Get Funky: Ideas To Try If One-Color Walls Totally Bore You
While a pristine white wall can create the perfect blank canvas to complement your home decor style, sometimes you want to mix it up and get creative with your paint. While wallpaper prints and bright colors are always an option, there are some out-of-the-box ways that you can spice up a room. From concentrating color to painting just one shelf to carving out a separate space with the help of a paintbrush, ahead are some unexpected ways to paint walls in your house.
Paint around a shelf
Want to bring a unique twist to a small floating shelf? Take a page out of The Jungalow‘s Justina Blakeney’s book and try painting it a bright, cheerful color, and surrounding it with an imperfect circle. It’s an easy DIY with a playful twist.
Spice up your bookshelves
Whether it’s a built-in bookshelf, a closet, or just the bottom half of your wall, painting just the first three feet will give you the opportunity to add a splashy amount of color without too much of a commitment. The turquoise in this image found on SF Girl By Bay (via Du Coté deChez Vous) mimics the positioning of wainscoting, but without the installation of any extras.
Add an unexpected corner
Forget pricey wallpaper and just create a print with some paint like Britta Bloggt did in this little girl’s room. Highlight a corner with a different paint shade, and add polka dots for a dash of pattern. Keep the shape relatively oblong to add some interest.
Carve out a room (or architectural detail) with paint
Does your kitchen blend into your living room? Or your living room into your dining room? Or your living room into your stairwell? Carve out the area with a bold paint treatment like in this home from House & Garden that employed traditional color blocking to really amp up the architectural lines of the room.
Create a play area
How about designating a play area with just a bit of paint. Pick a corner and outline a little playhouse with your chosen hue. Feel free to put pillows and mattresses there to make it extra cozy and fun!
Try out an optical illusion
You can paint your window, sure, or you can take it a step further like this room found on Show and Tell via Anthology Mag and create an optical illusion by painting a colorful shadow across the frame. It’s unexpected and can add a creative twist to a minimalist room.
Don’t be afraid to hit the floor.
If you’re adventurous with your home decor, this idea from Australian magazine Inside Out (via Happy Mundane) might be up your alley. If you’re creating a triangular shape, drag it all the way down and across the floor. It’ll carve out a nook, as well as create a huge splash of personality in the room.
Just flat out get artsy.
A room painted all the same color is overrated (okay, it’s perfectly wonderful, but the walls in this room, the work of artist Ernst Caramelle, via Design Love Fest, make you want to through convention out the window, right?).