What Wall Is My Feature Wall?

Feature walls are a neat design element to incorporate into residential interiors. This is often determined in a fixed way by the architect in a home’s initial design. However, not every home came from a creative architect and not every room can have a feature wall. This is why we want to help you determine which wall is your feature wall.

There is often just one wall in a room which is a true feature wall. Sometimes its obvious, in other instances we have to create the feature wall.  On the drawings below I’ve indicated a blue F for the feature wall location. Here are some quick tips to determine which wall can be the feature wall in a room.

1. Do you see it when you walk in the room? Straight ahead is the most obvious but other fixed items like windows or doorways can cause this to shift.

2. Does it already have something (architecture) which draws your attention to it? Fireplaces or significant walls of built-in bookcases can be an obvious feature wall. Architects and designers often add dimension to a boring wall to create interest with a texture which becomes a feature wall. Look at the previous post for the stone wall in the stairway were we did this in a new home.

The thing about a feature wall is, it is never behind you unless you are in bed, then your headboard is likely against it. Use the feature wall as a design element to draw people into the space.

Photo via Freshome

Here the feature wall in a kitchen is used to visually balance the large expanse of cabinets on the opposing wall and pull your eye through the window to the outdoors. This feature wall does double duty as it also expands the intellectual size of the space.

Photo via Interior Design Magazine

The wall treatment for a feature wall is often but not required to be different than the other walls in the room. The feature wall may just be the wall used for an important piece of art.

BIG TIP: It is worth repeating, a feature wall is not the one wall one decides to paint a different color just because. Also worth noting is that every room doesn’t have a feature wall, and this is okay.  Remember feature walls need to be purposeful not just there.