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Design Dilemma: The Much Maligned Accent Wall

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There was a time when accent walls were all the rage. And then, suddenly, accent walls were seen as “passe” by the design cognoscenti. Now, it seems, accents walls are back in favor once again.

And why not? A boldly-painted wall is one of the easiest ways we have to bring punch and panache to our homes without breaking the bank. Accent walls can easily achieve three things in short order:

• They provide instant verve to an otherwise stale room.
• They can help highlight certain architectural details in a room and hide flaws.
• They can pull together disparate elements and themes. In a large open space, they can provide focus.

Let’s take a look:

Above, an accent wall helps provide visual focus to a fireplace. The design flaw here is that the corridor is really a bit too close to the fireplace, diminishing the fireplace’s importance. But the bold orange color reinstates the hearth as the focal point of this room, helping to define the sitting area.

Open space concepts are nice, but sometimes they lack character. Below is an example of an accent wall used to help pull a large open space together. The slightly more muted orange wall provides a colorful transition between the living room and dining room. It also acts as a wonderful backdrop to the colorful painting. Two more colorful paintings in the dining room lend the entire space a sense of connection and continuity to the colorful pillows used on the couch.

Here’s another open concept room that is held together with a vibrant accent wall:

The wall helps to bring more focus to the large picture window which is the highlight of the room.  Below, another open space room would have felt a little bland without the orange wall used along the stairwell. Instant polish!

The accent wall below helps define a conversation area by providing a nice little backdrop to the couch and the artwork over the couch.

Below, you see the same principle at work in a different living room:

The blue of the wall defines the sitting area. But it also provides a connection to the dining area, which picks up on the theme in the chair coverings.

Accent walls can work especially well in bedrooms, by becoming an extension of, and sometimes standing in place of, a headboard:

Here’s another example:

And another example:

Here an accent wall wakes up what would have otherwise been a boring kitchen:

Accent walls are perfect for using wallpaper, murals, wall treatments and colors that might seem overpowering if they covered more than one wall. For example this mural is clearly too strong a color to use everywhere:

And pressed board can be a very cool look, but definitely works best in smaller doses:

Same for this wallpaper:

So it’s okay. If you want to paint an accent wall, go ahead and do it. You’ll be amazed at how much one painted wall can change the look and feel of your space!