Lee Burnett
Accent wall ideas not only add color and pattern to an overall scheme, but it's a chance to create a certain mood, spark conversation and inject personality. We all want a happy home; one that fills us with joy as soon as we step through the front door, a place to feel relaxed and at peace, to host our favorite people and a design scheme that inspires and invigorates.
Really, it can be whatever you want it to be – a wall of favorite artwork, a pink ceiling, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, murals, a way to zone a space and more.
We speak to leading designers who give away their top tips on creating an accent wall. We adore wall paneling ideas and the way they work beautifully in both traditional country manors and modern apartments. They give an opportunity to use a cool pattern or bold color in a room without overwhelming the space.
'I love this wallpaper but don’t like to overdo it with pattern so here we added it above wainscoting and it really sings and elevates the room. Adding a warm grey to one or two walls can cozy up a room and you can leave the rest of the space white, or like in this picture, wallpaper above wainscoting or make a large rectangle of trim as a frame and makes the wallpaper more of an art piece rather than covering the whole wall.'
Whether it's one favorite piece that you want to take pride of place or a whole wall of personal photographs, kids' drawings and affordable art, artwork adds personality and character and gives life to a lackluster wall. The soft grey walls of this Tribeca apartment are instantly lifted with these joyful pieces. 'We wanted to create an accent wall that was modern and minimalist,' says Ahmad AbouZanat, founder of New York interior design studio PROJECT AZ (opens in new tab). 'The living room has large floor-to-ceiling windows that bring in a lot of light so our approach was to contrast the dark blue sofa with bright colors and add more textures instead of print.
'As interior designers our challenge is always to create a color palette that is exciting and different, whilst honoring the bones of the home and being liveable for the owners,' says Tiffany Duggan, interior designer and director of Studio Duggan (opens in new tab). Here are Tiffany's top tips when choosing color to create an accent wall:
Perhaps there is a more neutral base - jeans, linen shirts and loafers with the odd bright jumper or handbag? In a darker north-facing room, a small space, or one in which you are likely to spend the evenings in, don’t be afraid to go warmer/darker. Painting a small, cold space in a bright white, does not have the effect of making it feel larger or brighter - just a little sad. Green is good in a north-facing room (avoid anything with too grey an undertone), or soft pink and nudes.
'I usually paint the cornice in the same color as the ceiling rather than the walls which results in a lighter, more open feel, but occasionally if I want to create a cocooning, moody, feel I flip this and choose a deeper tone for both the walls and cornice. Clients hardly ever regret strong color choices but I am forever being asked how to rectify and inject personality into rather dull characterless spaces.
Finally, consider paint colors alongside fabrics and, if possible, at the same time as adjacent rooms to ensure a sense of cohesion.'
'In this space, we wanted to create a dark library feel in mid-century modern style, so instead of using the contrasting color in the joinery design, we opted for the same shade of dark grey from the Benjamin Moore (opens in new tab) collection which ensured the design fluidity.'
This burnt orange stripe painted across a horizontal section of the wall creates a striking and beautifully contemporary accent and makes traditional paneling feel modern and cool. When it comes to how to paint stripes on a wall, give yourself time and patience and start by painting your base color across the entire wall using the lighter and flatter shade of the two colors you picked, advise the experts at FrogTape (opens in new tab).
Use a mix of materials and don't fall into that trap of thinking that paint and wallpaper are your only options. This scheme cleverly uses tiles in an accent color to help divide an open-plan space, creating a cozy home office corner. 'Go for broke with schemes of punch and pizzazz and use decoration as the main theme in your refurbishment,' says Rob Whitaker, creative director at tile brand Claybrook (opens in new tab). 'Wood plank was used as an accent material in one of our projects to highlight circulation zones at the perimeter of the house,' adds Thomas Barry, Principal at OPerA Studio Architecture (opens in new tab). 'For us, an accent or feature wall needn't be loud colors or wild pattern,' explains Caroline Sacreste, Co-founder, Indie & Co (opens in new tab). This can be achieved by using materials such as mosaic or zellige tiles or a different plaster or limewash paint ideas.
Although the pattern is busy in this scheme, the colors are the same and the woodwork and ceiling are kept white, ensuring the whole room is unified. Many times, clients want to do something bold and fun, but are scared to commit and that's where the accent wall comes into play,' says Ruchi A Mohan, Founder of DesignbyRUCHI (opens in new tab). 'It is the focal point in the room, a place for the eye to get drawn to, a potential Zoom background, and it also reduces pressure on the budget. Use an accent wall to create a frame or headboard for your bed, whether that's an all-over pretty floral print as a backdrop or something more modern, like a painted headboard which could change the look of your bedroom ideas, giving it a new color scheme and a new focal point. 'We love painting the ‘5th wall’ whereby it adds another dimension and playfulness to the room that's often forgotten about,' says Kate Clare, founder of Loud Architects (opens in new tab). 'To create a sense of escapism in this calm and mindful bedroom, we commissioned an accent wall mural to be painted on the wall which picks up subtly on the other colors in the room,' explains Caroline Sacreste, Co-founder, Indie & Co. 'The landscape mural adds depth and a dream-like quality to the room which helps support relaxation and offers a place of sanctuary within the home.'
'Options range at different price points from companies such as Rebel Walls (opens in new tab) which can digitally print to a customer's size and scale in a relatively short lead time to custom hand painted wall panels made to your space, most notably from Gracie Studios (opens in new tab) or de Gournay (opens in new tab). A classic interior design trick to ensure a perfect color scheme every time. 'Using two or three shades is an easy device to divide the space and encourage the sense of something more architectural in feel, without the need for costlier building work,' says Rob Whitaker of Claybrook.
The upper wall, often in a lighter tone, can be utilized for hanging favorite art, key fobs or a coat rack.
In a small room, yes an accent wall can make it feel even smaller, but generally, accent walls can make rooms feel larger because they add extra detail, helping to break up the space and give us more to look at. In an open concept home or multiple-use spaces it can be tricky to define areas, but an accent wall can help.
'When using wallpaper to accent a wall, making it work with the paint color in the room is key,' says Caroline Sacreste, Co-founder, Indie & Co. 'Here, we chose Farrow & Ball Railings (opens in new tab) which works beautifully with the House of Hackney (opens in new tab) wallpaper so that the feature wall is not too loud in the space and instead blends perfectly with the dark feel of the room.'
