Ideas for Accent Walls

Here are some ideas for painting accent walls that may inspire you to move forward and create a fascinating area in your home. Ideally an accent wall is used to bring interest towards an area, to enhance objects, furniture and artwork. Just adding a single color to an area will change the dynamics of the space.
The photos below are just the beginning of what you can achieve with paint. There are endless painting techniques which will make your accent wall unique and stand out in a cookie cutter world.

 Solid brick red adds to conversation and appetite, you'll see this color in restaurants,dining rooms and kitchens. If you ask me, red looks great in many areas.
                             

                                         Dare to be different! Add a distressed wall
                  

                                 Ragging technique, lighter glaze over a darker base
 

                                      Distressed stripes add a whimsical feel   

                                              Tone on tone smooshing technique    
           

                                   Accent color taken from fabric, smooshing technique    

                                        Add painted moldings to enhance an area
                         

                                              Sponging technique using glaze

                                                        Faux inside a frame

                                                    Sponging over a light base

                                                          

                                              Multi  framed in areas faux painted                 

                                                            Distressed strie

                                                    Create a distressed faux brick wall     

                                     

                                               Metallic Blue painted wall, crosshatch technique

Easy Painted Stripes

Here is an easy way to paint stripes, eight inch stripes with alternating colors and slightly distressed. No tape will be used to paint the stripes. This project could be used for an accent wall or the entire room.

 First prep your area and apply blue tape to the base boards or as needed. Measure the wall where the stripes will be painted, divide the width of the stripes you would like to have into the total length of the wall. Example: 192 inches ( 16 ft ) divided by 8 inches = 24 stripes. If you end up with a odd number divide that number into your total stripes. So in this case your stripes could be 8 1/8 inches each.

Next, make a small mark to the top and bottom of the wall where each stripe will be, move from one
end of the wall to the other end. Mark every other stripe which will be the different color, I use a small piece of blue tape.


Take a 4 ft. level and place it on the mark of your stripe. Use a 2 1/2 in. paint brush with the first paint color ( no glaze ) and brush up against the level running vertical on the wall. Continue down the wall with the level ensuring it is plum.

Your creating a guide line for your stripe, keep from overloading paint on your brush.

Wipe the excess paint from the level and move to the other side of the stripe. This process will continue for every other stripe till you get to end of the wall.
Fill in each stripe with your first color ( light beige ), the stripes shown were painted over a golden tan base, let some of the base show threw.

 Now apply the second color ( yellow ) to the next group of stripes using a dry brush working with vertical strokes. The wall should look like its almost completed. These stripes can be cut in, the level does not have to be used.




Once all the yellow stripes have been painted  add yellow brush marks to the lighter stripes.



Add the lighter color to the yellow stripes. Finally, add an off white with a brush to each
stripe randomly to produce high lights.

Note: There are four colors used to produce this technique. Choose a light, med and darker color. Flat paint was used for this project.

Base: Benjamin Moore # HC-9
Light stripes - BM # 226
Yellow Stripes- BM # 270
Highlight - mix 1 part HC- 9 with 3 parts white
The fourth color is used to high light. The base coat the darker color, the light stripe a beige tone and the other stripe a yellow.

Faux concrete block

 Faux concrete block

This faux technique is very versatile, it can be used in many decors, colors and dimensions.
The faux blocks were designed to be distressed for this project, but can be made to fit your imagination.

Be prepared to do a lot of work to complete this project, but the rewards are gratifying. Up to two people to complete this project and various skills are required.

Start with several colors which are in the same family, in this case we used earth tones. The base will be a light color and the blocks will be glazed with the darker colors. The blocks in this photo were 6 x 12 in. The wall was mapped out using a 4 ft level. Each block was taped off with 1 in. blue tape, then the entire wall was skim coated with compound. A slight texture was given to the wall using a compound blade and more compound. Once the compound dried the tape was removed and the wall was primed. The wall was then painted with a coat of eggshell finish with the lighter color.

 Note: When removing the tape the block edges will be chipped. This is good if your looking for a distressed look. If you would like a smooth edge to the blocks the tape will have to be removed before the compound dies.

After the base coat is fully dried the first glaze ( med. color ) is applied with a sea sponge. Use the sea sponge as if your washing the wall. The second glaze ( darker color ) will be used randomly and also applied with a sea sponge. The glaze mixture is 1 part glaze to 1 part paint.  Let the glaze fall into the texture to create character for each block.  Keep the blocks from becoming the same color, mix them up.  If you find that a few blocks are to much the same repaint the base coat in that area and re-glaze.

We added a warmer glaze randomly to keep it interesting. Finally, the grout lines were re-painted with the base color using a small brush. I recommend using a practice board to apply the compound to create a texture that your satisfied with before applying it to your walls. Enjoy!

See more you can do with this project at this link
http://arrayofcolorinc.blogspot.com/2013/03/distressed-faux-block-wall.html