Before the Millennium, the words ‘Feature Wall’ struck a nerve with interior designers and homeowners alike, conjuring images of azure blue and terracotta sponge effect combinations. Fast forward to today, and feature walls have become a go-to option for adding colour and pattern to homes, in a more modern and sympathetic context. From mural wallpaper to colour blocking and exposed brickwork, we look at some of the interior design trends featuring the rebirth of feature walls with a modern twist.
Showcasing colour blocking, mural wallpaper and natural material feature walls
A feature wall is a great way to pull focus in a room and create a room ingredient to write home about. After all, they don’t call it “feature” wall for nothing. Also known as an accent wall, this design trick is all about taking a blank wall and embellishing it with unusual textures, bold colours, powerful wallpaper murals, striking prints or treasured mementoes.
Transforming the look of a room is only half the story. Room decor is equally about emotion and how it can make you feel. After a long day at work, many of us want to shake off the stresses, and unwind in a home environment conducive to calmness and relaxation. Or maybe the room needs to evoke personal memories, and recreating a ‘happy place’ is a method of reseting the mind into a place where you need to escape. Whatever mood, state-of-mind or visual styling you’re hoping to achieve in your own space, a feature wall can pull together all room decor and help you transform you space with spectacular results.
Here are some of our favourite feature walls which incorporate mural wallpaper as well as other ideas which we’re sure you’ll agree make a real statement in a room.
Colour Blocking Feature Walls
Colour blocking or colour flooding, is an effective technique which uses colour without overwhelming a room. It involves adding flat colour to entire sections of wall to contrast against other walls, doors, skirting and ceiling, or to help highlight architectural features rather than overwhelm a full room with colour. Adding bright, bold colours such as reds, oranges and yellow works well in an active part of a home such as kitchens and hallways, whereas choosing softer more restful colours in dusky hues for living rooms and bedrooms creates a sense of calm and relaxation.
Full-Image Mural Wallpaper Feature Walls
When it comes to feature wall ideas, it’s time to consider going beyond paint to explore some left-of-centre style solutions. Cue the romantic music, because we’re going to transport you to your favourite place to evoke wonderful memories. Mural wallpaper is custom-made wallpaper where each of the wallpaper drops collectively create a single image. Now imagine a mural wallpaper with a full-size image of somewhere special – maybe a first meeting place with your partner, a honeymoon destination, or somewhere highly personal to your family.
From forests, beaches, mountains and city scapes, the possibilities are endless when transforming your room with a full-image mural wallpaper feature wall. If extensive wallpaper mural collections like these are not enough, you could even be inspired by creating a feature wall from your own image library.
Feature Walls from Natural Materials
One of the popular interior trends for 2021 is Industrial Modern. It’s a trend that was inspired by old factories and industrial spaces, perhaps out of necessity to convert old or abandoned buildings into urban living. The style includes stripped-back architecture, weathered looking surfaces, raw elements, exposed bricks, etc. Not only is this popular for renovations, but we are also seeing new custom homes with similar features. The example above features large concrete blocks to create a feature wall and centrepiece to a modern living interior.
For spaces which don’t have the natural luxury of stripping back architectural features or beautiful raw materials, it isn’t the end of the world. Industrial modern can be recreated in almost any room with mural wallpaper. From concrete, bricks and wooden textures to futuristic 3D modelling featuring ‘natural materials’ full image mural wallpaper can be used as a showpiece feature wall in any room.
