Walls in most homes come in the standard cream or off-white paint colours, hues that interior stylists have labelled “landlord colours”.
Most homeowners don’t take the initiative to paint over these dull colours even though they will take the extra step to style other elements of the interiors.
The thing is, though, these landlord colours need not be your default colour palette of your spaces. Consider them as a blank canvas to experiment your styling and decor. One creative experiments you must consider is an accent wall.
An accent wall is one whose design is different from the other walls in the space. This space could be in your living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen or balcony. The design that makes it different can be colour, pattern or texture.
Accent walls are also called feature walls. Their purpose, really, is to uplift your space. To add some flair to it, and do away with the boring colours your house came in.
Here are five tips when considering an accent wall for any space in your home:
Tip #1: Go for a solid wall
Avoid walls that have openings such as windows or doors, or have large obstructing furniture such as a towering sideboard.
Remember that the accent wall is a focal point for a space. When you choose a wall that already has these other elements in it, you will lose this essential element of an accent wall.
So go for a solid wall. Walls that are adjacent to windows work best because sunlight pouring into the room will bounce off your accent wall, casting it in a radiant glow with a third dimension.
Walls where you can stand back to take in the styling elements also make for good accent walls, say, the wall in your living room where the main couch has its back to it. Or the wall in your bedroom which is behind your headboard.
And the wall in your child’s bedroom against which his beds sits. For your kitchen, a section of wall that does not have any storage cabinets.
Tip #2: Try a contrasting colour
Consider painting your accent wall in a colour that contrasts, yet compliments the already existing colour scheme in your space.
You don’t want to go wrong with the colour you settle on. To work around this, get a colour fan deck from a paint company of repute. Take your time selecting the colour that will go up on your wall.
One thing that you must know about these colour decks is that the colour you see is not the same one that will go up on your walls — shades somewhat vary.
Have your painter, therefore, come with colour samples in the range of your selected scheme and do swatches on your wall. Sleep on it before you settle on a colour.
Tip #3: Try for geometric shapes
Geometric shapes are truly eye-catching for an accent wall. The incorporation of symmetry, clean or curvy lines, abstract, modern or traditional shapes and rich tones can create a wow effect in any space of your home.
You can also use wood panelling for these shapes. The ideas for geometric shapes are infinite. If you want to get something bold for your accent wall, then I strongly suggest you go with an accent wall.
The combinations for the colour schemes are just as infinite: you can opt for a monochromatic wall in black and white, shades of the same pastel colours, an ombre effect with one colour, or for a burst of colour with complementing and contrasting shades from the same family.
Rather than draw your own geometric shapes on a piece of paper, get ideas from Pinterest, Houzz and other online stops for interior design. Your ideas will stretch far beyond your imagination.
Tip #4: Try wallpaper instead
Instead of a paint job, you could opt to go with wallpaper instead. The same guidelines above that apply to painting your accent wall also apply to wallpapering it.
The beauty about wallpaper is that you can get intricate patterns and designs that can’t be achieved with paint, for instance images, murals, vintage prints and complex geometrical shapes.
Wallpaper, compared to paint, is also easier and quicker to instal. Cost varies according to the quality and design of the wallpaper, so it may or may not be cheaper than a paint job.
Remember to get a technician to instal your wallpaper for you — you don’t want it peeling off the walls or looking tacky.
Tip #5: Go on to style your accent wall further
Once you have painted or wallpapered your accent wall, go ahead to style it further.
The accessories you style it with will, of course, be informed by the design of your accent wall. Go extra with a subtle design, say a wall painted in one colour.
And style sparingly a wall with a bold design, say geometric shapes or bold wallpaper because you don’t want the accent wall to look too busy with more styling than it needs.
Rather than style the wall right away, leave it as it is for a couple of weeks so you can appreciate its undisturbed accentuation. This will also give you time to decide what will go up where and how.
Plan the styling carefully because some design choices can’t be undone; they may ruin the design permanently. Say, hanging up framed photos requires that you drill in nail holes or stick on adhesive hooks.
These holes and hooks will indent your accent wall and ruin it should you later change your mind about hanging up the framed photos.