the wall facing the qibla.
- Keep the floor clear and don’t hang anything low where you go into sujood.
- In a studio, use a folding screen you can tuck behind a door.
5. Warm Colors Work Better Than All White
My first try was white walls, white furniture and one black calligraphy piece. It looked nice in photos. In real life, every fingerprint and crumb showed up, and the room felt cold.
Now I use warmer colors like terracotta, deep blue, olive green and ivory. Our living room has one sage green wall and cream on the rest, and the black Quran verse on that wall stands out on its own. If you’re not sure about a color, buy a pillow in it first and live with it for a month before you paint.
6. Cheap Ways To Make Islamic Home Decor More Personal
Store-bought pieces made my place look like a hotel. The things I made or found myself are what made it feel like ours.
- Make your own calligraphy. Paint a short verse or one of the 99 names of Allah on a wood board or thick paper. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Old frames from the thrift store work great for this, and I pick up most of mine there along with a lot of my other thrift store home decor.
- Spray paint old lanterns and bowls. Old metal lanterns are easy to find secondhand. Sand them lightly, use a metal primer, then spray them gold or antique brass. Dented metal bowls work the same way, and they look good next to any aluminum decor you already have.
- Add floor cushions. A few plain cushions along one wall and a low tray table give guests a place to sit, and it costs a lot less than a new couch.
Quick Questions
What is included in Islamic home decor?
Most people start with Arabic calligraphy, a geometric rug, warm lighting like brass lanterns, and a prayer corner with a rug and a Quran shelf.
How do I keep it from looking cluttered?
Pick one main piece per room, use warm or neutral colors, and skip the extra signs and wall stickers.
Where should I hang Quran verse wall art?
Hang it at eye level or higher in the living room, hallway or study. Most people never put it in a bathroom or anywhere it can get wet.
