WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED
SHAYNNA BLAZE SHARES HER TIPS ON HOW TO CONVERT OUTDATED WALLS INTO MODERN MARVELS
If your home has one of these “special” wall features, then fear not, there is hope. Here’s how to turn dreadful into delightful.
1. 1970s WALLPAPER
Anyone who remembers the ‘70s will remember just how popular wallpaper was in loud patterns and colours (orange and brown). Wallpaper has made a comeback and these days it is anything but scary. The trick is to go subtle by choosing a finish in a single colour. You still have the benefit of texture and pattern, without the wallpaper overpowering everything around it.
2. DATED FEATURE WALLS
The worst examples of dated feature walls are those favoured by people who are afraid of using too much colour so they just stick to painting one wall. The problem is that they paint one wall a really loud colour, leaving the other walls looking stark in comparison.
Sometimes the wall also clashes with the flooring and usually the wall is left bare, so it really sticks out like a sore thumb. To avoid a feature wall failure, go bold and paint all walls in the same dark colour.
This is perfectly OK in a room that gets enough natural light. The trick with dark colours is to make sure that the colour you choose picks up on and works together with other colours used in the room, rather than being the odd colour out. And never leave a feature wall bare.
3. WALL PANELLING
If your walls look like the inside of a sauna, like a bathroom, it can make one of the smallest rooms in the house feel even smaller. I’m not saying don’t use timber wall panelling, but moderation and balance are the key things to remember.
4. EXPOSED BRICK
While exposed brick walls can give large loft-style apartments and warehouse conversions an industrial chic look, your run-of-the-mill exposed brown brick wall is often an eyesore. Even if you try to spruce up a space with modern furniture, an exposed brick wall can still dominate for all the wrong reasons. A quick and simple way to fix the problem is to paint the brick wall a dark colour that works with the rest of the room’s colour palette.