If you want to add some ‘wow’ to a room, have you ever considered decorating a wall with wallpaper accents? When we moved into our current home, I planned on making the third bedroom my office since I work from home.
This area was once an outdoor porch. It’s a smaller room, two steps below the level of the rest of the house, so the ceilings are nice and high.
The room is right next to the stairs to the basement so you can see straight into the room from the rest of the house. I wanted to do something that would be fun and tie the space into the atmosphere of the rest of the house.
Designing an accent wall seemed like the perfect way to add some personality to the room, and designing a wallpaper accent wall turned out to be perfect for the space!
If you’re wondering when to wallpaper an accent wall, here are all the ways to find out if this is the best way for you!
Q: Which wall should be the accent wall?
A: Typically, an accent wall is determined by the first/main wall you see when entering a room. That’s supposed to be the “WOW” moment when you enter the room, so it’s a good idea to see that first.
The exception to this general rule would be a bedroom, since you’ll typically want to choose the wall that the bed is against (where the headboard would be) as the accent wall.
Q: What type of wallpaper is best for an accent wall?
A: The type of wallpaper you choose will depend on how bold you want to make a statement with your accent wall. If you want it bold and dramatic, choose a wallpaper with lots of patterns or colors to really draw attention to that wall. If you want something more subtle, try a more muted palette with fewer colors or a less vibrant pattern.
You should wallpaper an accent wall if …
... If you have a wallpaper budget: I don’t necessarily mean that you generally want to decorate a room as cheaply as possible (usually wallpaper doesn’t fit into a super-cheap budget unless you do a super-cheap DIY wallpaper hack), but that you love wallpaper (but don’t have the budget to do an entire room).
In general, an accent wall costs about 1/4 the cost of an entire room, so it’s definitely an overall saving, but you get a touch of the paper you love.
…while learning DIY wallpaper: As with most skills you learn, it can be a good idea to start small and build up as you expand your toolkit. So if you want to tackle wallpaper yourself (totally doable for a smart person and you’ll save money on installation costs), I’d really recommend doing an accent wall before attempting to do an entire room.
You don’t have to worry about wrapping the pattern around the corners like you would if you were doing the whole room, and it gives you less room to learn the skill. You can also see what you would do differently next time, which tools would be more helpful, or what type of paper you would prefer to work with next time.
… if some walls of a room have challenges: By “challenges” I mean that some other walls are oddly shaped, much taller than other walls, have some sort of corner, or have other features or details that would make wallpapering difficult or awkward.
Keeping the paper on an accent wall means you don’t have to deal with challenges other walls in the room may have where wallpaper might not be a good idea.
…if the pattern is “too much” for an entire room: Some wallpaper patterns are very busy and full (you may like that about the paper in the first place), but you might not feel like you can handle an entire room with this pattern.
Designing a wallpaper accent wall is a great way to add some of the amazing patterns you love without feeling dizzy as you walk across the room.
TIP: Want your wallpaper accent wall to look more integrated into an entire room? Try painting the other walls to match the main background color of your wallpaper (like my walls are white and the main background of my wallpaper is also white).
This allows the adjacent walls to blend into the wallpaper instead of feeling like a harsh transition (although that can look dramatic in a cool way, so it’s up to you to decide what you want).
Looking for wallpaper for your wallpaper accent wall? Try one of these, or check out our favorite wallpaper sources (by style!) to learn more!
Find more accent wall ideas here!
I absolutely love how the wallpaper turned out! My mom and I hung it ourselves in one afternoon (thanks mom!!) and it adds a lot of texture and personality to the room.
My office renovation is almost complete and I can’t wait to finish the rest now! I hope this helps you decide if a wallpaper accent wall is right for you! xo. laura
Product Sources: Wallpaper/Hovia (similar removable option here), Pink Desk/Target, White Chair/Target, Brass Lamp/Walmart, Moroccan Rug/Etsy, Velvet Curtains/Amazon
nope At least not in one place. The reason it’s an “accent” wall is because it’s a special feature in the room. So when you have two walls in the room as your accent walls, it’s just going to feel confusing. Either a wall or the whole room. But you can have more than one accent in a home as long as they are in different rooms.
no way! They can be a different paint color as an accent wall or a different texture like a wood or paneled wall. In the future, color will be the easiest to change (although you can make removable wallpaper) and traditional wallpaper. A wooden wall will be more effort (but change possible) a few years later.
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