10 Wall Painting Ideas You’ll Want to Add to Your Home

You want an accent wall that adds more than just a pop of color. You can paint a design that invites conversation, works as a piece of art and is different from anything you've seen before. Here are 10 wall painting ideas you'll want to try in your home.

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Blue Ombre Wall Paint
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Ombre Walls

An ombre wall adds a gradient color that can make your accent wall look like a sunrise, water or even animal fur. “Perhaps this is why ombre effects have gained such popularity—infiltrating the design world, popping up on everything from walls, to clothing, furnishings and art pieces,” according to Behr paints. After you clean and prep your wall, you’ll need to determine how many colors you’ll use. The Behr website offers tips on blending colors to create a stunning ombre wall painting.

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Polka Dots

When it comes to accent wall painting ideas, polka dots can make a room playful and cheery. Go for a subtle look with small dots in a single color, or be bold with large polka dots in a mix of colors. Sherwin-Williams offers this video on how to paint polka dots on walls. Next, find out what are the best wall paint colors this year.

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Watercolor

A watercolor design on an accent wall will certainly invite conversation as it transforms the wall into a work of art. It’s trendy and unique like a wall mural, but the effect is more soothing and subtle. Don’t forget to check out our suggestions for choosing the best paint colors for your hangout room.

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attic
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Vertical Stripes

Stripes, whether narrow or thick, can completely transform the look of your room. To paint stripes on a wall, you’ll need to use tape to create the straight lines. FrogTape offers this video on how to paint clean, straight lines on your wall.

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bedroom
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Solid Color Block

While using a color on one wall that is different from the rest of the room is an easy accent wall painting idea, you can also paint a bold block of color in the middle of a wall as a dimensional accent. This wall features a bold block of purple in the middle of a gray wall. As with stripes, use tape to create a square and then paint inside the tape to create a bold block of color.

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Patterned Wall Painting Ideas

For a wall painting idea that looks difficult but can be done quite easily, go for a pattern such as chevron or herringbone. You’ll need tape to create the pattern and you can work with as many colors as you’d like. This video from Ace Hardware shows how easy the pattern is to achieve on an accent wall.

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Chalkboard Wall

Try using chalkboard paint to create an accent wall. This will give you and your family the option of giving the space a new look as often as you want, with different chalk drawings.

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Fashionable
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Bold Half Color

Here’s a bold paint look: Use a color on just half the wall. This may not be the right look for you, but it certainly creates an accent wall that stands out.

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colorful
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Rainbow Stripe

Can’t choose just one color? Go for the entire rainbow. Paint your entire wall in rainbow stripes, or just a smaller section, as shown here. You can use a variety of color combinations to create the right look for your decor.

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Accent
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Texture and Color

If you have just one textured wall in a room, try painting it a different color to make it stand out even more. This bedroom has a textured accent wall that is painted gray, making it a muted, subtle accent in the room.

Rachel Brougham
Rachel Brougham spent years working in newsrooms, for television and newspapers, and has won several awards for her writing. In 2015, she left her full-time job as a newspaper editor to focus on freelance writing and editing. She has been a Family Handyman contributor since 2017.
In 2019, Rachel lived through a major remodeling project on her home, and she uses that experience to inform her Family Handyman content. She's also an avid gardener (both native plants and vegetables), enjoys keeping up with decor trends and spends a lot of time traveling, cooking and hanging out with her family and their giant dog.