Choosing the right accent wall in your living room isn't just about picking a color; it's about creating a focal point that enhances the room's dynamics. Picking a wall at random and painting it a trendy color without thought for the decor just doesn’t work. But done right? An accent wall can become your favorite thing about the room.
Curious about how to take your ordinary wall to the next level? Let's explore how these elements come together to transform your space.
5 Tips for Creating an Accent Wall
- Choose the right wall: Select one that naturally draws attention—such as a fireplace wall, the first wall you see when entering, or the one behind major furniture pieces.
- Think beyond paint: painted accent wall alternatives like wood paneling, brick, stone, wallpaper, or geometric designs can add depth and character just as effectively as bold colors.
- Balance with the room’s style: Make sure your accent wall complements existing furnishings, lighting, and architectural details rather than competing with them.
- Test before you commit: Sample colors or patterns in different lighting conditions to see how they transform throughout the day.
- Experiment with confidence: Accent walls are flexible—whether painted, papered, or textured, they can be updated or repainted more easily than an entire room.
What is an Accent Wall?
An accent wall is a single wall that is distinctively painted, wallpapered, or textured to differ from the surrounding walls—often a standout feature in any room.
When considering an accent wall in a living room, the wall you choose should ideally be the first one seen upon entering. Inspiration for your accent wall can come from existing colors while natural light can help in selecting the right wall. This placement capitalizes on the room’s natural sight lines, enhancing your accent wall’s impact.
Painting an accent wall requires selecting a color or pattern that not only contrasts with the other walls but also complements the overall decor and furnishings of your living room. Wall decor elements like paint, wallpaper, and artwork contribute significantly to the overall design of an accent wall.
This strategic choice can transform your wall into a focal point, significantly influencing the room’s ambiance and perceived dimensions.
Benefits of Accent Walls
While accent walls offer a striking visual element, they also bring several practical benefits to any living space. They create a focal point that draws the eye, adding depth and interest to the room’s design. Using the same color for various elements in a room, such as built-ins and wall art, can create a seamless and cohesive look.
Homeowners can experiment with bold colors or patterns, allowing for creative expression without overwhelming the space. Not sure if you’re ready to commit to a black living room? One black accent wall is a good way to dip your toes in the water.
These walls can also alter the perception of room dimensions, making areas feel larger or cozier based on color choice and design.
Additionally, accent walls can enhance a home’s aesthetic appeal, potentially increasing its market value. They serve as an effective backdrop for decor and artwork, boosting the ambiance and enabling personalized styling, which makes the space uniquely appealing.
How to Choose an Accent Wall
When choosing an accent wall, it's important to choose the right one. The ideal choice is a wall that naturally draws attention and enhances the room's design.
Some factors you might consider:
- The first wall you see when you walk in is frequently a good choice.
- If not the first wall, a wall with a natural focal point (ex. fireplace, TV) will draw the eye.
- The wall you see the most is another good option—for example, the wall in front of your home office desk (or behind, for a video call background).
- A solid wall without windows or doors offers a clean canvas for impactful decoration.
- The wall behind key furniture (ex. sofas, beds) emphasizes the furniture's importance.
- Smaller walls are good choices if you're using a bold color or a loud pattern and don't want to overwhelm the space.
- Walls with architectural details, such as an inset, can be enhanced by painting the detail a contrasting color.
- Walls that define the space are better choices than walls that are contiguous with other rooms.
- Walls with inside corners on both sides tend to look better as accent walls than walls with outside corners. Being boxed in helps define the wall space.
One wall being a different color or texture from the others will change the room's visual weight distribution. Consider taking a picture of the room and changing the color of different walls in Photoshop. It doesn't have to be a good edit—just enough to give you an idea of the final result.
Keep in mind the 60-30-10 rule of interior design. Your accent wall should be part of either the 30% (if you're using your secondary color) or 10% (if you're using your accent color).
If no wall seems like a good choice, try imagining what would happen if you moved furniture around or added wall art to help balance the room's design.
Still can't find a balance? How do you feel about an accent ceiling? Since it flows through the whole room, it's a naturally balanced option and works great in otherwise challenging spaces. It can be more difficult if you have an open floor plan, however.
How to Choose an Accent Wall Color
Selecting the perfect color for an accent wall involves more than just picking your favorite shade.
It's important to choose colors that complement the existing decor and color scheme of your living room. Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas:
- Use a darker or lighter shade in the same color family as your other walls. Subtler and cohesive.
- Find your room's main color on the color wheel. The color directly across from it is its complement. Find a shade of that color that looks good with your main one.
- Use the main color of another room as this room's accent color. This is particularly effective if you have a whole-house color scheme going.
- Are you planning to hang a gallery wall? Choose a color that most of the art has in common as a background.
- What mood do you want to create? A light breezy blue accent wall has a very different feel from a royal blue or navy one.
Utilizing cool tones can effectively elongate short walls, while warm hues help balance longer walls. Patterns like stripes or murals can add creativity and visual interest.
Bold colors can serve as a striking focal point, but it's important that your colors harmonize with surrounding hues to maintain visual balance.
Opting for neutral shades can also create a subtle yet impactful accent.
Don’t forget to match the wall color to the floor! Your primary wall color probably matched already, so it’s easy to accidentally create a mismatch when you choose a contrast. Pay attention to the undertones of your other walls and floor and you can create a cohesive color palette.
Accent Wall Ideas for Living Rooms
When selecting an accent wall in your living room, you have so many creative options to consider. Opt for a solid painted wall for a colorful pop, or introduce textures like wood paneling or stone for added depth.
For those seeking a more distinctive touch, patterned wallpaper or geometric designs can transform the space into a visually striking area.
Accent Wall Trends
The world of interior design trends is divided on whether accent walls are "in" or "out." But here's the secret: anything can look good if you do it right, and anything can look bad if you do it wrong.
A room with all white walls except for one? It could look a bit dated. A room with all colored walls and one covered in wallpaper? Those get "oohs" and "ahhs" on Pinterest.
Bold, bright colors are a popular choice for accent walls, as they can let you use beautiful colors that would otherwise overwhelm. Imagine vibrant blues, rich greens, or even a daring pink accent wall in a grey living room. Painting the rest of the walls to match would be too much. Painting the accent wall the same as the rest would be boring. An accent wall is the perfect use case.
Natural materials such as wood, stone, and brick are popular textures for accent walls, as they can add warmth and texture to a room. Exposed brick on a wall or wooden paneling can help create a cozy, inviting atmosphere.
Metallic accents like gold, silver, and copper are popular choices for accent walls, as they can add a touch of glamour and sophistication to a room. A metallic finish can reflect light and create a luxurious feel.
Ombre effects, where a color graduates from light to dark, are a popular choice for accent walls, as they can add a touch of drama, emotion, and elegance to a room. This technique can be particularly striking in a bedroom or dining room. Mimic the horizon line to decorate a beach house or use color blocking to emulate the mountains and mesas in a desert modern home.
Painted Accent Wall
Simple paint can offer an easy DIY solution to transform a blank wall. Opting for a bold or mid-tone hue can manipulate room dimensions and infuse depth and character, allowing your living room to exude energy.
Lighting also plays a key role. Natural and artificial light interact with your wall color in different ways and can dramatically influence the ambiance throughout the day. This makes color choice paramount.
Want to give your painted accent wall a fresh, modern twist? Don't just paint the wall edge-to-edge—create a DIY mural instead. Replace your standard headboard in your bedroom with a painted semicircle, extend a fireplace paint job up across the ceiling, or even create freeform waves as standout design elements.
How to Paint an Accent Wall:
- Select your paint. You can use exterior or interior paint, but quality matters for coverage.
- Make sure the wall is clean and dry.
- Mark off the edges of the accent wall with painter's tape and put down a drop cloth.
- If the wall is currently a dark color, use a white primer first.
- Use two coats of your new paint color to ensure proper coverage. Dark colors over light colors might only need one. If you get some uneven texture, sand it down before the second coat.
- Remove the painter's tape immediately—if you wait for it to dry, it could take off more paint.
Keep some extra paint for future touch-ups. Consider a clear coat or sealant to protect the wall from stains and spills in high-traffic areas or rooms like the kitchen.
Textured Accent Wall
Textured accent walls offer a dynamic twist to traditional living room designs, incorporating materials like stone, wood, or tile to inject depth and visual interest.
When designing, it's crucial to consider how the texture interacts with existing decor and furnishings to maintain cohesion in the living room's overall design, ensuring the accent wall complements rather than competes with the space.
Shiplap Accent Wall
Shiplap introduces a rustic yet refined element to living room designs. Made of horizontal wooden planks, shiplap walls offer a warm, textured appearance that can transform any space.
Whether using real wood or engineered alternatives, this style suits various budgets and aesthetic preferences. Wood accent walls enhance architectural elements like fireplaces and contribute to soundproofing, making them ideal for larger spaces.
Stacked Stone or Brick Accent Wall
Create a brick accent wall using faux brick or real brick to add texture and interest to a room. Brick is great for creating an industrial-chic look and can make a bold statement.
Depending on the shape, size, and color, stacked stone can have anything from a traditional rustic appeal to a modern minimalist vibe—it's very versatile. Narrow, uniform strips tend to look more contemporary, while natural irregularities tend to look more rustic and organic.
Visual Texture Using Paint
Techniques like sponge painting or rag rolling add unique tactile qualities without extra materials. These approaches create the illusion of depth and movement on otherwise flat walls, making them appear more dynamic.
Faux finishes and special rollers can replicate natural textures like marble, concrete, or even wood grain, offering a cost-effective way to achieve a high-end look. For example, metallic paints or glazes can add subtle shimmer and dimension, while color washing produces a softer, layered effect.
Because paint-based textures are less permanent than wood or stone, they also allow for more experimentation—ideal for homeowners who enjoy refreshing their interiors over time.
Mosaic Accent Wall
A mosaic tile accent wall works especially well in bathrooms, kitchens, and homes decorated in a Southwestern or Mexican style. Employing materials like glass or ceramic tiles, homeowners can customize their space with unique patterns, from geometric shapes to floral designs.
Patterned Wallpaper Accent
Patterned wallpaper can serve as a dynamic choice for an accent wall in living rooms, instantly elevating the space with its visual appeal and texture.
When selecting a design, it's important to choose patterns that harmonize with the room's existing color palette and decor, ensuring a cohesive look.
For those who don’t like the thought of long-term commitment or frequent style changes, removable or peel-and-stick wallpaper offers a non-permanent solution.
Opting for larger patterns can make a bold statement on large walls, while smaller motifs add a touch of sophisticated depth.
Remember to always apply wallpaper to a smooth, clean surface to guarantee the best adhesion and help promote a polished, striking finish to your living room's new focal point.
Geometric Accent Wall
Many homeowners choose geometric accent walls to inject dynamic visual interest and sophisticated depth into their living rooms.
These walls, adorned with patterns like triangles, chevrons, or hexagons, offer a striking contrast when combined with different colors or shades. Whether created through paint, wallpaper, or wood paneling, geometric designs provide a variety of textures and finishes.
It's essential to match the type of pattern with the room's dimensions. Larger patterns might overwhelm small spaces, whereas smaller ones add subtle detail.
Additionally, these designs can complement and harmonize with both modern and traditional furnishings, ensuring the decor feels cohesive and thoughtfully curated, thus enhancing the room's overall aesthetic appeal.
Modern Accent Wall Ideas
Modern living rooms often benefit from an accent wall, which serves as a dynamic focal point in the space. Incorporating bold colors or geometric patterns can significantly enhance the room's aesthetic.
Textured materials like wood paneling, stone, or tile add depth and intrigue, setting a contemporary tone. A personal touch is achievable by creating a gallery wall featuring a collection of framed art or photographs, aligning with modern design themes.
Additionally, integrating lighting elements such as wall sconces or LED strips can accentuate the wall's features, creating a warm, inviting atmosphere.
Traditional Accent Wall Ideas
Traditional accent walls are a timeless choice for living rooms, instantly elevating the space with elegance and visual interest.
Incorporating wallpaper with classic patterns, such as damask or stripes, adds texture and depth. Painting or decorating the wall behind architectural features like staircases or built-in bookcases draws attention and enhances cohesion.
Additionally, a gallery wall featuring framed artwork or family photos personalizes the space, allowing homeowners to showcase their style while maintaining a traditional aesthetic. These options ensure the living room remains both stylish and inviting.
Common Accent Wall Mistakes to Avoid
When you’re creating an accent wall, there are several common mistakes to avoid. Here are some tips to help you get it right:
- Overusing Bold Colors or Patterns: Avoid using too many bold colors or patterns, as this can create a busy and overwhelming look. Stick to one striking element to maintain balance.
- Ignoring the Room’s Style and Theme: The accent wall should enhance, not clash with, the existing decor. Small floral patterns work much better in a farmhouse style than a modern one.
- Clashing with Other Walls: Make sure to choose a color or design that complements the other walls in the room, rather than competing with them. If you're decorating an earth-toned room, you want another earth tone, not something pastel or neon. Harmony is key to a cohesive look.
- Hiding Flaws: Avoid using an accent wall to try to hide a flaw or imperfection in your living room, as this can have the opposite effect. Feature walls are meant to draw the eye.
- Fear of Experimentation: Don’t be afraid to experiment and try out different ideas before committing to a final design. Test samples, sure, but don't forget that if you end up not liking the paint color, you can always paint over it.
Make Your Feature Wall Stand Out
An accent wall isn’t just about color—it’s about creating balance, showcasing personality, and shaping how a room feels. The right wall can add depth, warmth, or drama while tying your decor together. Whether you choose classic shiplap, bold paint, or patterned wallpaper, a thoughtfully designed accent wall transforms your home into a space that feels both stylish and welcoming.
