Friday, July 22, 2011

Accent Walls- The Yes's & No's


At one point, it seemed that everyone had an accent wall in their home.  I think accent walls are overused and many times not implemented correctly. Before you roll your eyes and never read my posts again, let me explain...

In most cases, there should be a purpose to accent walls...to accent architectural details or to highlight something.  Sometimes it can be used to bring more color to a room inexpensively (if it is done right).

What is the purpose of the orange wall?
 (In this photo, I am not seeing one. This may change if the entire room was shown.) 


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 A lot of people aren't confident with the color enough to paint the entire room that shade, so they slop up a nuetral and then blindly choose a wall to accent in a color that they like. 
Clearly red was the chosen color in the following photo. What is being accented and how does it relate to the rest of the room? 

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 Which brings me to the point that it needs to relate to the room!  
 Where does the purple in this photo tie in with the rest of the decor?


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Wonderful places to accent walls are behind bookcases, behind a bed (it can serve as a headboard) or on a fireplace wall.


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Just make sure that if your fireplace extends to the ceiling that you do NOT paint the two adjoining walls.

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So... as a recap, accent walls should be used sparingly (read- not in every room!), they should be used to accent or draw attention to something, and they have to tie in with the rest of the room.


14 comments:

Jennifer said... Best Blogger Tips

I agree with you completely! I recently did an accent wall in my sister's bedroom and she wanted a pop of orange color on one wall w/o having it on the entire room. I personally would not have chosen it, but it's her house and that's what she wanted! I do not have any accent walls....Great post to inspire thought about the why and how of accent walls.

Becca {A Blonde's Logic} said... Best Blogger Tips

Agreed!! Thank you for this great post! I'm not a fan of BRIGHT accent walls; they give me a head ache most of the time.

Becca
http://blondeslogic.blogspot.com

Christina said... Best Blogger Tips

I totally agree, I am honestly SO over the accent wall thing. But done correctly it can be nice :)

BTW thanks for checking out my blog! I am LOVING yours:)
xoxo

designchic said... Best Blogger Tips

Great tips and I agree not loving accent walls. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Faith said... Best Blogger Tips

sad face :(

i love my accent wall, haha.

don't worry, still love your blog! :)

Barefoot in Blue Jeans said... Best Blogger Tips

Your right! I did a post on repainting my office several days ago and have finally choosen a color. I'll be honest... an accent wall did cross my mind but quickly left too. I am starting to paint today so I'll post the finished product later.

Ann from On Sutton Place said... Best Blogger Tips

This is a great post. I have never liked accents walls and don't have any in my house. But I have to eat my words because my daughter just painted one in her house and it looks really good. But it does relate to the rest of the room and is an entry wall. Thanks for the expertise!

Nette @ This Dusty House said... Best Blogger Tips

We plan on doing a wallpapered accent wall on the wall behind our bed. I wouldn't, however, put it on any other wall. An accent wall naturally draws your eye to it so you want there to be something important to be seen against it.

Meg said... Best Blogger Tips

Totally agree. Accent walls are done way too frequently for all of the wrong reasons. You make some really great points! :-)

Drew {Coral Cafe} said... Best Blogger Tips

I agree, there's poor ways to accent a wall and wonderful ways! I've always had to paint an accent wall for added dimension behind my bed (and only one bc I didn't want to repaint the whole bedroom when i had to leave..lazy, I know) but I realize it gives the other walls in the room a space of their own, and I fill it with decor and frames!

Honey at 2805 said... Best Blogger Tips

I always find accent walls to be nice. You have displayed a nice array!

Hope you will please drop by and enter my $50 Overstock.com Gift Card Giveaway!! If there are 500entries, they will increase the Gift Card to $100.
Honey

Amanda said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for checking out my blog. I loved your post on accent walls and never realized how out of place they can look until I read your post. My husband and I just bought our first house and indeed we did 1 accent wall but it works. We have an open concept living/dining room and used an accent wall to tie both rooms together and pained all the other walls the same color. I'll have to put some pics up on my blog

shopgirl said... Best Blogger Tips

This is a really good post on accenting a wall. We have done this in our master bedroom. You are definitely right that it needs to tie into something. I'll remember that next time.

Cheers Coley!

http://rambleswithreese.etsy.com
http://rambleswithreese.blogspot.com

Jamie said... Best Blogger Tips

Amen! I'm totally going to follow you :)