I despise accent walls; a desperate attempt by the creatively bankrupt
An accent wall is like the participation trophy of design - it's a lazy attempt to make a room seem more interesting without putting in any real effort. It's the equivalent of slapping a Band-Aid on a bullet wound and calling it a day.
I hate them. I hate you for using them.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 68 | July 25, 2024 9:24 PM
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Looks like a generic windows computer background.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 18, 2024 1:39 PM
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That wall immediately conjures the scent of plug-in air fresheners
by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 18, 2024 1:43 PM
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Such a bad taste era we’re in.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | July 18, 2024 1:45 PM
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I love a strong opinion. I haven't given these walls much thought but I feel the same way now that you have made your case.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 18, 2024 1:52 PM
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I feel exactly the opposite, I prefer it to regular paint or wallpaper because it gives the space an added dimension. Looks sleek and futuristic.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 18, 2024 1:57 PM
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raci$t le$bian troll alert!!
by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 18, 2024 2:04 PM
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Hmmmm I mean it’s kinda like anything in design, there are good and bad versions of it. Using an example like that and acting like every single wall that’s detailed is as bad as that is is bad faith.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | July 18, 2024 2:06 PM
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I have nothing against feature walls per se, but I incline towards OP's views for this reason: it is noticeable that the kind of designer who favours this kind of wall knows absolutely nothing about art. It never occurs to them to make a room interesting by putting something truly interesting on the walls.
Or rather, "truly interesting" to them = "Live Laugh Love", or "a picture I made myself by sticking rope or twigs to the canvas and spraypainting it".
by Anonymous | reply 8 | July 18, 2024 2:09 PM
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Is a lousy accent wall better than a wall of books bough in bulk and shelved by color?
by Anonymous | reply 9 | July 18, 2024 2:50 PM
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I dont hate them in general, but that is a particularly unattractive one. If thats supposed to be the "interesting" wall I'd hate to see the rest.
I agree with OP that the room should be interesting enough on its own that it doesnt need a feature/ accent wall. However I can see sense in doing just one wall if you have a really beautiful wallpaper you love but dont want to do the entire room in it because of cost, or because it will make the room too dark etc
by Anonymous | reply 11 | July 18, 2024 2:58 PM
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I don't mind them. My bedroom has a gray on the wall where the bed is located and light gray/off white on the other walls. Tried painting the entire room a darker gray but it felt like I was in an institution.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | July 18, 2024 3:05 PM
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It's okay OP, the accent walls don't like you either, so you're even.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | July 18, 2024 3:13 PM
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This is a good example of an accent wall. I think OP chose the worst iteration.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 14 | July 18, 2024 3:21 PM
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Yes, some are better than others
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 15 | July 18, 2024 3:29 PM
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R15 are you suggesting that’s nice? 😂
by Anonymous | reply 16 | July 18, 2024 3:39 PM
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I live in a small 700sq ft house. If I put dark paint on the walls the rooms look suffocatingly tiny and sorta depressing. Light colors it is but they feel so cold and clinical in winter. I was thinking about an accent wall in a dark color. Best of both worlds type of thing but R14 is the only one that doesn't look terrible. When they are bad, they are really bad.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | July 18, 2024 4:08 PM
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Too often it's the design choice for people with commitment issues.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | July 18, 2024 4:10 PM
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We have a thread devoted to walls
by Anonymous | reply 20 | July 18, 2024 4:15 PM
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Coming Up Next on
Stoned Renters Willing To Pile Bricks Against A Common Wall
“I want pierced Indian brick.”
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 21 | July 18, 2024 4:16 PM
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R18, 700 square feet is actually a decent size for 1 or even 2 people. How about a large painting or print that has darker colors in it? Or a large, dark-ish area rug? Don't get a rug that's too dark, though. I had a black, oriental-type rug (purchased from a neighbor who was moving out). It always looked like it needed to be vacuumed.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | July 18, 2024 4:36 PM
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R14 Sometimes an accent wall just screams Airbnb.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | July 18, 2024 4:43 PM
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R7 I despise them. It's not bad faith to post a picture that illustrates my opinion.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | July 18, 2024 4:47 PM
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Accent walls were in 20 years ago. Nobody with good taste has them anymore.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | July 18, 2024 5:19 PM
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I like but tire of them quickly. They are acceptable as a temporary thing to look at
by Anonymous | reply 27 | July 18, 2024 5:24 PM
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I think accent walls like this give cheaply reno’ed AirBnB vibes.
BUT I am all for people decorating however it makes them happy
by Anonymous | reply 28 | July 18, 2024 5:53 PM
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Accent walls go hand in hand with that other bugbear, ¨a pop of color.¨
by Anonymous | reply 29 | July 18, 2024 6:30 PM
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I thought accent walls were something from that Goya painting.
We have one.
But it's practical.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | July 18, 2024 7:19 PM
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Accent walls are a Trading Spaces gimmick.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | July 18, 2024 7:25 PM
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I have two friends who have moved three times in the last ten years. Each time, they have a huge conversation, almost a row, about their new accent wall color. Each time, it ends up a café-au-lait shade of beige.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | July 18, 2024 7:35 PM
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In my bedroom I have a light grey mist color on three walls, and a red burgundy accent wall. A close friend tried to talk me out of opting for these colors, but once he saw it, he loved it.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | July 18, 2024 7:45 PM
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I love my espresso accent wall against my Ben Moore dry sage main colour.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | July 19, 2024 2:13 AM
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Color is so subjective. So often, one girl's Tawny Mink is another's Diaper Surprise.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | July 19, 2024 1:44 PM
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"Creatively bankrupt" is what I call pretentious queens who misuse semicolons.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | July 19, 2024 1:48 PM
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R37 How many sad faggot clichés can you string into one badly written post?
by Anonymous | reply 39 | July 19, 2024 3:15 PM
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R39 = thinks a slur and an unnecessary accent make good prose.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | July 19, 2024 3:19 PM
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My walls are all beige but I have one small wall in the living room I painted a light gray, it really breaks up the monotony of the all beige room. I don't give a shit whether anyone else likes it or not, I do. I hate painting and it is going to stay that way until I die.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | July 19, 2024 3:22 PM
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Nothing says commitment to color like beige.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | July 19, 2024 4:25 PM
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I think it's funny how so many of you have so many rules in design of things you simply cannot abide:
1. Accent walls 2. Stacked books 3. White walls 4. White floors 5. Minimalism 6. Maximalism
....when there are absolutely gorgeous and livable examples of interiors using these devices with much success.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | July 19, 2024 5:13 PM
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[quote] My walls are all beige but I have one small wall in the living room I painted a light gray, it really breaks up the monotony of the all beige room. I don't give a shit whether anyone else likes it or not, I do. I hate painting and it is going to stay that way until I die.
By beige, I'm assuming it's a warm white, which I like.
Sounds nice, except that I would have gone with mid-value gray or dark gray. (Light gray just looks washed-out a lot of the time.)
by Anonymous | reply 44 | July 19, 2024 5:16 PM
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No books that you don’t read, and no stacked art books. Especially not a wall of horizontally stacked art books.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | July 19, 2024 5:26 PM
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Haha, R45 - those are very specific rules that you've laid out for us.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | July 19, 2024 5:43 PM
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I don't have accent walls but I did do my main floor half and half black and white. It turned out better than I expected. The painters even were like, black? But it really looks good. Both colors are satin finish. The main floor is 700 square ft open plan with honey wood, black granite and grey slate tile.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | July 19, 2024 5:51 PM
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I do endorse this kind of thing.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 48 | July 19, 2024 6:34 PM
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I suppose I despise some design features but mostly I despise the results created by people with no taste or talent. The grey trend for example. Hate it.
I don't have a problem with accent walls but I admire best the homes that showcase the owner's creativity, design talents, unique tastes, and originality. Inviting gardens and interior greenery, eclectic collections, art on walls, color, mixed textures and patterns, are what I appreciate most.
In my experience, even the homes of wealthy people often suck. As an avid estate-saler I've seen everything. One pet peeve is expensive furniture and collections paired with spotted carpets and fading prints in cheap frames. Mary!
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 49 | July 19, 2024 6:52 PM
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Books are awfully decorative, don’t you think?
by Anonymous | reply 50 | July 19, 2024 8:32 PM
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Wealthy people love sitting on lumpy old chesterfields and walking on tattered carpet.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 51 | July 19, 2024 8:37 PM
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I love that photo of Anne's living room. I'm sure someone went around and made sure there was nothing objectionable out in the open, but it does look lived-in.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | July 19, 2024 8:45 PM
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I disagree OP. I love the example R14 has posted.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | July 20, 2024 5:24 AM
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My friends have a house made up of quite small rooms. The odd thing is it looked TINY when empty, when I first saw it… but furnished it just seems cozy.
Anyway, they have one living room wall a golden mustard color (Valspar Ripe Pear) and the one opposite that a dark blue (Farrow & Ball Hague Blue.) On the white walls there’s lots of windows with green showing through, so the room already has jolts of color established as a rhythm. It looks really good.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | July 20, 2024 6:08 AM
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^^Even by paint name standards those colors names are amazingly pretentious.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | July 20, 2024 6:14 AM
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Wrong OP - anything can be done poorly or done well.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | July 20, 2024 6:16 AM
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Shooting squirrels can be done well, but do you want to do it?
by Anonymous | reply 59 | July 20, 2024 3:34 PM
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More is more, in my opinion. Why not a simple Otto Wagner für J&J Kohn, Wiener Werkstätte, with a gilded 18th chinoiserie bird cage, against a venetian mirrored and lacquered wall and two iconic Nagel prints?
by Anonymous | reply 62 | July 22, 2024 2:18 AM
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R40 is a fucking pansy who is intimidated by those icky unamerican diacritical marks.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | July 22, 2024 7:10 AM
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R5 Accent walls look futuristic?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 64 | July 23, 2024 5:22 PM
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More than accent walls, more than the way past prime taste for doing everything up in shades of Battleship Grey, those white plastic electric switches and receptacles against the dark grey accent wall are the bigger crime.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | July 23, 2024 5:56 PM
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If a wall requires accents I prefer wainscoting and picture rails.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | July 23, 2024 8:23 PM
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[quote]More than accent walls, more than the way past prime taste for doing everything up in shades of Battleship Grey, those white plastic electric switches and receptacles against the dark grey accent wall are the bigger crime.
Good point R65, thats why always go for ornate brass vintage style ones
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 67 | July 25, 2024 8:06 AM
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^^ were those used on the set of THE GODFATHER??
by Anonymous | reply 68 | July 25, 2024 9:24 PM
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