The feature wall has been on quite a journey. For a while it fell out of favour, too often reduced to a single wall painted a slightly bolder colour than the other three, for no particular reason. But the idea itself is sound, and very old. For centuries rooms have had a natural focal point, a chimney breast, the wall behind a grand bed, an alcove, and drawing the eye to it is simply good design.
The feature wall has returned, and grown up. Today it means something far more considered: a full mural, a rich pattern, a wall treated as a genuine event rather than an afterthought. Done with intention, a single wall can transform a whole room, and for the cost of a roll or two it is the best value drama in decorating.
"A single wall, done with intention, can transform a whole room."
The Rise, Fall and Rise of the Feature Wall
What separates the modern feature wall from the old one is that the wall now carries a whole picture rather than a shade. Minako in Evergreen, at the top of this page, from Signature by Harlequin, began life as a fabric and is pure overlapping inkwork, layered washes that build a landscape with real movement across two drops. Lingering Garden in White, from Classics by York Wallcoverings, does it more quietly, a chinoiserie of blossoming trees and small birds spreading across an open ground and hung as one wide panel. And Nosara, from Panoramas 3 by Casamance, is drawn from the landscapes of Costa Rica, golden light filtering through tree silhouettes.
Lingering Garden, White by York Wallcoverings
Nosara, Panoramas 3 by Casamance
Choosing the Right Wall
The secret to a feature wall that works, rather than one that looks arbitrary, is choosing the right wall in the first place. Look for the wall the room already wants you to notice: the one with the fireplace, the one behind the bed or the sofa, the one you see first as you walk through the door. A feature wall should feel inevitable, as though the room was always leading your eye there. The wall with a window in the middle, or one broken up by doors, rarely works. A solid, uninterrupted wall almost always does.
Charles Mural in Blue, from Familjen by Sandberg, is what that looks like: one spreading tree drawn in soft blue greys, filling a single wall so completely that the room needs nothing else. Caligo, from Pentimento by Tres Tintas, does the same in a small bedroom, roses emerging from a fogged ground behind the bed,, proof that the smallest room often has the most obvious candidate. Wilhelm in Green, from Tradgarden by Sandberg, is the gentlest of the three, a fine hand drawn garden in green on off white, soft enough to turn a corner and still feel considered rather than loud.
And the quietest designs are often the cleverest choice of all. Currents in Beige, from Dazzling Dimensions by York Wallcoverings, runs fine lines in horizontal bands like water moving over shallows, and asks nothing of the room but the wall itself. All four are made to a size: measure the wall first and we will help you work it out.
Charles Mural, Blue by Sandberg
Currents, Beige by York Wallcoverings
Caligo, Pentimento by Tres Tintas
Wilhelm, Green by Sandberg
"A feature wall should feel inevitable, as though the room was always leading your eye there."
How to Make It Count
Once you have your wall, commit to it. A bold pattern, a dramatic mural or a rich, saturated colour will all make a strong feature, and the golden rule is to let the wall be the star: keep the surrounding walls calm, painted in a shade drawn from the design or left quietly neutral, so nothing competes.
Then pick up one colour from the wall in the room's furnishings, a cushion, a lampshade, a throw, so the wall feels intentional rather than marooned. Browse the Maximalist and Distressed & Plaster Effect collections if you want the wall to carry real atmosphere, and order a sample first, since a mural is bought to a measurement and worth getting right.
Get the wall right and the pattern has a natural home. Get it wrong and even the most beautiful design will look as though it wandered in by accident.
And if the wall you have chosen deserves a view rather than a texture, Camp Blau in Light Green, from Barcino by Tres Tintas, puts the immensity of the Catalan countryside on it, lavender fields and sea air in highly detailed brushwork. Unlike everything above it this one comes on the roll, which makes it the easiest way into a wall like this.
Camp Blau, Light Green by Tres Tintas
Ready to Choose Your Wall?
Browse the full Feature Wall Ideas collection, or narrow it down in Murals, Floral and Geometric.
