Accent Walls: The Best Way to Add Depth to Your Design

Adding an accent wall can drastically elevate the design style in a space. Because it is just a single wall, it can be the easiest way to direct focus, create depth, and even take an "outside of the box" risk. Check out my favorite five accent wall ideas you can do!

1. Paint

This is by far the simplest and most cost effective. I am a huge fan of using highly saturated colors to create a statement when painting an accent wall. Challenge yourself to a bolder color and if you hate it, it's easy to change!

An accent wall doesn’t have to be those vertical spaces. Don’t forget about that fifth wall, the ceiling. By painting this kitchen’s ceiling, we were able to draw the eye all the way to the beautifully barrel vaulted feature.

I love how just the navy wall of this kid’s bedroom painted creates depth and allows lighter objects to pop.

2. Molding

Putting molding walls got a bad reputation when so many builders decided to put a single piece of molding around the room called a chair rail (literally one of my least favorite things). However, molding on a wall can look super sophisticated. From the traditional picture frame molding to the more contemporary box molding. 

A staircase can be a forgotten space which is why it is the perfect place to add molding to really punch up the design.

Taking a traditional molding and turning it into something special with this square geometric designed wall using molding.

3. Wallpaper

Yes, wallpaper is still in, in fact, it never left. I have used wallpaper in no less then 100% of my recent projects and with the endless possibilities of patterns and styles wallpaper can work for everyone. It really does make me overly excited. 

Sometimes just one wall is all you need for wallpaper. This creates the perfect layer for this grandmillennial office space.

The perfect teen girl’s wallpaper. It's bold and beautiful and it only needed on the feature wall.

4. Tile

I love a tile accent wall! I use them frequently in bathrooms, bars, and even in bedrooms and other spaces. There are some really amazing tiles that will wow you and create huge impacts in a home. 

Having fun with a wall of accent tile in a bathroom can bring so much style to your home.

An accent wall tile doesn’t have to mean the entire wall. In this design, we decided to only do it in the nook behind the bar. It helps draw the eye in and layers in the sex appeal.

Using tile that starts in a shower and continues beyond the normal boundaries makes this small bathroom feel grand. Use this to trick your eye and make your tighter spaces truly expand.

5. Wood

I tend to lean more towards the modern use of wood as an accent wall, but for clients who love that "farmhouse" style, you can also use reclaimed wood. 

Wood used in a more contemporary fashion to define this TV wall. This decorative wall with evenly spaced wooden slats for a sleek and contemporary look.

For this covered outdoor design, we wanted to add texture with a shou sugi ban accent wall. Shou sugi ban is a traditional Japanese method of preserving and weatherproofing wood by charring it with fire. The charred surface is then brushed and oiled to create a durable and attractive finish.

6. Living Wall

Creating a living wall as an accent is a unique and beautiful way to bring nature into your home. The result is a stunning and sustainable accent wall that adds life and color to any space.

Crisp & Bold Bedroom Suite Design

Originally this space was your traditional early-2000’s bedroom converted into a home office. Imagine cherry wood tones, plush beige carpeting in the bedroom, and green tiled floors, shower, and countertop in the bathroom. Needless to say, this room was in need of an update. With a dedicated home office in another part of the house, there was not a need for this space anymore, so we decided to transform it into a hotel-chic inspired guest bedroom suite.

A chrome four-post upholstered bed was chosen to visually raise the height of the room. Flanking oversized hanging lights bring home that hotel-chic style. The bold colors pop against a crisp white wall and taupe molding.

In order to add warmth to this crisp bedroom design, the trim was painted a warm taupe, gold accents were, and touches of warm jewel tones were layered throughout.

Classic herringbone tile flooring has a high-end custom style with layers of pattern and color around.

Mixing chrome and gold accents created modern interest. Because this bathroom is on the smaller side, a lighter wall colors and bright Carrara marble were chosen to maximize airiness.

Mixing a modern wave ceramic tile with a waterfall of petal-shaped laser cut marble creates a timeless yet whimsical shower design. Bold brushed gold waterfall shower head and hand shower elevate the style perfectly.

A bold teal color was chosen to seamlessly flow with the color scheme in the bedroom and add the unexpected punch of fun in this bathroom.

Edgy polished chrome faucet and modern marble countertops create a cool juxtaposition in style and texture.

Simple brushed gold hardware contrast against the teal bathroom vanity. The circular shape soften the paneled door fronts of the cabinetry.

The colors for this bedroom started with a crisp white, a layering in of saturated jewel tone blues, and finished off with metallic accents. This truly encapsulates the hotel chic ambience.

Balance and scale was artfully played with to create a completely unique and curated look.

A bold turquoise color brings personality into this guest bedroom. The top is glass to keep things feeling light and airy and the bottom has storage to keep those tables, books, and other goodies guests may need during their stay. Custom gold hardware on these turquoise nightstands add a sophisticated tailored element created an understated elegance.

Live house plants bring life, natural color, and texture into every space. It also acts to frame this wonderful piece of modern art.

Guests are surrounded in luxury with stylish elements such as white glass dresser trimmed in chrome. You can see the fantastic elongation of the tile in this photo as well.

The pillows on the bed embrace the maximalist design principal where more is more. We celebrated this in an artful way by combining mixed colors, textures, and sizes.

The shape of the oversized hanging light adds a nice softness to this bedroom suite retreat. Because the shade wraps around the edge of the drum, light is perfectly diffused to avoid harsh direct light to guests.

To finish off this bedroom, we curated artistic designer cocktail table books, added modern sculptural pieces, and custom designed floral.

Learn to hand render like the pros!

Have you ever seen a hand rendered design and thought, "WOW, how do they do that?" or, "I'll never be able to hand render like that." I am an interior designer and I also have those same thoughts. In college I had to learn the skills of hand rendering, however, with such a fast paced world, it was one of the skills I let slip. 

I recently reconnected with a friend from university, Shannin Williams, and she absolutely  amazed me. Shannin has fine tuned her hand rendering skills since our time as Lumberjacks at SFA in Nacogdoches, TX.  "My goal is to help you learn the basic techniques of hand rendering and sketching and apply those to your client presentation boards in a creative way so you can sell your design proposal." Shannin says. I love how she inspired me to get back to the basics by putting pen to paper and immerse myself into my designs on another level. Here are some of the tips she gave me for sharpening my hand rendering skills that will help you too.

Tip 1 - Use good quality paper.

Using good quality paper can change the way the final rendering can look. I’ve used several types of marker paper and I discovered the ones I like the most. If I want my hand rendering to have a softer look I use Bienfang Lightweight drawing paper. This paper allows the marker to bleed perfectly for me. If I want a sharper look with defined strokes and marks and no bleeding I use x-press it blending card. Others I use are Canson pro layout marker paper, and Borden& Riley #234 bleedproof paper. I suggest trying a variety of papers until you find the one you like and achieve the look your aiming for. See more of my favorite tools in the link here. 

Tip 2- Use a straight edge when you hand render or draw. 

I always use a triangle that has an inking edge when I draft floor plans or hand render. The purpose is to keep your marker lines straight. I like seeing crisp, straight lines in my illustrations. A crooked line makes me nuts which is why I own several adjustable triangles in different sizes. My favorite is the Staedtler Mars 8” adjustable triangle. I even keep a smaller one in my purse when I travel along with a sketchbook, pen, and pencil. 

Tip 3 - Use good quality markers. 

I use Copic Sketch markers due to the 380 + colors they offer. I also like Copic Sketch markers because you can refill them and change the tips when they get bad. Buying a $6 marker seems outrageous but I look at it as an investment since I have the ability to refill them when needed. That beats buying a whole new marker like you would with other brands. If you want to start with a set of markers I recommend purchasing any of the Copic Sketch cool, toner, neutral, and warm gray markers first. You can achieve a lot of colors with a range of grays. And don’t be afraid to layer and mix your marker colors to create a new color. 

Tip 4 - Define your own style of hand rendering. 

There are several architectural illustrators out there that have different hand rendering techniques. I have learned from them all and developed my own rendering style that portrays the look I want to achieve. My style includes a loose and quick mark that is not perfect allowing my final hand rendering to be natural and not forced. It took me months of practice to achieve the style I wanted and I recommend you doing the same. Your style of hand rendering needs to stand out amongst others to get gain attention. 

To see more of my work visit my website at www.shanninwilliams.com or follow me on instagram @shannin_williams. If you want to practice hand rendering jump on my website and sign up for my mailing list and download your free line drawing or you can see try out my hand rendering course here.