33 Feature Wall Ideas to Make Your Life More Exciting

To give your bedroom, bathroom, living room, kids room, home office, or any other room in the house a lift without the need for a total makeover, consider adding a feature wall.

You can create a feature wall by highlighting original architectural elements in an older home, such as stone, brick, or intricate millwork. Or you can add character to a new build or rental apartment with paint, wallpaper, textured wall finishes, or large-scale art, to name a few options.

Check out these ideas for turning blank walls into feature walls that will make your home and your life more alive and exciting.

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Embellish the Entry

Caroline Andreoni Interior Design / Photo by Sophie Lloyd

One way to define the entryway in a semi-open space is by adding a feature wall that gives it pride of place while adding a decorative element. In this French apartment from Paris-based Caroline Andréoni Interior Design, a shoe bench with built-in storage is anchored by a wallpaper feature wall that adds color and pattern.

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Go Pastel

Design by Living with Lolo / Photo by Life Created

A pastel pink board and batten feature wall adds softness to this primary bedroom from Living with Lolo that is decorated in shades of pink, white, and blue.

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Highlight the Bath

Caroline Brackett Studio of Design / Ariana Clare Photography

If the bathtub is the centerpiece of your bathroom, why not add a feature wall behind it to make sure everyone knows it. In this spacious bathroom from Caroline Brackett Studio of Design, printed wallpaper in shades of blue, green, and cream highlights the shape of the room and makes the bathtub a destination.

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Preserve Original Features

Design by Forge and Bow Dwellings / Christa Tippmann Photography

If your home has original architectural features like brick or stone, giving them some love and preserving a piece of your home's history will create a natural feature wall with a sense of place. In this galley-style kitchen from Forge and Bow Dwellings, the brick lends character to the kitchen fitted with modern cabinets and shiny backsplash tiles.

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Be Bold

Design by Living with Lolo / Photo by Life Created

Not to be outdone by the striking blue coffered ceilings, this primary bedroom from Living with Lolo includes a bold wall of blue-and-white patterned wallpaper that adds a bit of attitude to a room furnished with neutrals and perfectly symmetrical nightstands and bedside lamps.

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Surround the Fireplace

Brexton Cole Interiors

Brexton Cole Interiors added layers of decor to create a fireplace feature wall that blends in with the soft and subtle tones of this serene living room. The far wall has a traditional fireplace with a creamy painted surround and stacked art of varying heights leaning on the mantel. Wallpaper in a leafy pattern that echoes the sage green velvet sofas flanks each side, and a pair of mirrors reflects views and light.

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Brighten Your Crib

Design by Curated Nest Interiors / Photo by Erin Coren

There's nothing like some bright wallpaper to cheer up a space. In this light-flooded nursery from Curated Nest Interiors, an abstract large-scale floral wallpaper feature wall in bright pinks and reds adds warmth and vibrancy behind the crib.

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Glam Up the Basement

Louis Duncan-He Designs / Eymeric Wilding Photography

Louis Duncan-He Designs hung colorful, tropical-themed wallpaper to create a long striking feature wall in this glamorous basement bar and lounge space.

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Skip the Headboard

Urbanology Designs / Matti Gresham Photography

In place of a headboard, this spacious primary bedroom from Urbanology Designs includes a modern matte black painted board and batten style feature wall that runs two thirds of the way up and the full width of the wall behind the bed. A small framed piece of art mounted above the bed straddles both finishes to bring the look together.

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Cheer Up the Hallway

Design by Alvin Wayne

The wall at the end of a hallway is an often neglected space. This hallway wall from interior designer Alvin Wayne becomes a focal point thanks to a black-and-white abstract marble patterned wallpaper feature wall layered with an organic shaped mirror that reflects light and views.

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Create a 3D Effect

Michelle Boudreau Design

In this Palm Springs bedroom from Michelle Boudreau Design, the feature wall behind the bed is covered in paintable wall panels with a 3D effect. You can find paintable wall panels in a multitude of patterns and many are made from sustainable materials such as bamboo fibers, an added bonus.

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Make It Multifunctional

Laura Brophy Interiors

This feature wall from Laura Brophy Interiors does double duty as wine storage and decor. Carved into unused wall space at the foot of the staircase, it's lit from within to highlight the owners' wine collection.

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Rough It Up

Design by Alvin Wayne

In this New York City living room from interior designer Alvin Wayne, a rough and textural concrete-effect gray feature wall gives the eye something other than the TV to focus on when it's not in use and adds contrast against carved wood console.

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Carve It Out

Caroline Andreoni Interior Design / Photo by Sophie Lloyd

Caroline Andréoni Interior Design installed a sophisticated feature wall in this Parisian bedroom that adds texture and dimension and maximizes the tall ceiling height.

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Build It In

Design by Jessica Davis of Atelier Davis / Photo by Heidi Harris

Interior designer Jessica Davis of Atelier Davis anchored the design of this midcentury modern-inspired living room with a striking medium-toned wood feature wall that includes hidden storage and open shelving to display objects, art, and books.

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Go Wall to Wall

Design by Leanne Ford Interiors / Photo by Reid Rolls

Leanne Ford Interiors created a custom tiered full-wall fireplace feature covered in a concrete skim coat in this neutral toned living room that adds a memorable flourish.

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Energize a Blank Space

Design by Desiree Burns Interiors

A feature wall doesn't have to be the main wall behind a bed or the largest wall in the living or dining room. In this spacious living room from Desiree Burns Interiors, the blank wall beneath the staircase is brought to life with an energizing patterned wallpaper that anchors a curvy console table and striking gold lamp.

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Add Whimsy

Louis Duncan-He Designs / Genevieve Renee Photography

Louis Duncan-He Designs added whimsical wall art in arched frames in a palette of blues to create an eye-catching fireplace feature wall in this modern living room.

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Turn It Around

Urbanology Designs / Matti Gresham Photography

The styling trend of turning your books around so that their randomly colored spines face inward and do not upset your neutral decor scheme is viewed with contempt by many book lovers. But adding vertical and horizontal stacks of books like this adult loft bed space from Urbanology Designs that is visible from the living and dining areas below is a perfectly legitimate way to hold onto your book collection while quieting visual chaos, book snobs be damned. And if your book collection is digital but you miss the look of having books around, you can achieve a virtual home library effect with any number of book-themed wallpapers.

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Send a Message

Design by Curated Nest Interiors

Curated Nest Interiors created a colorful kids room feature wall by hanging fun illustrated bookshelf-themed wallpaper that looks cute and celebrates the joy of reading.

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Go Tonal

Louis Duncan-He Designs / Eymeric Wilding Photography

Louis Duncan-He Designs created a tonal feature wall with grayscale watercolor landscape wallpaper and an upholstered velvet headboard that is nearly as wide as the wall itself. Simple white sheets and two shades of green velvet throw pillows add a hint of color that complements the soothing neutral scheme.

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Map It Out

Tyler Karu Design and Interiors / Photo by Justin Levesque

In this Maine condo bedroom, Tyler Karu Design and Interiors took advantage of the extra-tall ceilings to hang a custom 14-foot mural of an 18th-century map of the Maine coast that makes a place-appropriate feature of the wall behind the bed.

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Flip the Script

Caroline AndrÃ©oni Interior Design / Photo by Sophie Lloyd

While many designers choose to make a feature wall behind the bed, Caroline Andréoni Interior Design took an opposite approach in this spacious Parisian en suite bedroom by plastering the wall opposite the bed in black-and-white palm print wallpaper. The wallpaper can be enjoyed from the bed, and the black tones of the wallpaper help to camouflage the flat-screen TV, always a bonus.

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Highlight a Window

Design by Curated Nest Interiors / Photo by Erin Coren

Warm medium-toned gray paint highlights the central window in this primary bedroom from Curated Nest Interiors, grounding the pale neutral space and making the room with its high-pitched ceilings and acres of white paint feel cozier and more down to earth.

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Create a Wall Within a Wall

Urbanology Designs / Matti Gresham Photography

Urbanology Designs created a mini feature wall in the blank space between the windows of this primary bedroom using floor-to-ceiling wood slats that add texture and warmth and create contrast with the modern upholstered headboard and furnishings.

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Hang Framed Wallpaper Panels

Louis Duncan-He Designs / Eymeric Wilding Photography

Louis Duncan-He Designs hung panels of traditional blue wallpaper covered with branches, leaves, flowers, and birds that are framed with wood wall detailing that helps the wall to blend in with the rest of the room.

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Keep It Light

Design by Living with Lolo / Photo by Life Created

Living with Lolo hung black and white wallpaper with a hand-drawn pattern that looks like a blown up page from an artist's sketch book to create a feature wall in this light and airy primary bedroom.

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Highlight Your Collection

Louis Duncan-He Designs / Eymeric Wilding Photography

Louis Duncan-He Designs created a double feature wall on either side of the fireplace with black and white paint and open shelving to create a showcase for the clients' vinyl collection, making the central fireplace just one part of the equation rather than the main event.

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Add Contrast

Design by Living with Lolo / Photo by Life Created

A deep, dark forest green painted accent wall adds contrast to this pale neutral-toned bedroom from Living with Lolo.

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Rock Out

Design by Maestri Studio / Photo by Nathan Schroder

The monumental fireplace wall in this living room from Maestri Studio is a midcentury throwback with modern appeal.

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Add a Mural

Caroline AndrÃ©oni Interior Design / Photo by Sophie Lloyd

An airy large scale pink wall mural in this Parisian kids room from Caroline Andréoni Interior Design adds a poetic touch that is framed by traditional painted moldings and millwork.

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Add a New Slant

Austin Gray Design Group / Photo by Lara Kimmerer

Austin Gray Design Group made a feature of the slanted wall in this top floor space by adding patterned wallpaper on the angled surface and saturated blue wall paint on the ceilings and window surrounds.

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Go Green

A Beautiful Mess

This DIY faux living feature wall from A Beautiful Mess brings the outdoors in, adding an energizing feel-good vibe to a home office space with no maintenance required.