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How to Create a Modern Accent Wall

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May 6, 2021

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Wow, to say I am blown away by our new modern accent wall would be such an understatement. I cannot even begin to explain how happy I am with the finished product! There were a few things that went into the success of this accent wall, so I wanted to share a few things I learned along the way. Before we decided on painting the wall, we very strongly considered wallpaper. A wallpaper accent wall can definitely work. However, the cost adds up with supplies, professionals to install it, etc. We were thinking about it as our affordable option and quickly realized it’s really not that much cheaper. So since we were going to be spending money, why not make it something we absolutely love?!

Lucky for me, I know an artist here in Atlanta. I’ve known Christina Kwan for about 6-7 years and had some of her work framed in my old home. Back in 2020 when we first moved in, I had the idea to have her come do a mural after I saw her mural art at local restaurant. It was literally the first thing we did when we moved in and she absolutely killed it! So when the time came for an accent wall in our bar area, we knew who to call.

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1. Make an impact with contrast

Clearly I have an all-white thing going on in my home. I love gold and have a muted blush pink couch. If I did a gold or blush accent wall, it just wouldn’t pop enough. We went dramatic with black and it was the perfect choice. It makes a big impact, yet still flows with the rest of the home. How? because we pulled colors and styles from existing decor in the room, which brings me to my next point.

2. Make sure it ties into the decor in at least two places

We actually didn’t decide to go black until our black dining chairs were delivered. They’re technically dark grey, which is the color we chose for our modern accent wall – it’s an almost black called Noir. The color is Valspar, but we used Sherwin Williams paint. Anyway, the black ties into the chairs and the paintings on the opposite wall. The strokes mimic the trees in those same paintings, as well as the faux palm we have in the room. The gold tones match the shelves and mirror, and finally, the white floral features match our flowers on the table and pull in the color from the other walls. The power of three plays a big part here and really makes it all work together.

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3. Invest in a professional

I’m not saying there aren’t some great DIY options out there, but I personally am more likely to end up with a Pinterest fail than a DIY success story. I’ve heard of those people that cut their own wood and make geometric pattern on the wall and then paint on top of it. Hey, kudos to them! But I’ve learned to outsource when I need to. Ryan and I painted the black paint as a canvas for our artist and we totally botched it – lol! Luckily she was able to disguise our mistakes with her beautiful work!

To tell you the truth, I had kind of written off an accent wall as a thing of the past. Remember that phase where people were doing like a bold red or a deep purple accent wall? We’ve definitely moved past that to a more modern (and stylish!) approach in my opinion! Like I said, we could have gone with a wallpaper for our modern accent wall – there are lots of pretty prints out there. But at the end of the day, I’d rather give my money to a local artist than a big box store. And now we have a gorgeous work of art on our walls. Definitely the right choice!

Would you create a modern accent wall in your home?

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Photos by Ryan Carpenter.

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