Selecting an accent wall

by Lisa
(Wisconsin)

I have a very large open concept living room / dining room. Along one of the long walls is a bank of windows facing NW onto a lake.

Along the parallel long wall is a staircase and the entry into the kitchen.

My husband and I have selected sage green to paint the room and would like to have an accent wall in either a darker or lighter shade of sage.

My question is which wall should I use as the accent wall and should it be the darker shade of sage or the lighter shade?

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Comment
By Charlotte
18 January 2012

Hello Lisa

Your home sounds great - how fantastic to have such a lovely view.

Unfortunately you haven't given me enough detail to help you decide which should be the accent wall, but here are some factors which should help you to make your mind up...

Think about the layout of the room - this will often point you towards the most suitable wall to be your focal wall.

What do you sit and look at? What would you like to be your backdrop?

Or do you have a feature you would like to emphasize?

Do you have a dining area you would like to visually separate from the living area?

All these factors can give you a clue which walls you should paint which color.

I would have thought, in your home, your real feature wall would easily be the wall with the windows, and your stunning view...

In which case, you perhaps just want to have a slight change in color to break up the large expanse of sage green.


You don't tell me the shape of your room, but if it was a long, narrow room and you wanted it to feel squarer, you should use the darker shade of sage on the two end walls.

Do you want your room to feel smaller and cozier? Or larger and more spacious?

Use a larger amount of the dark color for a cozier room, and larger amounts of the paler sage for a larger, lighter feeling room.

If you choose to put the paler sage opposite your window, this should reflect more of the light coming from your window back into the room, and make your room feel larger, lighter and brighter.

Using all different shades of the same color (sage green) is called a 'Monochromatic' color scheme - here are some hints for getting it right

Here are some tips for how to decorate for your room's proportions

And more about long narrow rooms - and large rooms

I cover all about focal features and accent colors in my interior design book - 'Interior Design It Yourself - Volume I: Back to Basics'

I hope some of these ideas help you, Lisa.

Please come back and ask again if you need more help.

Good luck with your decorating.

Best wishes

Charlotte :)

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