Create an Awesome Focal Wall

A conference room with a white table and chairs, featuring a focal wall.

Sometimes a room just needs one, simple fix. This can be adding new furniture, sprucing up the items you have, or.. creating a focal wall. Of all of these, creating a focal wall is probably the easiest, as it isn’t as time consuming as redoing your furniture or as costly as buying new items. There are several things to keep in mind to create a focal wall:

Pick a wall that already draws your attention. This is fairly straight-forward. Whether it has a fireplace, odd architecture layout, or even has a unique furniture piece/ antique, that wall will be a great place to focus since it already has that “special” element. If all your walls are of equal ‘wow-ness’, or lack anything that stands them apart, then think about the layout of the room. Perhaps the wall across from the entrance, or the wall with your TV will be great places to draw attention since our eyes naturally look at those areas.

Don’t go overboard with items on that wall. This is a focal wall, after all. If you clutter it with too many things, not only will that wall seem dramatically smaller, but you won’t gain use from this wall the way you intended to. Sure, all the items will make people look there, but they won’t really notice the color, which is the real reason you wanted this room to pop.

A pool table in a room with a focal stone wall.
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It isn’t all about color. It may help to paint your focal wall a certain color, but that isn’t your only choice for drawing attention. Think about other options, like patterns, wallpaper, collages, texture, or other unique items. You can still have color to make these pop more, but color isn’t your only choice.

Related:
Garden Benches to Enhance Your Outdoor Space

 

It’s a bird, it’s a plane… it’s your ceiling! Although it may not be a wall technically speaking, this is another great area you can accent. This is best for rooms with a mid-height ceiling with some crown-molding  or other attraction near the top. It can help escalate your dining room or bedroom to another level, and you can draw furniture or accents from the color of the ceiling as well. 

Keeps colors in mind. Do you want a more subdued feel to the room, or a more vibrant atmosphere? Then choosing a cooler vs warmer color can make a big difference. You’ll also want to keep in mind the amount of light that comes into the room. If there’s lots of light that enters your desired room, then putting a bright color on the wall across from the window may not be as ideal, as you might fatigue your eyes from excessive brightness. Likewise, if it’s a naturally dark room, then deep shades of blue or purple might not bring as much vitality into the room as you want. Of course, you can opt for a brighter shade of that color (or a deeper shade of the warmer colors) to achieve a balance.

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