Let's talk accent walls

[katespade]

Because H told me today that he likes the idea of an accent wall in the bedroom and one or two in the main area of the house. Are accent walls weird? Are there rules when it comes to doing them? Am I annoying you all with my weekend full of home decor threads?

[estrellita]

I don't have an issue with an accent wall. I think I prefer a room to be all one color, but if they are done right, an accent wall looks nice! For a bedroom one, I'd probably do the wall the bed is against for the most effect. As for color I'm not sure.. I want to say it should definitely contrast the rest of the walls, but I'm not sure to what degree. For other rooms, I'd do whichever wall you want to be more of a focal point. Like if there is a fireplace, a TV, some sort of photo display, something like that. I probably wouldn't do them in rooms that connect though so the focal point stays on the one particular wall (so not one in the kitchen and dining room if you can see into both at the same time). Just my opinion though, I'm definitely no expert!

[pooh8402]

I don't dislike them when done well, but I do think they "date" the room. like yep, this room was definitely painted in the early 2010s.

[Deleted]

I have no accent walls in my house because we didn't do any painting since moving in, but I like them. I have seen a cute red accent wall with a fireplace, and I like a dark purple wall with a bed against it, in a bedroom that has the other walls gray. A pattern or stencil looks pretty in décor blogs, but I think they are too much work for the average person. I wouldn't put more than 2 accent walls in my house.

[ewall]

I'm not a fan. The previous owners of this house were. We had a black accent wall in the living/dining room and a green one in the office. Both are gone now.

Our basement has 3 different colors (and green doors...why???) and our staircase/upper hallway also has 3 colors. I hate it all. I prefer only one color per room.

[mac08]

They're not really my style but I do like them in other people's homes if done well.  I think estrellita already said everything I would have about which walls to choose and how to make its focal point 

[Deleted]

We did an accent wall in our living room. we have 70's Orange carpeting. I let DH pick the colors for our living room. For our accent wall it's like a burnt orange and the other walls is more of a pale burnt orange if that makes sense.

I get to pick our bedroom colors when we get to it. I was planning a light slate blue with our accent wall being a navy blue.

We like the idea of the accent wall. It surprisingly worked in our living room so he wants to do it in our bedroom.

[ginkgoleaf]

I think they can work if there's a reason for it, like to highlight a fireplace wall or something. If it's in a bedroom, it needs to be on the wall the bed is on. We don't have any now but had one in our old house.

[bk1]

I like them. Growing up I had an accent wall in my bedroom (the wall the bed was on). I had planned on doing it in our new living room but ended up changing color schemes and didn't do it.

[katespade]

Sorry! I totally posted this and ran. I just got done with deep cleaning the bathrooms. Oof.

Our walls aren't currently white. They have a purpleish-gray tint to them, and the ceiling is two-toned and textured. We don't want to do anything too crazy since we rent, and we did make sure to get the okay from our landlord for if we do decide to do it. We're thinking either a red, purple, or neutral color that goes with the color currently on the walls. As I'm looking at pictures I'm really loving the look of purple, but I'm worried that we would get sick of such a bold color after a while. We're leaning toward the neutral color because 1) it would probably be easier to paint over when we move, 2) we could easily change color schemes in the future, and 3) it might help to avoid the accent wall looking quite as dated. (pooh8402)

Our bedroom is small, but the bed is against the wall with the door, which is the wall we would paint. The opposite wall has a sliding glass door with curtains (which we are also going to replace).

[pooh8402]

oooh purple... that's the magic word for me. I have considered a purple accent wall in my bedroom, or at least at the back of my bookcases. in fact, I have small tub of this really pretty eggplant that I was 100% intending to use on the back of the bookcases. but once I got my living room wall paint up, it was enough of a contrast with the white bookcases and fireplace that that ended up an accent wall all by itself.

if you're liking purple but need neutral, Sherwin Williams Temperate Taupe is a really pretty neutral and is what I used in my living room, kitchen, dining and foyer. it's cool toned, so it looks gray in some lights and even light purple/lavender in really cool natural lights, like early morning light. but there's enough warmth that it handles my warm wood floors and cabinets easily. I have some pictures in a bio on the H&G board (see the Bio sub-board, I made a thread with before and after pics).

[katespade]

pooh8402 - I love that color! Your house is absolutely gorgeous. I like that it is a clear but subtle difference.

H is leaving the decision up to me, but he wants to really go for it with something bold like this:

[travelbug]

That's so classy katespade. I love it!

I do enjoy accent walls when done well. We don't have any currently, but whenever we buy a home I'm sure I'll want to experiment. In our bedroom, living room and guest bedroom we painted 2 of the 4 walls and in our space it worked out nicely.

[awick14]

I like them if you do an actual accent wall. (A friend of mine did two walls in her living/dining room and I didn't like it.)

[awick14]

katespade- that looks really nice.

[katespade]

I really like this one, for a neutral:

[katespade]

Or even something like this for a dark neutral:

[MrsMB]

You know what I LOVE? An accent wall using a print. I think those are fun.

[mac08]

I really like all those examples you posted, katespade!

[grover]

We painted over the pink accent wall in the living room as soon as we moved in. That's all I have.