How to use an accent wall


The Essential Dos and Don'ts

By

Diana Hathaway Timmons

Diana Hathaway Timmons

Diana Hathaway Timmons has over 10 years as a color and interior design consultant. She writes about ideas and tips for beautifying your space and incorporating decor trends into your home. She wrote the book "How to Sell Your Home Without Losing Your Zen" and has been featured in the "Huffington Post," "Better Homes & Gardens," and additional publications.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 05/16/22

Reviewed by

Deane Biermeier

Reviewed by Deane Biermeier

Deane Biermeier is an expert contractor with nearly 30 years of experience in all types of home repair, maintenance, and remodeling. He is a certified lead carpenter and also holds a certification from the EPA. Deane is a member of The Spruce's Home Improvement Review Board.

Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board

Fact checked by

Emily Estep

Fact checked by Emily Estep

Emily Estep is a plant biologist and fact-checker focused on environmental sciences. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Master of Science in Plant Biology from Ohio University. Emily has been a proofreader and editor at a variety of online media outlets over the past decade.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

The Spruce / Michelle Becker 

Accent walls are alive and well in the decorating industry. These easy and stylish color accents will always be popular because of their flexibility. You have unlimited paint options for your accent wall, as well as other surfaces and materials. Even the location of your accent wall is purely personal. Your home is unique, so your accent wall should be just as special. Accent walls can be used in any room if you know the essential dos and don'ts.

What Is an Accent Wall?

An accent wall is an interior or exterior wall that can have a different color, shade, design or material from the other walls around it.

Click Play to Learn the Dos and Don'ts of Accent Walls

Do Think Beyond Solid Colors

Maite Granda

Think outside of the box when you are considering your new accent wall. You are not limited to simple wall paint covering the wall. Think about other ways to use paint color. Your accent wall may be perfect for stripes or for a specialty paint finish. Metallics are powerful style statements for an accent wall.

Don't Forget About Texture

There is more to accent walls than just paint. Have you considered stone or tile for your accent wall? Extensive shelving can also work as an accent wall in a room that lacks an architectural feature and storage. Your accent wall can also include a gallery of photos or artwork, or even a fabric-draped wall.

A recent trend is the addition of a wall-mounted electric fireplace on an accent wall. The secret to accent walls is that they are the most flexible decorating secret weapon you can have. (The only rule for accent walls is that they accent a wall—that's it.)

Do Go for an Accent Wall in a Neutral Room

You should still consider an accent wall even if you're keeping your room neutral. Accent walls can work just as well in a neutral color, as a bright one. The initial idea of an accent wall conjures up visions of bright red or blue, but in a neutral color scheme, a dark brown wall is just as dramatic.

Don't Shy Away from Bold Colors

HouseofHarvee / Instagram

As long as you have the right accents around the room to coordinate with your new color, you can choose whatever color makes you happy.

Do Consider the Other Wall Colors

Take into account the color on your other walls. Most accent walls look best when they adjoin walls in a light to medium shade. Accent walls in an all-white room are stunning but tricky. The contrast of a bright accent wall against white walls can look very modern and even stark. Balance your strong accent wall color with neutral wall colors on the other walls. Your neutral walls can be gray, or greige, or beige — whatever works best with your accent color.

If you do choose to accent a wall in a white room, soften the contrast with mid-tone accent colors to bridge the difference.

Don't Just Think About Walls

Think about other ways to use an accent wall. Have you considered the ceiling? A chic decorating trend is to add color to the ceiling. This ceiling color can be your accent wall. Accent ceilings can be created with soft colors or even vivid colors. White crown molding helps separate the wall color from the ceiling and creates a stylish look.

Do Choose the Right Wall

Home By Polly

Be purposeful when picking your accent wall. Rooms without an architectural feature can benefit from an accent wall, especially one with texture. A wall of windows can also be your accent wall, but be mindful that a dark accent color surrounding windows can create a bright light effect and overwhelm the room.

Don't Forget About Wallpaper

Wallpaper is a gorgeous choice for accent walls. The latest temporary wallpapers can give you a designer look without a long-term commitment. Look for wallpaper with pretty designs and colors for a chic style. For renters, temporary wallpaper is a clever way to personalize your home.

Still not sure which color to choose? Take our short personality quiz and learn which color palette is right for you!

16 Awesome Budget-Friendly Accent Wall Ideas

16 Awesome Budget-Friendly Accent Wall Ideas

By

Diana Hathaway Timmons

Diana Hathaway Timmons

Diana Hathaway Timmons has over 10 years as a color and interior design consultant. She writes about ideas and tips for beautifying your space and incorporating decor trends into your home. She wrote the book "How to Sell Your Home Without Losing Your Zen" and has been featured in the "Huffington Post," "Better Homes & Gardens," and additional publications.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

and

Lacey Ramburger

Lacey Ramburger

Lacey Ramburger is a personality assessment expert based in Kansas City, Missouri, with more than five years of experience. Her areas of expertise include Zodiac, Myers-Briggs, and the Enneagram. She is the author of the book "Being Whole" and dozens of articles on personality assessments and relationships.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 01/11/22

The Spruce / Michelle Becker

If you're looking for a budget-friendly way to make a big impact in any space, an accent wall is the answer. Forget the "one red wall" style of accent walls from several years ago; accent walls have gone creative. You don't need a huge budget to create a stunning custom look in your home with an accent wall. There are accent wall ideas no matter your taste or budget. Color is the least expensive and easiest way to create an accent wall, but there are many other stylish ways to customize your space.

Watch Now: This Paint Roller Instantly Gives You Custom Wallpaper

Accent Wall: Decorating Tips

House in Tangier, designed by Cassandra Karinsky. In tourist booklets, Moroccan Tangier is called the "white city". It is in this color that the locals have been painting the walls of their houses for centuries. Without disturbing the harmony, the designer diluted it with dark blue — one of the walls in the living room is painted in this color. A blue sofa is matched to her tone.

Photo
Gaelle le Boulicaut

Ideal for small spaces

Wall painted in a contrasting color, perfect for small spaces. This technique will allow you to beat a cramped room, especially if you use a deep saturated shade. Painting one of the walls in a small room a rich dark color (or black) will create visual depth in the interior, making the space appear larger.

Room dedicated to Madeleine Castaing in the Saint James Hotel in Paris, designed in turquoise tones. A contrasting navy blue hue adds depth to the space.

Photo
Antoine Baralhe

Lots of styles

You have several options for this fashion trend. In addition to paint and wallpaper, there are ways to play not only with color, but also with texture. For example, using panels that mimic brickwork or wood. You can drape the wall with a cloth or lay it out with tiles or mosaics. For a children's room, an interesting option would be a wall painted with slate paint. A child can boldly paint and paint such a wall with colored crayons, without fear of incurring the wrath of their parents.

Trianon decorative panel, design by Carlo dal Bianco, Bisazza, www.bisazza.com

A way to divide space

Apartment of Patrick and Laurence Chavannes in Lyon. Its interior is built on panoramic wallpaper, including the interior of the owner's eldest daughter's room. Now it is decorated with wallpapers with the image of New York. What will be on this wall in a couple of years is unknown. The interior of the room changes as often as the tastes of the maturing hostess.

Photo
Anne-Catherine Scoffoni

Contrasting one or more walls in a room is a great way to divide up a space. For example, an open living room can be easily divided into zones (living room, dining room, study, etc.) if you use different wallpapers or paint colors for wall decor. At your request, one space will turn into two, or even more.

Apartment in Madrid. Designed by Gonzalo Pardo and Ana Torres.

Photo
ImagenSubliminal.com

The main accent of the interior

When planning your interior, keep in mind that the accent wall is the very first thing everyone entering the room will see. This is the focal point that will stand out and distract attention from everything else. To make the interior look more harmonious and balanced, it should have two or more accents. Therefore, to “support” the accent wall, it is better to choose pieces of furniture or accessories that match in color.

Decorator Milla Rezanova used wallpapers with a bright zigzag print, made according to her own sketches, to decorate one of the walls of the living room in a Moscow apartment.

Photo
Kirill Ovchinnikov

The right choice of color

An ineptly chosen accent wall color can spoil the space. To avoid this, give up random shades, even if the color itself is bright and you really like it. A red wall in a pastel interior is too much! The color palette of your home should be unified and clearly planned. Therefore, choose a color for a contrasting wall based on the overall range of the interior, including furniture, finishing materials and textiles.

Designed by Julia Sheipunas.

Change the accents

A bedroom in a Parisian apartment designed by decorator Pierre Jovanovich. One of the walls is sheathed with cork panels from top to bottom. This technique made it possible to hide the door leading to the dressing room.

Photo
Catherine Scotto

It is not necessary to build an interior around an accent wall. Art objects will give originality to the interior. Instead of papering or painting one wall, choose art pieces that match the style and mood of your home decor. Framed photos or paintings that you like and are in tune with the overall style of the interior are what will give your home a personality, creating a memorable image.

Moscow apartment of collectors Natalia Semyonova and Dmitry Gurzhy. Brickwork has been preserved on one of the walls in the office. It focuses on the art canvas, which is the central element of the interior.

Photo
Richard Powers

Legendary villa on the Li Galli archipelago, once owned by Leonid Myasin and Rudolf Nureyev. In the design of the guest bedroom, the accent wall at the head, painted in yellow and white stripes, sets the tone.

Photo
Massimo Listri

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45 ways to equip an accent wall in the bedroom

We continue to study classic techniques and new trends in interior design. The use of accents is not just a fashion trend, but one of the most effective ways to emphasize the pluses of the situation and distract from the minuses (of course, forced and, of course, temporary).

However, as they say, before you use any weapon, you must first learn how to use it. So, in order not to turn the room into bad taste, you should know the main canons and be sure to observe the measure! So, first things first.

Accent wall in the bedroom, or how to get rid of boredom

Such a method as creating an accent wall has long established itself as the main favorite of designers when working on decorating a room. An advantageous combination of neutral colors and a modern energetic pattern is the optimal solution for decorating vertical surfaces.

It is the bedroom, as a rule, that becomes the starting point, from where creative searches and all kinds of experiments begin. The intimacy and privacy of this room completely untie the hands, which means that they provide the freedom to choose any, even the most daring style, playful pattern and spicy shades.

Let's take a look at some fabulous projects that can serve as a powerful source of inspiration. Plain walls look rather dull and monotonous, so we offer you several options for color contrasts that go beyond the usual idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwall decoration in a room.

Add some color!

The design technique that we are talking about now is used in cases where it is necessary to bring a little color into the interior, as well as some additional textures, shapes and lines. Just one accent surface can make a calm bedroom, made in pastel colors, more spectacular and attractive.

And if you complement it with several pillows or a bedspread of a similar design, you will have an integral composition. The advantages of such a wall are most obvious in small bedrooms. With its help, you can create a so-called focal point in order to draw attention to a certain area of ​​the room.

In 2014, the discreet gray-lilac gamma is still relevant and trendy. Despite the fact that gray is traditionally associated with a neutral background, modern designers are increasingly choosing warmer and bolder shades for an accent wall, while the main decoration of the room is white and plain.

It gives the space a certain sophistication and style that is difficult to achieve with other colors. And sparkling purple confidently retains its leadership position and the status of “the color of luxury”.

Taunting textures and chic patterns

You can highlight a particular surface not only with color, but also with texture and pattern. An indelible impression is made by a wall with a contrasting texture, which, moreover, has the effect of a three-dimensional 3D image. An additional dimension seems to enliven the room.

It is impossible not to notice how this changes the atmosphere and sensations in the room. And for more cautious people who are not prone to design adventures, we can offer elegant and proven alternatives, such as brickwork or wallpaper with amazing paisley patterns (aka “Indian cucumber”).

In this article we are discussing bedroom interiors, so let's look at examples of accent walls that are especially appropriate in these rooms. The whole wall or its separate fragment with various bulges and irregularities exudes luxury and gives a feeling of incredible comfort.

A huge headboard, repeating the pattern on the wall, will certainly appeal to fans of the style of "Old Hollywood" (Hollywood Regency), whose characteristic features are chic and entourage.

Let's unleash the full potential of accent wallpaper

Have you decided to diversify the room with an accent wall, but you are not sure that the paint will cope with this important task? In this case, you should pay attention to both. They come in a fantastic variety of colors as well as floral and patterned prints.

This excellent, affordable option opens up just a huge scope for creativity, allows you to implement any idea in a short time.

Accent wallpaper in the bedroom is often used to enhance the impression of some design features in the area of ​​the bed. And again, pillows and a bedspread with a similar pattern will help complete the composition. As a result, the bedroom is transformed and takes on a more organized look.

And do not forget the main rule: if you choose wallpaper with a bold and complex pattern, make sure that the design of the rest of the walls is as simple and calm as possible. Otherwise, the room will look untidy, overloaded and cause discomfort.

Wooden accent wall - this is cosiness and comfort in the room

What do we associate wood texture with? The majority, probably, with firewood, which crackle measuredly in the stove or fireplace and, embraced by the heat of the fire, help people warm up on cold winter evenings. The stunning wood surface of the accent wall has its own unique charm.

Of course, creating such splendor will take more time and effort than traditional painting, but believe me, it's worth it! If you're the proud owner of a modern or minimalist home built primarily from concrete, glass, and stone, then a wood-paneled accent wall is just the thing for you.

It will give the atmosphere softness, tenderness and make it more inviting.

Discover the magic of stripes!

Stripes have a truly amazing property: they are able to transform even the most ridiculous environment, give it a certain rhythm, and also bring some organization.


Learn more