Incorporating a ‘feature’ or ‘accent’ wall in any room in your home can completely transform the look and feel of your space. Feature walls provide an excellent opportunity to introduce depth and dimension in to your space and are a simple but effective means of changing up your home's interior. With the Christmas festivities fast approaching, what better way to elevate your dining space than with a feature wall.
Feature walls can be bold and vibrant or subtle and subdued, the choice is yours. They can be used to accentuate your favourite features within your room and can also be used to define specific living areas. Our colour expert here at Colourtrend, Dervla Farrell, has shared some of her top tips for creating an accent wall in your home. Continue reading to find out everything you need to know about feature walls.
Choosing a colour
When considering a colour for your feature wall, it is important to ensure that your chosen shade complements the colour scheme of the rest of your room. Your feature wall does not necessarily have to be a boldly contrasting colour. For a softer contrast, Dervla suggests choosing a feature shade that is one to two shades darker, or lighter, than your main wall colour.
Choosing a bright or bold colour for a feature wall is a popular choice however this only works when the chosen shade fits in with the rest of the room. Continue to incorporate your chosen contrast colour throughout your space with décor and soft furnishings to create a more unified space and ensure that your bold feature wall sits well in the room.
Dervla's Suggestion: Smart and sophisticated, a navy blue will make for a beautiful feature wall. Consider a dusted deep toned blue like Juniper Whorl or a rich jewel toned navy like the iconic Mussel, shown below.
Colour: Mussel, Contemporary Collection
Neutral toned accent walls are a more subtle means of adding dimension to your space. Neutral shades are easy on the eye and can play an important role in creating a relaxing atmosphere in areas such as bathrooms and bedrooms.
Dervla's Suggestion: Keep your space grounded with a comforting, earthy hue like Old Bone or Aluna, as shown below.
Colour: Aluna, Contemporary Collection
How to identify your feature wall
A feature wall should be used to highlight an existing focal point within a room. This could be the wall where a mantelpiece or fireplace sits against in a living room, a wall where your dining table sits in your dining area or the wall behind your headboard in a bedroom. These are just some examples of suitable feature walls. When choosing your feature wall, Dervla suggests considering where the eye is naturally drawn to within the room as you do not want your feature wall to have to fight for attention in the room.
Dervla's Suggestion: Deep, rich colours can add a sense of drama to a room and can create a cosy, cocooning feeling in your space. A rich charcoal tone like Zen Retreat 0535 or a deep mauve like City Dusk are two beautiful shade choices for feature walls in bedrooms.
Colours: Arctic Blonde, Contemporary Collection (Main Walls) and Zen Retreat 0535, 1320 Fandeck Collection (Feature Wall)
Using a feature wall to define a space
Feature walls can be used to define and accentuate a specific area of your room. Particularly useful in an open space, an accent wall can be used to indicate different zones within the space and define a specific purpose for each area of the room. For example, in an open plan kitchen-dining area, a feature wall could be used to create a unique dining zone.
However, Dervla notes that feature walls should be chosen carefully. You don't need a feature wall in every room and they should be avoided in smaller rooms as they may enclose the space even further. If you're looking to introduce colour in a smaller room, consider upcycling a piece of furniture or painting woodwork to incorporate a feature shade instead of a feature wall.
Dervla's Suggestion: Draw attention towards beautiful table scaping and dining settings by introducing a feature wall in your dining area. A restful and elegant green like Christmas Wreath will act as the perfect backdrop for dining and socialising.
Colour: Christmas Wreath, Historic Collection
Accentuating aspects of your room
Feature walls do not necessarily have to be limited to just blank wall spaces. Perhaps you have a floor-to-ceiling bookcase filled with your favourite books that you would like to draw attention to. Similarly, a feature wall does not have to cover a broad space either. Accent colours can be used to highlight an architecturally interesting element of your room. This could be a small nook or alcove in the room. Highlighting such features can be an excellent way of creating depth and dimension in your space.
Dervla's Suggestion: The below example highlights how an accent colour can be used to draw attention to the lovely brickwork in this living space. Using a bright white such as Milk Teeth will emphasise this architectural feature and draw the eye towards this aspect of the room.
Colours: Milk Teeth, Historic Collection (Brick Wall), Silk Seal, Contemporary Collection (Panelling)
In summary, there are no strict rules with feature walls. An accent wall can be as bold or subtle as you like. If you would like to introduce a feature wall in your space but aren’t sure where to start, we are here to help. Reach out to us today via our live chat feature here on Colourtrend.ie, our social channels @colourtrendpaints or send us a mail and photos of your space to us at hello@colourtrend.ie.