A fireplace is a promise of warmth, light, relaxation, and gathering together. A fireplace accent wall celebrates this.
This is the second in a series on How to Avoid Accent Wall Mistakes.
If you have a fireplace (functioning or not) it is, by definition, the focal point of the room: visually, functionally, and energetically. If your fireplace is the focal point of the room that wall would be perfect for a fireplace accent wall, right?
Not always.
Ask yourself, is your fireplace attractive on its own, or is it just taking up wall space. A colorful wall is not an accent wall unless the color frames or hightlights s
omething bold and dramatic, something worth looking at. (See Accent Walls Mistakes to Avoid for photos and more.)
If your fireplace is:
- Just a hole in the wall
- framed by a bland, outdated or unattractive mantelpiece, or
- topped by a boring piece of art or framed mirror.
This is not a wall that should be made an accent wall.
This fireplace accent wall is underwhelming.
- The fireplace is not attractive on it’s own,
- The mirror above it is undistinquished, and
- Framing the doorway in color make the wall look off balance.
The focal point of this room and the furniture arrangement is the flat screen TV (far left), not the fireplace. Adding an accent color to this fireplace wall creates two focal points for this room – which is distracting and confusing.
This fireplace accent wall is a successful focal point for this room.
This mantelpiece is attractive and deserves to be highlighted with color. Furniture is arranged to frame the fireplace and creates a comfortable seating and conversation area – it meets the promise of the fireplace itself.
Building on this and the ideas of the previous Accent Wall article, be sure your fireplace wall is up to being the focal point of the room before adding accent colors.
Next: Accent Wall Color Harmony