Best Islamic Home Decor Products

Almost every guide to Islamic home decor is a guide to wall art. Wall art is the visible half of the category and we cover it elsewhere; this is about the other half — the pieces that sit on surfaces, hold something, or get used every day. In our own sales they outperform wall art more often than most people expect.

Why the non-wall categories are worth starting with

Three practical reasons, none of them aesthetic:

• No drilling. If you rent, or you have not decided on the room yet, a surface piece commits to nothing.
• They move. A tabletop set works on a shelf this year and a sideboard next year. A 90 cm panel is fixed to whatever wall you chose.
• They get used. A key holder, a bookend and a Quran stand are touched daily. A wall panel is looked at, which is a weaker kind of presence.

Our order data bears this out: the two highest-volume products in the entire catalogue over the past twelve months are a hallway key holder and a set of tabletop dhikr pieces — not wall art.

Tabletop calligraphy

Small free-standing pieces, typically 32×8 cm, carrying a single word. Sold individually or as a set of three: Bismillah, Alhamdulillah, MashAllah, or the three dhikr phrases SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, AllahuAkbar.

Practical notes: the Arabic and Latin versions sell in roughly the same proportion, so neither is the safe default — choose by household. Sets look better in odd numbers, and a set of three on a 120 cm shelf is about right; more than that and they read as clutter.

See the Arabic set or the Latin set.

Candleholders

The one category that changes a room rather than decorating it, because it changes the light. Metal candleholders throw the cut pattern onto the wall behind them, so the piece is effectively two artworks — the object and its projection. Place one where there is a plain surface behind it, not in a corner.

The Hadha Min Fadli Rabbi candleholder is the best-selling design in the range; the whirling dervish holder is the one that projects most dramatically.

Bookends

Function first: a bookend has to be heavy enough and have enough base under the books to actually work. Decorative bookends that tip over are a common disappointment across the whole market, Islamic or not — check the base depth, not the height.

Iqra bookends are the obvious choice for a study; Allah and Muhammad pairs for a shelf where symmetry matters. The full range is small and deliberately so.

Key holders

The highest-use object in this list, and the reason it works is that it sits at the point in the day when the dua it carries is relevant. Key holders come with the dua for entering and leaving the home, with Bismillah, and with Ayatul Kursi in a mihrab shape.

One measurement to take before ordering: the swing of your front door. The 30×45 cm size is the volume seller, but in a narrow hall the 20×30 cm is the one that will not get knocked.

Prayer accessories

Distinct from decor in that the criteria are practical rather than visual:

• Prayer rugs — pile depth matters more than pattern. A thin rug on a hard floor is uncomfortable for the sajdah; a very deep one makes it unstable. See prayer rugs.
• Rug and Qur'an holders — the thing that turns a corner of a room into a prayer corner, because it puts everything within reach without a cupboard.
• Misbaha — bead size and weight are the whole experience. Larger beads for slower dhikr, smaller for portability. See prayer beads.

The whole category is gathered under prayer and spiritual essentials, and our prayer corner guide covers how to lay one out.

Seasonal pieces

Ramadan calendars, lanterns, date holders and table settings. The test for anything seasonal is whether it is worth the storage space for eleven months, and the honest answer differs by piece: calendars and countdowns pass because children use them daily through the month; single ornaments often do not.

Our Ramadan calendars come in metal and in metal-and-acrylic; the wider iftar and suhoor table range covers serving pieces, placemats and date holders.

If you are starting from nothing

A reasonable order to buy in, based on what gets used rather than what photographs well:

1. A key holder or Bismillah for the entrance — used every day, needs one fixing.
2. A tabletop set for the living room or dining sideboard — no fixing at all.
3. Prayer essentials, if there is a prayer corner to set up.
4. One wall piece for the living room, once you know the wall.
5. Seasonal pieces last, when a Ramadan is actually approaching.

Browse the full Islamic home decor range, or read our room-by-room decorating guide for where each of these belongs.