Attic Bedroom Accent Wall

A bedroom added in an attic is bound to be an interesting, unique space and a bonus for the house.

One of the most dramatic transformations I’ve ever seen here was the Old-House Attic Master Suite our artist-decorator friend Amy built for herself and her husband. So I believe in attic bedrooms. We’ve presented other ideas for attic spaces but I think bedrooms are most important because, in addition to making the owners more comfortable, adding a bedroom increases the value of a house.

But building a successful bedroom in an attic has its challenges. Roof lines can create short or irregular walls or areas where the ceiling is angled and too low to stand comfortably. Attic windows can be off center. Windows can be too high on a wall or too low or they can be small or oddly placed in relation to each other. That’s why an attic bedroom accent wall helps improve and visually organize problem areas. These 11 attic bedroom accent walls each function in a special way.

Picture Window Accent Wall [top]. A narrow corner house on an urban street in Denver has a third floor master bedroom with a peaked roof. From the outside it looks like a country cottage was dropped on top but inside the master bedroom is loft like, thanks to skylights and a massive picture window accent wall. The large window, centered on the wall, is almost floor to ceiling. A pair of large-scale modern paintings flank, and anchor, the window and emphasize its dominance of the room. I find this window so mesmerizing the bed feels like an afterthought.

Sofa Accent Wall. The drab colors used in this bedroom keep it looking peaceful and drama free but the design is very clever. There are two pairs of windows on the accent wall — four in all — which occupy as much space as the picture window (above) but appear far less prominent. That’s because they are layered with a light-tempering roman shade plus draperies which are more important than one might think. First, the drapery fabric matches the discreet plaid covering the accent and bed walls — they blend instead of contrast. The draperies also frame, and draw the eye to, the white slipcovered sofa. Additionally, the dark traverse rod creates a visual frame for the top of the window and allows the draperies to be drawn closed to black out the room. A pair of handsome wrought-iron chandeliers hang low enough to keep the focus on the furnishings. With another design strategy, the room would look narrower and taller and the lovely pine paneled ceiling would be less skillfully balanced.

Picture Accent Wall with 3 Windows. Black-framed photos of British royalty are an amusing way to cover the accent wall of a top floor master bedroom farmhouse in the Hamptons. The antique ebonized rope bed coordinates impeccably with the picture frames which are so numerous and well placed they organize the wall and pull the top window into the mix. Keeping walls, woodwork and ceiling uniformly white really lets the dark colors speak. This bedroom room has enormous charm and seems instantly inviting to me.

Floral Wallpaper Accent Wall. A small attic bedroom in Sweden is barely wide enough for two twin beds to fit. But creating an accent wall with old-rose floral wallpaper (which reminds me of Bessarbian rugs) widens the room visually. The embroidered cotton and silver wire Tore Ahlsen Pia Lampan light fixture is a welcome addition that keeps the wallpaper from looking as heavy and vintage as those in our All Over Print Passion post.

Fanciful Wallpaper Accent Wall with Matching Window Shade. A Finnish magazine created this adorable attic kid’s room with its fanciful pink, blue and yellow umbrella motif wallpaper and a embellished coordinating window shade. White-painted vintage beds and a rag rug keep it simple and easy to update as the children grow.

Double Painted and Stenciled Accent Walls. A tiny carriage house in Des Moines, barely 1000 square feet, was renovated by a magazine using renewable and recycled products. A staircase interrupts the room at the center but both ends have the same aqua painted wood plank walls stenciled with white meandering leaves. Vintage feed sacks and embroidered tea towels were repurposed for the throw pillows and the bedding is by Plover organic. A pair of girly sconces flank the window making the whole space delightfully bohemian as well as greenwashed.

The opposite end of the attic has a matching stenciled accent wall and space for a dressing table under the window. The old wide floor boards were painted white. Open shelves provide storage on the long wall.

Contrast Painted Accent Wall. A sprawling, newly built house in Rhode Island has a top floor bedroom with coastal cottage appeal that belies the size of the place. The construction has lovely details including a tongue and groove hipped roof ceiling and a pair of windows with cllipped corners painted in Benjamin Moore’s Linen White. The accent wall is BM’s Quiet Moments and the color works with stunning effect. Nightstands are from Crate and Barrel and the floor is a beautiful eastern white pine by Carlisle.

Contrast Painted Accent Wall with Dormers. The Spanish blog, where I found this photo, referred to the wall in this bedroom as “mansard” after the architect who designed those famous angled roofs on the Louvre. But dormer windows like these are commonly found in attics, particularly in old houses. And they inevitably present the problem of where to end the contrast paint. This leafy green on the remnants of the walls continues up to the ceiling, adding a lot of character. The Aspelund bed and white cupboard are from Ikea.

Horizontal Wood Plank Accent Wall. It’s not surprising to find a planked wall in a New York State farm house. This one is very neatly and beautifully done with narrow reclaimed boards that have a terrific variation in color. This is one of three twin-bedded attic rooms in a vacation rental property and with the rustic box bed, it says “boy’s room” to me.

Vertical Wood Plank Storage Accent Wall. This English loft bedroom has a secret and, obviously, it’s not the fabulous skylights or chic glass stairway railings. The accent wall conceals closets and it’s an illusion. Can you guess? Honestly, I couldn’t and didn’t. The doors are mdf and covered with faux-wood look wallpaper. It’s a bit of a shock. I’ve seen faux bookcase wallpaper but this was a new wrinkle. Here’s a link to the source for the wood plank look wallpaper. Oh, to shop in England.

(Source: meridian105, tumblr, elledecor, idhalindhag, avotakka, houseofturquoise, houzz, elle.es, redcottageinc, livingetc)

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