Have you been thinking about creating an accent wall or feature wall in your home? Or maybe you still have a painted accent wall in your house that needs to be updated? Feature walls have become so much more than just paint on a wall.
So this week, we have taken a look at one of the easiest ways you can spruce up a space to make it more lively, creative, and fun. That is with an accent wall.
The wallpaper in this powder room adds character and personality. Without this feature, the room would be boring and quite plain. Wallpaper is a great way to create a feature or accent wall in any room of the home.
An accent wall (or “feature wall”) is typically one wall of a room that has been designed differently than the others. And this can come in many different forms, which we will look at further into this blog post.
First of all though, let’s have a closer look at why you might consider implementing an accent wall into your home.
Why
There are many reasons why creating an accent wall can benefit you and how you feel within a space. Depending on the application and design for the accent wall, they can help the room to feel bigger, or cozier and more inviting if added to a large room.
Introducing an accent wall into your home is a relatively inexpensive way to add some texture, interest, and complexity to an otherwise simple or small room. For small rooms, in particular, adding a darker color to one wall can help to make the room feel much bigger.
If you have a large room that serves many purposes, for example, a large kitchen, dining, or family room space, adding an accent wall can help to break them up and help you to define them.
One of the greatest reasons why accent walls shouldn’t be overlooked is how they can add texture to an otherwise dull space.
What
So now you’ve decided that an accent wall is a great idea for your home, and you’ve chosen a room which would hugely benefit from this. Next up is choosing what exactly that accent wall should be.
Vinyl decals are any easy and straight forward way to create an accent wall. They are removable, and won’t damage the wall either! Why not add vinyl decals of your child’s favorite animal? These butterflies would be perfect for a little girl’s room!
Painting an accent wall in a different color to the rest of the room used to be extremely on-trend, however, this is no longer the case. In other words; it’s simply not enough to just paint one wall a different color to the rest!
Instead of painting an accent wall, consider wallpapering a feature wall instead. Many people dislike the process of removing it when they want to update or change the room again in years to come, however it is a great way to add some texture and create a feature.
If wallpaper isn’t for you, make a statement with wainscotting, paneling, or architectural trim work. This adds interest, an element of design, and distinctiveness to a space. Depending on the color you choose to use, this can help to introduce an element of texture too.
Wainscotting is slightly different from paneling because it typically covers the lower parts of the wall only. This method of wainscotting is quite traditional as its original purpose was to help reduce rising dampness in houses and to help with damp-proofing them. It is also known to have been installed to protect walls from chairs hitting it, hence the chair height this has been traditionally installed to. Modern wainscotting now is often installed at taller heights, but doesn’t extend to the ceiling like paneling and architectural trim work.
These days wainscoting is used for decorative purposes, similar to wooden painted paneling. They also do not need to be made as thick (protruding into the room) as before if only used for decorative reasons. This means thinner details and less board and batten.
By installing wainscoting to your room, you can paint or wallpaper above in a bold statement color or texture which again helps to add more interest and texture to the space. Paint the wainscoting itself in the same color as your other woodwork to help blend it in.
We recently completed this project where we designed a feature wall that wrapped around from the front entrance, down the hallway and into the dining area of the open plan living area. This accent wall helped to differentiate between the “zones” of the room while adding more color and creativity to the space.
Other Ideas
We have mentioned wallpaper in the previous section, yet it’s important to mention that while wallpapering can be seen as old fashioned to some, designs have come a long way. There are many different patterns, styles and colors on the market now which makes it an extremely contemporary option. Bold statement patterns are available and the choice is vast.
Another idea for creating an accent wall in your home is by using vinyl decals. These are available from many places, and again in many different styles and patterns. Particularly for children’s rooms, this is an extremely creative way of adding a personal touch to their walls. And the great thing about vinyl decals is that they are easily removable and won’t damage the wall’s surface. Therefore when you come to redecorating in a few years time, it should be relatively easy to do.
We loved designing this boy’s bedroom! We used vinyl decals for the end wall to replicate his love for baseball. Using vinyl in this way is hugely creative and makes the room very personal.
How
We love using vinyl decals for children’s bedrooms in particular because it adds an easy element of interest and creativity to their rooms! These dots are available in many different colors so you can personalize any space. Vinyl decals are a quick way to add an extra element to your walls and they’re easy to take down / remove when the time comes that you need to redecorate.
How to implement an accent wall in your home will largely depend on your DIY skills! There are many how-to videos and blog posts about how to create a panelled wall, wallpaper correctly and install vinyl decals. If you’re a keen DIY’er, creating a feature wall with the ideas presented above will be great projects to get your teeth stuck into!
TOP TIP: Make sure you do plenty of research into the “how-to” part of your DIY project and have everything you might need before starting.
Conversely, should time and handiwork skills not be on your side, hiring a professional can help you to complete the project. We highly recommend that again, you do plenty of research into who you’re hiring and ensure they have prior experience of the work you’re looking for them to complete. Good luck with your accent wall project!
Have you designed and installed a feature wall in your home? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below! Do you need a custom design? Contact us to help today!