All designers being human have opinions. A lot of designers have strong opinions about what is appropriate or tasteful or not. One of the big differences in opinion among designers lies with the accent wall.
Many designers don’t like them, won’t think of installing them. They feel that the accent wall represents an unfinished or inexpensive fix-it solution. I, on the other hand, feel there is a time and a place to incorporate an accent wall.
My thought is that an accent wall should create a “backdrop” for something special, not the wall itself. The accent wall should not be the special focus in the room rather a way to accentuate what lands in front of it.
For example, one wall with a fantastic textured wallpaper creates a great background for a bed or an amazing piece of art in the foreground. Sometimes a simple change in architectural materials can create an accent wall as seen in the image above. One of my own rules of thumb when installing an accent wall is to make sure there is a definite stopping and starting point. A wall without definition can not usually pull off an accent wall successfully for that very reason.
photo credit: image 1: tidbitsandtwine.com// image 2: janshowers.com