Not trying to step on any toes here but I personally HATE most accent walls. Visually I think the effect is more jarring than having bold (or any) color on all four walls and it seems like they're for non-committal types: "this is the wall where I just went crazy!" But photographer Annie Schlechter's unadorned Yves Klein blue wall (above) has made me reconsider. Maybe because I love the color, or maybe because it acts more as a divider/screen and I'm just crazy for screens right now! Really, I am. But what do we think about this corner situation:
Take away the cute kid and Anthro styling and this is a bad day at HGTV. What's so wrong about a whole red room? I *might* be able to wrap my mind around one expanse of gorgeous De Gournay wallpaper as in this Barrie Benson shot from Domino (Feb. 2007):
Works because it's pretty and scenic and framed in what looks like black bamboo. Let's put the accent on the frame and go all Mondrian or Lichtenstein like this room created by über-stylist Jeffrey W. Miller for an old House & Garden (thanks to Mugatu for the heads up):
Brilliant. And hey, even Karl Lagerfeld draws a black frame around all of his fashion sketches! Are you gonna argue with the Kaiser?
(Photos from top: NYMag, Anthropologie, style court, Jeffrey W. Miller)
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Love this post. Glad you're ambivalent about the accent wall because I've done it at home. The paper is a matte black and pewter diamond pattern from Ornamenta (UK) and being handprinted I couldn't afford any more. And thanks for the 'anthro' epithet. I need one word to sum up the stuff I most dislike. That room is horrid, poor kid.
ReplyDeleteI love that black banding idea. Just might have to try that.
ReplyDeleteAs for accent walls...never been a fan.
I say yea, but only when done well. A crazy primary color for no particular reason? Heck no. It's very Trading Spaces, but not in a good way. A subtle shift in color or pattern for one wall, maybe behind the headboard in a bedroom or to highlight an architectural feature, then I say yes. I guess if it's subtle, though, that may not be the most accented. Hmmm....a conundrum indeed.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone identify the pink fabric on the sofa in the first photo? So pretty & I am a sucker for pink…
ReplyDeleteI'm into accent walls with wallpaper ...mostly because I love wallpaper, but don't think I could handle the chaotic visual stimulation
ReplyDeleteI say, yes to a wallpaper wall, no to paint. It is too college-apartment, safe, and jarring like you said.
ReplyDeleteUsually I would say NO, but for some reason that first picture just gets me. Maybe it is because I can only see the one wall?
ReplyDeletexoxo
Rebecca June
Honey-chile, if it's good enough for Thomas Jayne...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thomasjaynestudio.com/projects_contents7.html
Painted accent walls are usually in the homes of people with no taste who think they are being daring. As for de Gournay wallpaper, anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
ReplyDeleteTOTALLY. Red accent walls are right up there with "espresso" stained wood in my book of bad bad bachelor decorating. And YES Style Redux - ha. What are people so afraid of??
ReplyDeleteThe first image reminds me of this from the Kips Bay show house (which I think I prefer)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/23/garden/20090423-kips-interactive.html?ref=garden
I agree with the "yes to wallpaper, no to paint" comment. The only real exception I can think of is in very modern houses: Not the McMansion Great Room places, but open-plan multi-level houses like the one I grew up in. Because of the way walls flow into stairwells, etc., there are definitely circumstances where it's best to paint all the interconnected walls one neutral color and save the stronger shades for the walls that don't, say, go from the bedroom floor down the stairs to the living room floor and on down to the family room with no clear division.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, now I live in a traditional apartment with 4-walled rooms, and each room has one color on the walls.
Depends on the color and the architecture. A dark grey wall in a mid-century modern house: Could look just right.
ReplyDeletehate an "accent wall" with a passion (just the phrase makes me queasy). of course, there are exceptions to every rule, right? so done well, and with style, almost any bad idea can work...
ReplyDeleteThis is so true--accent walls can be great when done properly, but that is not often enough. And the picture of the red accent wall totally made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that first picture!
Ditto dudes, it all depends on the execution. Anon 2:31 (i bet that's Mimi!), I really like Thomas Jayne's loft but his 'accents' are like floating color fields, like a bunch of Ellsworth Kellys in Farrow & Ball colors! Eeb, I had just seen Juan Montoya's room at Kips Bay but was too lazy to find the pic -- good call and thanks for the link! Anon 11:29 I'm not sure who makes that pink sofa fabric but try Designers Guild for something similar?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.designersguild.com/fabric-and-wallpaper/
Hi Nick- No, it’s not Mimi. I hate picking a faux name; don’t like to post under my own name, ergo Anon. I’m a longtime fan. We don’t always like the same things but I love your wit!
ReplyDeleteI think *everything* works when it’s well executed, don’t you? Whether it’s an accent wall, mixing 19th century antiques and 20th century art or covering a fridge in flowered wallpaper.
A blanket dismissal of accent walls as being “for non-committal types” who are telegraphing “this is the wall where I just went crazy” but actually “have no taste and think they are being daring” just raises my hackles. So I couldn’t resist giving you the Thomas Jayne example.
Nobody can accuse Thomas Jayne of being a decorating slouch. Among his many accomplishments: He holds a Master's degree in American Architecture and Decorative Arts; has done fellowships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum; and has worked for Christie's and Parish-Hadley.
Regardless of what effect they achieve, Jayne’s walls *are* painted in accent colors. He writes of his loft: “From my first commissions, my work has been guided by the idea of organizing spaces with color, much as they did in the 18th and 19th centuries. I realized this notion could be applied to the loft as well. With four colors of paint, we transformed the 2,000 square foot space into a series of welcoming ‘virtual rooms.’ Recalling the way 20th-century designers such as Charles and Ray Eames used color as floating planes, I applied large rectangles of blue, green, pink, and ocher to the walls to define the dining and living areas and to make the 14-foot-high walls relate to the scale of the furniture. I also used squares to frame distinct furniture arrangements such as the sideboard and two Giacometti lamps.”
I must admit, I’ve never painted an accent wall, but I’d rather have personal style than “good taste” any day.
I think much of what we find hip or appropriate for our houses is based on following the design herd, rather than on making our own educated choices.
I like non-Mimi/Anon's point. A lot of the comments here were more about "I don't want to be like HGTV!" middle-class-phobia than about having a true design sensibility.
ReplyDeletedo you remember the apollo earrings giveaway from leah sakellarides on joanna's blog a few weeks ago?! well leah is giving away another beautiful piece this week on my blog, macaroni club! she is so talented, and so sweet to do this! i'd like to invite you to come visit macaroni club, and if you like this piece of leah's, sign up to win it!
ReplyDeletexo... sarah
Anon-non-Mimi, I couldn't have said it better myself. It's just that blanket dismissals are SO much easier to make than reasoned, balanced analyses ;-)
ReplyDeletesarah darling, i don't wear earrings (not until I get these bad boys pinned), but I LOVE macaroni and want immediate membership in your club!
Completely agree. I can get behind painting partial walls (like the YSL wall) an accent color or wallpapering just one wall, but I can't handle painting just one wall. For the most part, it just looks unfinished and I really hate how the edges always manage to look so raggedy.
ReplyDeleteNick, your love of macaroni and your demand for expedited membership in Sarah's club makes me so happy that you are blogging again...
ReplyDeleteAnd what you said about accent walls ... agreed!
Yes, I don't like the blanket-dismissal thing either, and since I don't have a TV & have therefore only seen (three years ago) two TV decorating shows, I don't have an an acquired distate for HGTV, so just because they do something on those shows doesn't mean that I automatically hate it, although I probably would, since that's the kind of person I am.
ReplyDeleteMostly, though, I hate things done badly. And unfortunately, that describes most of the accent walls I see these days. In a clean-lined open-plan Modern house, with floating walls & no pointless moldings complicating the issue, colored accent walls are fine, whether in pure Bauhaus hues, or in 5Os-style corals & aquas & olives. In a Mid-century decor, accent walls are almost a requirement.
But in today's neo-traditional suburban houses, in rooms with fussy plastic crown moldings, or on flat walls whose silhouttes are broken up with beams & whose surfaces are cluttered with awkwardly placed doors & windows painted in high-contrast white, colored accent walls are a very, very bad idea. Not that that ever stops anybody.
I have to agree on the bold accent wall - it can be jarring. BUT, I like the effect of doing one wall in a color slightly darker or lighter in shade than the rest, but still the same color. Going up or down a bit on the paint strip. It can be very subtle and add interest to the room.
ReplyDeleteI would like to go to a small dinner party and listen to anon/not Mimi and Magnaverde talk all night. Hell, I'd have the dinner party, cook for two days and clean up three days after just to listen to them.
ReplyDeleteI usually really dislike accent walls as well but that first photo is gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteAnd Lagerfeld totally ripped off Mondrian.
that was me, hello gorgeous; apparently I'm not signed in properly
ReplyDeleteHome before dark, dinner at your place sounds delightful, especially since anytime I start talking decorating when I'm out with my pals, they tell me to stop. "Dude, nobody CARES if the stupid chair rail is installed upside down, so shut up & drink your beer or next time, we're not bringing you!"
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm available Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so have your people call my people.
Oh, wait...I don't HAVE any people. (See above.) But thanks anyway.
Magnaverde, after that last comment I am officially one of your people. Wednesdays are better for me. Home before dark, I'll bring my famous seven layer dip and some Beringer chardonnay. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteMagnaverde, I've seen your apt. and I've seen pictures of you, and I can't believe ANYONE calls you "Dude."
ReplyDeleteGermi is back! Germi, comment more!!!
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ReplyDeletehttp://thegerminatrix.com/
Starting to sound like a party! I agree with anon 11:06 about not believing anyone would call Magnaverde "Dude!" Do you remember that old Steve Allen show where he would have people across history sitting and talking together? If you could have eight people at your table who would they be?
ReplyDeleteAccent walls are annoying for the most part. Because the people who are doing them don't know what the heck they are doing. I have never been a big fan of them.
ReplyDeleteI've always hated the accent wall, but the blue one behind the pink sofa could make me reconsider. Technically it's more of a floating partition or a backdrop than one of four walls...
ReplyDeleteI have two accent walls in my house. One is in the open kitchen/dining/living/entry area, to establish the living part and highlight the fireplace (it's a simple brick fireplace with minimal mantle, so it doesn't really stand out on its own). So the main walls are sand colored, the fireplace wall is rust, and the fireplace itself is deep brown (hey, it was painted stark white before, and I hate white brick). I did the few exposed kitchen walls in a soft cocoa to echo the fireplace, as they are directly opposite each other. My one complaint is we have trim in a 1955 house, and I hate it.
ReplyDeleteThe other accent wall is in my meditation/guest room. I wanted to use this stormy violet hue, but decided it would be too much all over in a 9'x 9.5' room. So I did just one wall of it, and the rest a dusky lilac. I love it - it has a very intimate feel, yet not overly feminine. I may not know what I'm doing, but it's been fun!
I would have muted down the wall just a bit to match the tone of the couch not to mention the rest of the house.
ReplyDeleteGreg Web
love that black banding idea. Just might have to try that.
ReplyDeleteAs for accent walls...never been a fan.
Work from home India
Well, I've never been against accent walls, but have always been against bad design. I love rooms full of strong color, no need to stop on one wall if you love the color. But, I agree that getting all snotty about being middle class is pretty weak, do whatever feels good and right in your space and ignore all of the self righteous opinions.
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Excellent information and facts. Only real difficulty I was basically receiving was viewing the pics. No idea exactly why.
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