Accent Wall Ideas - DIY Home Decor!

Are you looking for some great interior design accent wall ideas? Well, we’ve been working on redoing our living room these past few months. Something that seemed noticeably lacking in our large open space living room/kitchen/dining room/home office combination was some sort of focal point or pop of color. I started to go so neutral with the paint colors that I felt like the room was washed out and bland…I love a good color scheme!

So enter the ever popular (or unpopular for some of you) ACCENT WALL. Painted accent walls are coming back in from what I’ve seen online. A lot of bloggers and interior designers are starting to return to darker more moody colors to make rooms pop. I’ve embraced every cool gray I possibly can in my house, so I decided to introduce a dark navy blue accent wall to my living room. So, I have a blue accent wall with gray walls now. Let’s talk about how to choose the best accent wall ideas for your living room…

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Wait…Are Accent Walls Outdated?!

That depends on who you ask, some people love them, some people hate them. I think accent walls are a great way to add a focal point to your space and introduce a pop of color without having to commit to an entire room in that hue. Some homeowners love dark accent walls while others opt for a more neutral color or wood accent wall. The other great thing about accent walls is that you can brighten up a moody accent wall with bright white shelves and frames so that it naturally pops off the wall and creates even more of a focal point! There really is no perfect accent wall – it just depends on the wall design and space feel that you’re looking for in your living space.

How to Choose an Accent Wall in Living Room

The best walls for accent walls are typically walls with no windows or doors. You can even consider making a decorative accent wall by adding elements to the walls like paneling, wainscoting, or shiplap to add interest to the accent wall if desired!

Accent Wall Rules of Thumb

First –

Don’t be scared to try a bold color. That’s the beauty of an accent wall, you can add that pop of color you wanted without committing to painting your entire room that color! Seriously, you could do white walls, a black accent wall or a totally different color palette for your architectural features – it all just depends on your visual interest!

Second –

Above all, consider all your options and be creative!! Another option for accent walls these days is to stencil or even choose a bold wallpaper that compliments the rest of the room’s colors.

Third –

Don’t stop with the paint! Accent walls are great because they become focal points in your room, so be sure to think about how to carefully style the wall. I think painted accent walls are the PERFECT spaces for a bold gallery wall showcasing your favorite family photos…and in upcoming weeks I’m going to share how I decorated my dark blue accent wall in my living room!

Lastly –

Consider your accent wall color combinations too…we used a blue accent wall with gray walls for our living room. Most accent walls look best if you have a lighter or medium shade accompanying them on the adjacent walls. Neutral grays or beiges work really well depending on the colors you’ve chosen, but go to the paint store and grab lots of paint swatches to hold next to your accent wall color to see exactly how they’ll work (or not work) together. There really is no “perfect way” – it’s all about your vision when it comes to your wall art.

My Favorite Wallpapers:

My Favorite Gallery Wall Frames:

Accent Wall Do’s and Don’ts

DON’T… Limit yourself! When creating an accent wall, there are multiple different styles to try. Don’t limit yourself only to solid color walls, venture out a try some textures! If you’re creating a wall on a budget, painting is definitely the way to go… but for those who are investing in creating a beautiful wall, try a stone or wood texture! Adding these different materials can create a perfect 3D effect that can easily compliment your living room space.

DO… Plan in advance! I would advise checking out a few Pinterest boards as opposed to going in blind. It’s much easier to shop for your accent wall with your inspiration pictures in hand. Also pay attention to the hues and shades of the outer walls surrounding your future accent wall! Make sure the color, pattern or texture you choose for the accent will compliment your outer walls, not make it stick out like a sore thumb.

The Easy Way to Paint an Accent Wall

Now onto the best part…the EASY way to paint an accent wall…because let’s be honest, this MAY be a project you just randomly pulled out of your head and you don’t want to commit a ton of time too, am I right? For me it was like…”Hey honey, here’s a gallon of paint I chose…I’d like that wall over there painted dark blue” and of course I got the look from him. You’re unsure about how this accent wall will look…not sure if you’ll commit long term and don’t want to put in a ton of time on something you may just be painting right back over next year (or maybe not, who knows?). So let’s chat about how I like to paint rooms so that there’s less clean up and way less mess…it’s kind of amazing actually!

Let’s start with the BEFORE accent wall photo (taken around Christmas)…

So you can see why we decided to paint the wall. It was just kind of bland and boring. I worked with Modsy to mock up what a living room makeover WITH an accent wall might look like, which is why I decided to go the accent wall direction after all…

Night and day, right?! The accent wall MAKES the room in the second design. It adds the pop of color that was lacking, it adds character and interest, and the gallery wall looks AMAZING with it!! So we got started painting!

And as a side note…my dad got my husband painting clothes for Christmas this year LOL. He’s the real deal now!

Dark Blue Living Room Accent Wall

What color is our navy blue accent wall, you may ask? We used the gorgeous Slate Tile color from Sherwin Williams. The other walls are Repose Gray also by Sherwin Williams.

Now that our accent walls are painted and we painted the trip a nice bright, crisp white, I’m now working on styling the space. You’ll notice we lost the large white credenza and replaced it with a smaller wood and metal sofa table from Morris Home Furniture (more on that later). I also added a pretty task lamp from Target.

You’ll notice the black frame on the table. That’s the frame I’m going to use for the gallery wall, but Target didn’t have enough of them, so I have to order them online (I’ll be sharing more on that later, as well)!

I think accent walls are such a fun way to completely change the look of your room. Plus, right now navy blue accent walls with a gorgeous gallery wall are all the rage.

In conclusion, what did you think of our living room accent wall ideas? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments – and please share if you have your own accent wall ideas! In other words – drop some pictures & thoughts in the comment section!