Moving into a new house is an exciting time. It starts with confirming you’ll take the house, then leads to packing, organizing utilities, and unpacking, before you can finally relax. Of course, that’s when you stop to look at the space and realize that you want to make it reflect you, your personality, and your style.
Naturally, if you’ve bought a home that is decorated, or have been living in the house for a while, you may not be keen on redecorating everything. The good news is that you don’t have to! Every room has a wall that draws your eye and that’s the one you need to decorate.
In most cases, the feature wall will have a unique characteristic. However, it can just be a central wall or have an eye-catching piece of furniture in front of it. The choice is entirely yours. You will find it beneficial to discover the following techniques to create an accent wall.
Creating The Wall
If you don’t feel that your eye is drawn to a certain part of a room then ask family and friends what they think. If they agree with you then you may want to consider having a fake wall installed. This can divide or partially divide the space, making it more appealing to the flow of the house.
In fact, if you use this innovative wall system you’ll have a wall where the space inside can be accessed. This is beneficial for plumbing and electrics, as well as for repairs and even future adjustments.
The great thing about creating your own wall is that you have complete control over the wall, which includes its size, shape, and the all-important finish.
Techniques To Turn A Wall Into An Accent Wall
As we’ve established, any wall can be a feature or accent wall. After all, if you decorate it differently from the other walls it will draw people’s eyes. You simply have to decide where you want to draw visitors’ eyes too.
Then, you can decorate your accent wall to make sure it stands out.
- Paint It
The simplest way to turn any wall into a feature wall is to paint it a different color to the rest of the room. Any color will make the wall stand out and effectively turn it into an accent wall. However, the best approach is to choose a color that is several shades darker than the existing walls. This creates a subtle feature wall that catches people’s eyes.
The beauty of this approach is that the focus is drawn to the wall but sits on the painting or other effect you have out on the wall.
If you simply want to draw attention to the wall then it is better to opt for a color several shades lighter than the rest of the walls.
However, in rare cases, you can go for an extreme color. You simply need to be confident that you can live with it.
The great thing about painting is that you can always paint over it again.
- Textures
Another great way to get an accent wall is to use textured paint. This approach allows you to keep the color the same as the rest of the space. The texture will make the wall stand out and create the effect you want without changing the feel or color scheme of the house.
- Material
If you want an accent wall but are worried about changing anything permanently then you’ll find that a simple, but effective, approach is to use material.
Much like people use to hang tapestries on castle walls, you can use material to decorate a wall or a section of the wall. All you have to do is come up with a design that you like. This will ensure the wall looks good at all times and it can even help to reduce your energy bills as you’ll be adding insulation to your home.
- Features
Perhaps the simplest way to create an accent wall is not to change the color but to add a feature to it. This could be a picture hung on the wall, or even one drawn directly onto the wall. It could also be a specific sculpture or some other piece that is important to you.
The key is to position the item centrally and make sure it is a good size. For it to make the wall an accent wall it needs to catch the eye, a small feature display is unlikely to do this.
The exception is if you use repetition. For example, an entire wall of thimbles will catch everyone’s eye.
- Lighting
Don’t forget that lighting plays an important part in creating any space and it can be particularly effective at guiding people’s eyes toward your feature wall.
However, lighting is more beneficial when it is dark, which means it can’t create an accent all by itself. It is a great complement to the other techniques listed.
Additional Thoughts
Features in your home, such as fireplaces, naturally draw people’s attention and become a feature. That doesn’t mean you have to make your accent wall around the feature but your wall will need to complement it.
Any accent wall should be designed to fit in with your home and simultaneously stand out. This can be a hard balance to achieve. If you’re not sure how to achieve the desired result then take a look at other people’s houses, celebrities’ images, and even Pinterest. You are certain to find inspiration and will be able to create an accent wall that justifies your effort and the house you are decorating. All it takes is an afternoon of your time to get the creativity going.
It cannot be stressed enough that, no matter how much you want a feature wall, you need to ensure it reflects your personality and the style of your home. This ensures you will be happy with it and your effort is not wasted.
