Accent wall painting and interior designing with wall papers and textures

In just about every room, there’s one wall that immediately draws the eye. That’s the accent wall, which, in most of the bedrooms I design is a term that’s interchangeable with “the wall the bed is on.” (But “accent wall” sounds a lot more interior design, don’t you think?) In any case, creating some drama on one wall, in particular, is a sure way to give a bedroom some personality. And there are several different ways to do it. The first step, of course, is to choose which wall you’re going to highlight. Often that choice is dictated by the architectural layout of the room. When there are two windows on a wall with 86 Lighting the Way generous space between them, I generally like to place the bed right in the middle, which creates automatic symmetry and balance often, though, a room’s layout isn’t so obviously balanced, so you have to get creative.
The way I approached the problem in Sadie Holmes’s room was by creating wall art in place of a headboard. In this room, the obvious place to put the bed was on a very long, windowless wall, however, I didn’t want to let the bed just float in empty space. Placing the paper “waterfall” behind it defines space and adds drama. There are tons of ways to define the accent bedroom wall. Installing a bed with a great- looking headboard is probably the simplest, but you’ll still need to add something to make it pop, whether it’s painting the wall a different color than the rest of the room or covering the wall with wallpaper. Another great way to define a wall is to cover it with tongue-and- groove flooring. This works particularly well for a masculine room, like the one I did for John Vitale. Also don’t underestimate the impact of an excellent piece of art hanging above the bed.
And a four-poster bed creates its own sort of drama; you don’t have to worry about the wall if you’ve got a stunning bed set against it. If you don’t have a bed with an interesting headboard and aren’t inclined to invest in one, you can always create a detached headboard and attach it to the wall with a French cleat (two interlocking pieces of wood, one attached to the wall, the other to the object you’re hanging). For instance, in a bedroom I designed for a Marine, I used a router to cut out stars in a 7′ x 8′ wood headboard (it fell behind both the bed and the bedside tables).
But it doesn’t have to be that elaborate. Using a staple gun, you can also cover a board with foam and fabric to make a plush and elegant headboard. There is no end to the possibilities. Just make sure you use that French cleat or some other means of attaching the head- board to the wall (especially if you live in earthquake country). You don’t want it falling on you in the middle of the night. Lighting the Way 87 Another place where I was able to use lighting to good effect was in a bedroom I did for Patricia Broadbent, an AIDS activist and adoptive mother of six children, some of whom are HIV-positive. Patricia is an incredible optimist, who has taught her children to go out and have a full life despite their health status.
A former social worker, she has also helped raise awareness about the AIDS crisis and its effect on children. In the midst of all these selfless efforts, Patricia was diagnosed with lung cancer and, when the EMHE team met her, she was undergoing chemotherapy. It was clear, then, that she needed a bedroom where she could not only decompress from the work she was doing in the community but where she could rest and recover. To that end, I thought her room should have the same qualities as a spa: Zen-like calm and a simple, clean-lined design that, while spare, is not austere. The best spas are warm and nurturing, which is exactly how I wanted Patricia’s room to feel. We made it happen by using strategic lighting to set off the earthy colors and textiles and highlight the room’s natural beauty. Behind Patricia’s bed, for in- stance, are two floor-to-ceiling panels made of eco- resin, a non-toxic, translucent substance made largely of recycled materials. Frankly, I don’t think this Chinese neck pillow looks too comfortable, but it makes a great-looking table lamp. When it comes to lighting, use your imagination almost anything, from colanders to funnels, can be turned into a lamp.