Technically speaking, painting an accent wall is just about the easiest way of revamping the aesthetic of an entire living room. There’s no easier way of creating a major feature or focus point – nor is it possible to spruce up your interiors for cheaper.
You simply grab some paint in an attractive color, prep the surface and get to work. Within a few hours, you’ve an eye-catch centerpiece for the entire room and you’ve spent next to nothing.
Pretty sweet…unless you come out the other side not entirely happy with the result.
Thankfully, the most common mistakes you can make when painting an accent wall are easy enough to avoid. Just as long as you take heed of the following, you’ll find it much easier to produce an attractive feature to be proud of in your living room:
- Never paint more than one wall
Firstly, it can be tempting to expand the project to include a second wall in the same room. If one feature wall looks good, surely two feature walls will look great, right?
Wrong, the whole point of a feature wall is that it is a standout feature. As soon as you paint a second feature wall, it cannibalizes the effect of the other. Of course, it’s not to say that having two walls one color and two walls a contrasting color cannot look absolutely fantastic. It’s just that if your intention is to create an accent wall, it needs to be just that – a feature wall, as opposed to multiple feature walls.
- Don’t choose the wrong wall to begin with
Go nuts with paint choice all you like, but you really need to be strategic when choosing which wall to use to create your accent wall. For example, it’s usually advisable to avoid choosing the smallest wall in the room for this kind of project. Or for that matter, a random wall to the side of the room that doesn’t flank anything functional or decorative.
Take a look online for inspiration and you will note common themes when it comes to which walls look best when transformed into accent walls. Appropriateness will always depend on the shape and size of the room, but being strategic with wall selection is essential.
- Avoid paints that are similar to your existing colors
It can be tempting to stick within your comfort zone and go for something that at least partially resembles your existing color scheme. Maybe a similar color but in a slightly different hue, so as to not create too much of a clash. Unfortunately, this more or less defeats the purpose of an accent wall or painted feature wall.
The whole point is to create a standout feature which is entirely different to the rest of the room. Painting one or two walls a very slightly different color in an interior space can result in an exquisite aesthetic. But it’s not the same as creating an accent wall or feature wall – doing so means avoiding paints that are too similar to your existing colors.
- Don’t overlook lighting
You also need to think carefully about how your new accent wall will look when illuminated with different types of lighting. Natural light and the various different artificial light sources in the space will have a major impact on how the color and finish appear at different times of day and night.
As always, we strongly recommend painting a board in your preferred color, pinning it to your wall and seeing how it looks over the course of 24 hours. Don’t make your decision based entirely on how the paint looks during the daytime – you could regret it when the sun goes down!
- Try not to overthink it
Last but not least, there’s a long list of ‘rules’ you could attempt to follow when painting an accent wall. However, nothing matters more than coming out with a result that you are happy with. Even if it means breaking all of the rules we’ve outlined in this guide, go for it!
What works for you might not work for someone else, and vice versa. Always ensure that the decisions you make are based on your own personal preferences – not what’s on-trend or fashionable at the time. Keep things simple or go completely nuts with something radical – it’s your home and your choice!
For more information on any of the above or to discuss any aspect of our interior painting services in more detail, contact a member of the team at Homm CPS today.