Accent Wall Paint Colors-Wall Painting Tips to Easily Create a New Environment

Copyright (c) 2011 Glenda Millette

The eye goes to color, and when color is placed around a room your eye moves from one area to another taking in the entire space. Using color as a focal point can be very effective. However it can be tricky, too much color and the room can be overwhelming and too little and it gets lost. Where is that perfect balance?

Every room needs a focal point, something that draws your attention and paint can be a very effective medium to do this. Focal points create interest and when you build the rest of the room around it you have a very pleasing space.

Paint is an easy way to create a focal point. I have used an inexpensive method called color blocking. Color blocking is very simple. You apply a block any size or shape of an accent color to the wall. I had a set of three pictures I loved and wanted to put them on a very large wall in my living room. The pictures were too small and alone would have looked out of place, but when I put a large block of accent color and then placed them inside the block of color they looked wonderful. I pulled the accent color out of the pictures themselves, this made a cohesive look. This was one quick and easy way to create an accent wall.

When looking for focal points look for architectural items in your home. Archways, recessed walls, bay windows or moldings. Use paint to make them stand out and become a point of interest in your home. You can make them more interesting using a contrasting color.

Look for the largest piece of furniture, window or even a high ceiling, anything that can be accented with color to bring the eye to that location. Don't stop there after you have found the area in your room that you want to accent, continue that color around the room. It can be in pictures, pillows, fabrics or rugs. This method will make the eye move around the room, and it will feel complete and connected.

Just a word of warning, do not overdo the accent wall unless you are able to balance it within the room. Example if you have a red room, which is already a very intense color and you decide you really love purple, and you want to paint it as an accent color. Pulling that off could be a challenge; the combination would be very overwhelming and intense. A better way might be to use a different hue or intensity of the red (something lighter or darker) in an accent wall, and put the purple color throughout the room in pictures, pillows or fabrics. This would give you the best of all worlds.

Color is amazing and learning how and where to use it will make your home look like a professional designed it. Step outside of your comfort zone and have fun.


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Glenda Millette is an interior designer and color consultant who loves teaching her students tips and tricks to help them release their own hidden designer. Learning how to infuse contrasting or accent color on your walls will create more passion and interest in your home. Please follow her to: http://www.ThePaintColorIdeas.com