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Choosing The Right Color For Your Accent Wall

Sam Lutz • March 17, 2015
living area
An accent wall is the one wall in a room that is painted a different color from all the other walls. Accent walls can be used to draw attention to a specific area of a room, set a tone for the room, or highlight the accent colors found in an interior design. There isn’t one right way to choose the color for an accent wall; different people will use different methods. We’ve posted these tips to help you get started in the process.

Highlight the Accent Colors

Many people base the color of their accent wall on the other accent colors found in the room. Accent colors are the hues scattered throughout a color scheme that tie together the overall design without dominating the color palette. Accent colors are often found in the pillows on a sofa, the curtains on the walls, the artwork over the mantel. Accent colors are chosen because they make the dominating color pop. Think of accent colors like the punctuation at the end of a sentence; they show you how to feel when you walk into a space. Check out this page for some good examples of accent colors.
Many paint companies will suggest potential accent colors to go with each shade they produce. Taking a look at this page on the Benjamin Moore website, you can see that Benjamin Moore suggests pairing Edgecomb Gray with colors like Squirrel Tail and Burnt Russet. Those accent colors make a natural choice to paint an accent wall, provided that these colors are also found elsewhere in that room.

Go By Mood

An accent wall helps to set the tone of a space, and can even tell a little bit about the personality of the person who painted that room. For example, a room with earthy, sage green walls and an accent wall of muted brown says something far different from a room with earthy, sage green walls and an accent wall of deep, sensational red.
While the first pair of paint colors is down-to-earth, sensible, and easy to match with a variety of color schemes, the second pair of colors projects an image of creativity, excitability, and even volatility. As you choose the paint color for your accent wall, ask yourself what mood, tone and personality you’d like your room to project.

Be Brave, Be Bold

Many people are afraid to paint an entire room with bold colors for fear that the paint will become overpowering or tiring. As you choose the color for your accent wall, consider choosing a bold and bright color that you otherwise might be afraid to use. Accent walls present the perfect opportunity to work with bold paint colors without fear that the room will become claustrophobic or dark.
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Choose Related Colors

Colors that have a relationship to one another on the color wheel go together naturally without conflicting or creating disharmony. If you’re not familiar with the basics of color theory and color relationships, we suggest taking a look at this page that clearly lays out the fundamentals of color theory and how to design a sensible color scheme.

Pick What You Love

The most important thing you can do when picking a color for your accent wall is to only choose colors that you love. Don’t worry about what’s trendy or popular at the moment. Remember that you’ll be living with these colors until you work up the motivation to paint the walls again. In addition, the colors you love are colors that will appear in your furniture and accessory choices, which will make it easier to create a comprehensive and unified color scheme.
For more tips about picking the right accent wall for your room, we recommend taking a look at this page on the Benjamin Moore website. Residents of the Pittsburgh area can stop in at Ace Paint and Unfinished Furniture. We love helping our customers choose exactly the right paint color.
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