Accent wall in the living room: tips and ideas

hackrea / August 24, 2020

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The modern interior of the living room must be at least something unique. After all, this is the main room in the house, and you can say his reputation. If the interior of the living room is dull, typical, then, what do you think, what impression your house will make on the guests? It’s easy to guess.

Depending on the chosen design, the highlight of the living room interior can be:

any piece of furniture;
decor or accessory;
expensive and refined lamp;
or a beautiful accent wall.

We will consider the accent wall in the interior in the framework of this article. We will determine what a similar decoration of the wall is like, will discover the principles of designing an accent wall, its color scheme, texture, and much more.

What is an accent wall, and why do you have to do it in the living room?

An accent wall is an attractive, usually bright, eye-catching design of a more or less large section of the wall. Often, the entire wall can be an accent element.

The main requirement for an accent wall in the living room is to ensure that it matches the spirit of the interior design of the room and stands out against the background of the primary colors. Why then, do we need an accent wall in the living room? Maybe it’s better to choose something else as a highlight of the interior?

The accent wall allows you to dilute a somewhat monotonous interior with a rigorously metered bright component of the design.
Such a design element will immediately attract guests’ attention.
The accent wall can distract attention from any unsightly element of the interior located nearby and thereby improve the impression of the design composition of the living room

Principles of creating an accent wall in the living room

If you nevertheless decided to create an accent wall in the living room, keep in mind that its proper design is a rather difficult task that requires a competent, careful approach.

To facilitate your task and create a shared understanding of the conceptual aspects of designing an accent wall and its role in the interior, skilled designers have developed several principles for designing this element of living room decoration.

The accent wall’s surface area should be significantly less than the total area of the walls. In other words, from the four walls of the room, a maximum of two can be used as accents. Otherwise, instead of a beautiful design accent, you get a nightmare that can be fixed only by redesigning the walls.
Nobody forces you to use an accent wall as a single element. You can use two “highlights” at once. For example, you design part of the wall around the arch as an accent. In this case, the arch will act as a very successful addition to it.
You can decorate the accent wall in entirely different ways. You can bet on bright colors, or you can highlight the wall with an amazing and attractive texture. The main thing to remember is that your results fit well with the design composition of the living room.
Using bright colors as the basis of an accent wall, remember their perception. In other words, in addition to focusing on your taste, consider the psychology of one or another shade. It will be disagreeable if some color of such a wall quickly bothers you or even worse, after a while, it starts to annoy you.
Choose the location of the accent wall correctly. The impression that will make on the guests will depend on this.
Feel free to use the accent wall to highlight a particular functional area in the living room. According to designers, such a wall is best for a rest zone. Although, of course, this is a matter of taste.
The scope of the accent wall is to create a designer balance in the interior of the living room. It is capable of both making the interior more organic and introducing disharmony into it. It is better to spend a little more time considering the necessary nuances of working with a similar interior detail than to “destroy” the result later.

Choose the right location of the accent wall in the living room

The position of the accent wall is essential in the living room. The correct position will make the interior conception more organic, and also allow the accent wall to realize all the design functions assigned to it.

Designers with vast experience in creating such interior elements offer some advice on this subject.

If the design of the living room allows, make an accent wall immediately opposite the entrance. This option is most effective since the accent wall captures the guests’ attention as soon as they enter the room.
Position the accent wall to separate one functional area from another. The position is especially necessary where rooms for completely different practical purposes are combined, for example, a living room and kitchen, a living room and a bedroom, and the like. Visual separation of such functional zones is necessary.
Often the highlight is on the wall where you place a stunning and eye-catching element, such as a fireplace or a cabinet. In this case, the decorated wall will be a great addition to a similar component of the interior.
An accent wall can be designed simply in the TV viewing area, although, in this case, you should not make it too bright. The brightness will not only distract from watching your favorite show but also harm the eyes’ health.

Materials to create an accent wall

When considering various possibilities for creating an accent wall, you should find what materials may be required to implement such a project.

There is no mystery in the determination of material. The most popular materials for wall decoration are suitable. Of course, we do not recommend saving money to create a special effect, especially since the wall area is insignificant. To create an accent wall, you may need the following materials:

wallpaper;
decorative plaster;
natural or artificial stone;
tile;
brick (including its imitation);
paint;
wood;
glass panels, and more.

Accent wall – Color Composition

Many people naively believe that painting the wall in bright colors will be the most effective way to focus on the wall. In some cases, this helps, however, for an elegant living room in a modern style. Several bright spots are far from always able to emphasize the beauty and complexity of the design idea. When you create an accent wall, you have to take more complex actions.

You have to make a mini color composition, which you have to combine with the color scheme of the entire living room, which in itself is not easy. When choosing a color scheme for an accent wall, there are a few simple rules to keep in mind:

Warm shades narrow the space, so you should not use them in large quantities in a small living room, but even without them, it is impossible, since the warm color makes the room more comfortable.
Cold shades can expand the space, but in significant quantities, they deprive the room of comfort.
Pastel colors by themselves are not able to attract attention, and if you want to use these shades to design an accent wall, add bright spots to them, at least in the form of unique textured elements.

Accent wall ideas for the living room

If you want to surprise all your guests or need to diversify the dreary atmosphere of the living room, refresh one of the walls of the room, but be sure to be bright and unusual. The accent wall in the living room will bring freshness, excitement, and a new aspect to the interior.

Discover several ways of accent decoration of the wall in the living room.

Extreme coloring

This option does not require significant efforts on your part and is available in all regards. Nevertheless, if you adhere to traditional views in designing a living room, it is better to proceed directly to the next idea.

This one dedicates to an unusual coloristic solution, specifically, repainting one of the walls in pure black, scarlet, yellow, and other appealing colors. The people who are not afraid of the influence of such colors will be happy to take note of this method because it can change the image of the entire room radically.

It’s not recommended, however, to use too dark colors (purple, black, swamp) in a small living room – they are more suitable for spacious and bright rooms.

Fireplace as the base of an accent composition in the living room

If there is a fireplace in the living room or its imitation, it becomes the center of attention. And such an element can serve as the basis for creating an entire accent composition. For example, you can emphasize the portal with decorative stucco elements. You can highlight the area around it with a natural shade of greenery, sea, wooden beams, or mirror panels.

Brickwork

Natural materials with beautiful and characteristic texture for the accent wall in the living room are doomed to succeed. Therefore, you should not be stopped by the desire to make the place even more elegant and unique.

It is enough to cover just one wall with decorative brick or embossed glazed tiles — the most outstanding area around which you can build the rest of the living room.

Backlight, sconces, floor lamps placed side by side, floor light, or a scattering of decorative sources attached to the surface of a brick wall will show his relief and volume.

Extra-large paintings and mirrors

Large furniture items are practical and convenient when you need to quickly and effortlessly update the interior of the living room. The mirror here is already a classic element that is appropriate for any style of interior, and the choice of famous paintings or reproductions can tell a lot about the owners’ tastes.

Do not be afraid that too large paintings will be inappropriate in a small living room. In reality, it is essential to choose a copy illustrating a perspective image made in bright colors. A simple way that helps in the task of expanding the narrow space.

Fancy coloring solutions

For those looking for a custom solution for an accent wall in the living room, we recommend that you pay attention to the current trend. You can paint the surface using stencils, masking tape, and paint in several shades of the same color (or winning combinations of different colors).

Zigzags, stripes, waves, ellipses and rhombuses, and honeycombs – you are free to choose any of them or create a new one by combining different elements.

Uncommon decor

Creating an accent wall in the interior of the living room, try to move away from the usual and expected ways of decorating. Carved paintings are beautiful, but they will not surprise anyone. Try to fantasize and use something innovative or not designed for hanging on the wall surface.

Of course, the chosen elements should be adapted to the style of your interior, unless it is fusion or eclecticism, prepare them, stylize, and possibly remodel a bit. You can, for example, choose an object of an unusual shape, but paint it in a tone suitable for the primary colors of the room.

Useful wall

You have not only to decorate the wall in the living room but also you have to make it functional. This type of accent wall is especially suitable for small rooms or studio apartments.

Order wall-mounted shelving in a furniture workshop, build an integrated structure with niches, or hang several shelves with scrolled supports. After that, you can store books, put pictures, decor, and vases with flowers. Most importantly – all this, you are free to change, remove, or complement introducing new shapes and colors into the interior of the living room.

Accent wall living room – Photo Gallery

Summarizing, we note that the accent wall in the interior is one of the essential parts without which the design composition looks ordinary, and frankly uninteresting. Of course, you can try to replace the accent wall with, for example, beautiful accessories or an elegant piece of furniture. Still, it will be much more challenging to achieve a similar design effect and, most importantly, more expensive. Good luck!