A feature wall is an eye-catching and easy way to transform a room or your home office.
Here are our top tips for adding a splash of character to your space – by just changing one, single wall:
Which wall?
Choose the wall you want to highlight. This is normally the wall that already has the focal point, such as the fireplace or a painting. In a home office, you’d make a feature of the wall behind the desk.
In an open-plan space, use the feature wall to delineate separate uses. Paint a wall in the dining or study area a different colour to the sitting areas.
Top tip if it’s a smaller space, don’t go too bold. Try something like a pale striped paper.
Paint or paper?
This is simply personal taste, and both work well as feature walls. Combine the two and add your own design onto the paint with a patterned paint roller. Just remember that if you plan to add pictures or shelving, this can look busy on top of a bold pattern. Don’t use wallpaper in more humid areas, such as bathrooms and kitchens.
Of course, you can ignore both these stalwarts, and go for panels of rustic wood. Paint them for a vintage chic look or leave them natural for a beachy effect.
Top tip don’t worry too much about wallpapering. Wallpaper’s much more sophisticated since you watched your parents wrestle with it, and there’s always YouTube for help.
Colour?
This is your chance to be daring. A bright colour such as orange would be too much in a domestic space; however, on a single wall, it’s fun rather than overwhelming. With a feature wall, you can simply go with your favourite colour.
If you like to follow the latest decorative trends, take a look at Dulux’s Colour of the Year for 2018, which is “Heart Wood”, a warm mushroom pink that tones with natural materials. This more subtle shade is good for smaller spaces.
Top tip it’s only one wall! If you change your mind, it’s not a massive deal.
What about the office?
Does your To Do list change all the time? Create an enormous, wipe-clean notepad with blackboard paint. This ingenious covering is available from most DIY stores, and you simply brush it on the walls like normal paint. When you’ve finished, the chalk wipes off with a damp cloth.
Combine work storage with decorative touches and install a wall of shelves. Go for the traditional wooden study look, or adopt modern Scandi-chic with minimalist white cube shelves.
Top tip if you’re going for the chalkboard option, don’t have a dark carpet under your blackboard wall…
What works for kids?
You and the children can have a great time designing a feature wall for their room. How about wallpaper that can be coloured in, or that features a board game like snakes and ladders?
Try blackboard paint, or if they like displaying their artwork, cover a wall in cork tiles to make a giant noticeboard – cheap and easy.
Top tip if you use stickers, choose easy-peel ones. You don’t want to spend Sunday with a scraper every time their favourite cartoon character changes.
It’s so easy to create a show-stopping look this way, you’ll be tempted to have a feature wall in every room. Have fun!
