It happens all too often; the interiors that were once fresh and new have now grown stale and old. The dining room that used to bring us joy no longer sparks our excitement in the same way. We’ve lost our appetite for the same old style. But what can we do about it? How can we rekindle our love for our home?

If you’re looking to fall in love with your dining room all over again, then listen up, because we have just what you need. It’s a fast and simple way to transform your dining room without taking everything out and starting from scratch. What is it, you ask? A feature wall.

What is a feature wall?

A feature wall, or accent wall, is used to accentuate and highlight a specific area of a space. You can accomplish this through various means, but the principle remains the same. By making one wall in a room drastically different to the others, the eye is instantly drawn to it. This can be useful for adding a new dimension to a room, or to make a particular area the star of the show.

1. Use panelling

Panelling is a fantastic choice. You can achieve a truly transformative result with very little effort. Plus, there’s a huge range of options to choose from, from wood to stone effect, so finding the perfect option for your home has never been easier.

The beauty of panelling is you can pick out colours or materials found elsewhere in your dining room décor and take inspiration for your accent wall. Say you have a beautiful light-wood dining set; transferring this across to your feature wall would look fabulous. Alternatively, you could use contrast to great effect by picking a darker shade for your wood panelling. The possibilities are endless.

2. Living walls

One way to make a feature wall really stand out is to create a living wall, or green wall. These are walls with vegetation growing up or against them, and have a multitude of benefits. Living walls are natural mood boosters, making us happier and more productive, as well as making for a really unusual and eye-catching accent wall.

Creating a living wall is easier than you think with Garden in a Box. Their easy to use kits make it a breeze to reap the benefits of a living wall indoors, perfect for transforming your ordinary dining space into a lush paradise that both you and your guests will love.

3. Patterned wallpaper

Looking to bring some excitement to your dining room? Patterned wallpaper, like these from Sandberg Wallpaper, can really spice things up with very little effort on your part. In fact, few things will grab your attention like patterns, so if you want to design a feature wall that instantly draws the eye then a funky patterned wallpaper is a great choice.

If you want your feature wall to tie in to your decor, try to pick out existing colours, themes or motifs and match your paper to them, like wildlife or geometric patterns. For a show-stealing paper that stands out, find a pattern that contrasts with your existing décor. For example, if you have soft edges and circles elsewhere, a straight striped wallpaper will look fabulous.

If you want your feature wall to tie in to your decor, try to pick out existing colours, themes or motifs and match your paper to them, like wildlife or geometric patterns. For a show-stealing paper that stands out, find a pattern that contrasts with your existing décor. For example, if you have soft edges and circles elsewhere, a straight striped wallpaper will look fabulous.

4. Accent walls

Creating a feature wall can be as simple as painting an accent wall a different colour. A block of complementary colour will highlight without taking over the space, so this is a great option for those who want a more understated feature wall.

With that said, it depends on what colour you choose for your feature wall. You can find a different shade inspired by your existing colour scheme, or you can go bold with an entirely new yet complementary hue. Check out this guide from Valspar on painting an accent wall yourself for more information.

5. Bare brick

Do you love the New York loft look? If industrial style is right up your street, then opting for a bare brick feature wall is a great option. Stripping a building back to its bones is a key part of industrial design, so a brick feature wall will fit right in with your industrial décor.

If you can’t expose original brickwork in your home, don’t worry! Try this brick effect panelling for instant industrial style that will really stand out. You can choose from a range of colours too, so you can have the texture of brick without the red, if that would suit your space better

6. Mural walls

Similar to patterned wallpaper, a mural wallpaper is another simple way to add some real impact to your dining room. Mural walls show scenes rich in detail like city vistas, abstract worlds and colourful landscapes teeming with life and colour.

Ready to transform your dining room with a feature wall? We hope you’ll share your accent walls on Instagram using #MYFVHOME so we can see what you create! If we love what we see, we may feature it on our official Instagram, too.

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