On feature walls

Walls walls walls. We're surrounded with them in our home. We can paint them and hang stuff on them, but how do we really know what ought to belong where?

I'm personally able to see the completion of a wall with some of my crazy ideas, which helps tremendously. I see the finished product in 3D full colour. And often, if the idea makes me chuckle, I know it's a good one! (that's my crazy train gauge and I'm sticking to it!)

There's currently one very small window wall in my main bathroom that I'm currently attempting to dream up something whimsical and fun on it. The bathroom houses an old ladder for towel holding, and a cute pedestal sink, with rustic floor tile. The ladder gives me inspiration to attempt something old looking on that wall. I have visions of old fence wood running parallel to the floor, or shake shingles, or a rock wall. I want the illusion that the room was created out of this old building and one end of it was left untouched. And I'll have it... it's just a matter of finding the right medium.

That, my friends, is what I call a feature or focal wall.

Feature walls can be just a smattering of bold colour by paint alone too. But you don't want the wall to appear to just BE there as such as an afterthought. You want it to BELONG there.
Look around your home. Are you seeing four walls all the same? Nothing wrong with that if it looks right. But if there's something missing in that room, whether it be colour or interest, a feature wall might be right for you.

Another wall I'm dreaming about is that one blank wall that is above the staircase. It's a blank canvas screaming to be treated with something powerful. And trust me, what goes up there will indeed make me laugh out loud.

I've added some punch to three other rooms in my house. One is the bedroom.

I found an old sign and created a headboard out of it. Then I painted the wall red. But ONLY that wall. If I had gone further, it would have overpowered the room. The feature wall gave the room not only a theme, but the colour it needed for excitement and whimsy.

The other room is my son's playroom. It's situated in a spare room upstairs. I've run floor to ceiling Ikea type storage but the room still needed kick. So, I painted the wall behind the storage red as well. Now, the room has a little fun going on without being too overpowering.

And the wall with the sign? That's the edge of a closet and what you see when you glance down the hallway. It's the perfect little enticement of bringing your eye into that room, wanting to enter to see what wonderful surprises are in store inside. Sure beats all plain walls, doesn't it?

Feature walls and focal walls can also mean the same thing. Rooms look best when you have a main focus upon walking in. Which can mean something such as your fireplace upon walking into your main living area. This wall started off with just a plain ol' brick 30 year old fireplace that stopped at the mantle. Now the wall has a floor to ceiling rock casing which brings your eye right up. It takes over the wall and is amazing and the perfect scale for this house.

When you walk into a room, your eye should be drawn to something. So make sure it's got the right amount of punch and interest. And when you're finally there, you'll know it. I guarantee, when you reach it, you'll be chuckling too!

Can't do this one on your own? If you're having trouble trying to figure out what to do with a given room of your own, I'm armed with a team of professionals that can enable you to have something amazing for your own home. I am based out of BC Canada, so if you aren't local, you can email me your request and pictures and we can go from there. If interested, you can reach me at signmakergirl@hotmail.com

Happy focal walling!