Should you’re sufficiently old to recall the slew of quick-fix makeover reveals that dominated our screens within the evenings throughout the late Nineteen Nineties, you will be no stranger to the world of characteristic partitions. In actual fact, based on the movie star inside designers on the time, no self-respecting front room design might be with out one.
The most typical approach to obtain a characteristic wall was merely to color it in a daring, typically contrasting, hue in an effort to make it stand out from the remainder of the room. Regardless of if the chosen color suited the house or its pure gentle ranges – or even when the owners notably favored it. The primary factor was, there was an accent wall, supposedly there so as to add character and persona.
All of that stated, there was one thing to be stated about creating visible curiosity on this method. We requested a spread of prime inside designers for his or her opinions and so they got here again with some sensible recommendations on methods to create an accent wall to be happy with.
Are characteristic partitions nonetheless in vogue?
I’m presently within the strategy of redecorating my teenage daughter’s bed room. She’s been busy researching darkish bed room concepts and needed the chimney breast to be panelled after which painted a deep charcoal shade, protecting the remainder of the partitions a heat white. Simply as I used to be getting began on the challenge, I hesitated. In spite of everything, 2025 has been dominated by the colour-drenching development – principally the exact opposite of a characteristic wall. Nonetheless, after chatting to the design consultants, I made a decision we have been in all probability okay to proceed, with care.
“Characteristic partitions aren’t essentially out of vogue, however the way in which they’re carried out has positively developed,” explains Debbie Leigh, design supervisor at ILIV. “Daring, single-colour partitions or closely patterned wallpapers can really feel dated if overdone, however a fastidiously thought of characteristic wall can nonetheless add persona to a room in a contemporary method.”
“Characteristic partitions aren’t out of vogue, however the development has positively shifted,” picks up Marta Balazs, inside designer at Embee Interiors. “Right this moment, it’s much less about portray one wall a daring color for distinction, and extra about making a balanced, intentional focus that enhances the room’s form, structure and present options.”
“While accent partitions aren’t over, take into consideration the impression you want to make after which set about ending your wall accordingly,” advises inside designer Benji Lewis of Benji Lewis Design. “Making use of a coat of various colored paint to a wall or masking a single wall with an ill- thought of selection of wallpaper, simply appears like you may’t be bothered.”
Marta is London-based inside designer and founding father of Embee Interiors. She specialises in serving to owners create useful, timeless and calming areas that encourage a way of well-being – with a contact of Scandinavian fashion.
Debbie is an professional in creating superbly coordinated cloth collections that may be simply mixed to create harmonious inside schemes. With greater than 30 years of expertise, she takes each design from conception proper by way of to the completed textile – impressed by the most recent tendencies and methods from each continent.
Benji Lewis is a longtime British inside designer with intensive expertise engaged on residential and business properties each at house and overseas. These embody flats and studios, city and nation homes, listed properties and business areas. Benji educated on the KLC Faculty of Inside Design and labored for Bonhams Auctioneers and a serious Interiors home in London earlier than efficiently organising on his personal in 2004.
How do you create a contemporary characteristic wall?
So evidently characteristic partitions do nonetheless have a spot on this planet of trendy interiors, however simply how do you go about creating one that appears contemporary and gives the timeless really feel that these after trendy front room concepts would really feel snug with?
“Characteristic partitions haven’t disappeared from inside design, however the development has developed,” explains James Mellan-Matulewicz, inventive director and inside designer at Bobbi Beck. ‘The daring, single assertion wall that dominated the 2000s and 2010s has been changed by extra inventive and complicated methods so as to add character and personalisation to your property.’
“Typically, I steer purchasers away from a single painted wall only for the sake of it,” reveals Marta Balazs. “A characteristic wall solely works when it’s intentional and built-in into the room’s design. Supplies, textures, or tonal contrasts that work with the remainder of the house are likely to create a timeless, trendy look that also feels contemporary.”
“Should you’re set on making a characteristic wall, consider using texture and refined sample reasonably than a powerful, dominating color,” advises Debbie Leigh.
James is the inventive director and inside designer at design model Bobbi Beck. He has over a decade of expertise as a multidisciplinary designer, working throughout interiors, styling and artwork route.
How do you flip a wall right into a characteristic?
Plainly simply portray a single wall a special color and anticipating eye-catching outcomes simply will not suffice as of late, so precisely how do you flip a wall from bland to stunning?
“Contemplate textures and supplies like timber panelling, fluted detailing, ornamental forms of plasterwork, and even wallpaper with understated patterns,” says Marta Balazs. “These will add depth with out overwhelming the house.”
“Linen wall coverings, woven panels, or textured paints can add curiosity – plus they’ve the added bonus of feeling timeless,” provides Debbie Leigh. ‘One other strategy is to let materials encourage your wall by trying to a color or sample out of your curtains, cushions, or an upholstered headboard to information your selection.”
“A single wall completed with a timelessly pretty panoramic paper (a wallpaper that depicts a scene) can add an amazing up to date angle,” suggests Benji Lewis. “Don’t overlook the color you paint the opposite partitions in your room – make your paper and paint decisions mix as an entire.”
Store characteristic wall coverings
Artwork For the House Stately Woodland Mural
Designed to move you away to the grounds of a stately house, this 400cm x 280cm paper mural is made-to-order and obtainable in a spread of muted colors, from this smooth sage to refined beige.
Shaker Fashion Wall Panelling Package
Wall panelling kits are excellent for a fast transformation and this Shaker-style package even consists of the adhesive wanted to stay it to the wall. With 5 1000 x 100 x 9mm strips, you will have a characteristic wall very quickly in any respect.
Farrow & Ball No. 31
Railings
A superbly heat smooth black paint with deep blue undertones, this shade is ideal for a characteristic wall, notably when mixed with crisp white and heat metallic particulars similar to shelving, mirrors and art work.
Contemplate wall panelling for a characteristic wall
It is not simply paint and wallpaper that can be utilized to create a characteristic wall – wall panelling concepts make an excellent various.
“I’d positively discover choices like including a panelling impact to a wall in a room have been I to embark on an accent wall,” says Benji Lewis. “Simply apply strips of MDF to your wall to create the impression of it being panelled after which paint onto that, both in the identical color as all of the partitions, permitting the panelled impact to be your accent, or paint the panelled wall in a contrasting color.”
“There’s a robust emphasis on texture and pure supplies inside interiors proper now,” provides James Mellan-Matulewicz. “Wooden panelling, for instance, is more and more in style, providing a heat, homely look. Easy tongue-and-groove or Shaker-style panelling can adapt to totally different inside tendencies simply by altering the paint color or end. When mixed with paint or wallpaper above, panelling helps tie an area collectively, giving a room a extra structured and cohesive really feel.”
FAQs
How to decide on the best wall to focus on?
One of many secrets and techniques to success on the subject of characteristic partitions is choosing the proper wall for the job.
“Quite than utilizing the biggest wall within the room by default, select a wall that naturally attracts the attention, for instance, behind a mattress, a fire, or a seating space,” advises Debbie Leigh.
“It’s actually essential to contemplate the total room, its proportions, pure gentle, and architectural parts, earlier than deciding on a characteristic wall,” picks up Marta Balazs. “A wall turns into a characteristic for a motive: it ought to emphasise one thing that’s already a focus, similar to a fire, shelving, or built-in storage, reasonably than attempting to create drama the place none exists.”
Are you able to create a characteristic from multiple wall?
You will need to notice that, in some instances, utilizing greater than a single wall to create dramatic home design concepts in an area can work higher.
“Wrap-around murals are probably the most thrilling tendencies in inside design, reworking rooms into immersive, atmospheric areas,” explains James Mellan-Matulewicz. “Not like conventional characteristic partitions, these murals prolong throughout a number of partitions – and generally the ceiling – making a seamless impact that makes a room really feel bigger and extra cohesive.
“The fantastic thing about wrap-around murals lies in how they take away visible boundaries, uniting partitions and corners in a single steady story,” continues James. “With trendy, made-to-measure printing, designs will be tailor-made completely to suit any house. The result’s a room that feels distinctive, expressive, and effortlessly gorgeous. Designs impressed by nature, similar to landscapes and botanicals, work nicely as a result of they’ve a way of calm and permanence. A mural that enhances the room’s structure and palette, as an alternative of dominating it, will all the time really feel related.”
Loving the concept of of a wrap-around mural? Learn up on methods to wallpaper to make sure you get an excellent easy, excellent end.
