Are feature walls tacky now? At any rate, what colour is yours?

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

For reasons that made sense at the time, we painted our living room chimney breast an almost imperceptibly yellower shade of cream than the rest of the room. I'm now thinking about repainting it (partly so I can say I did home improvements during lockdown rather than just watching box sets and ruining both DH's and DS's hair). But what colour? I

if it helps, our living room has a wood floor, brown leather sofa, red and brown rug, light brown curtains (ooh, I could buy new curtains...) Sorry, I'm reluctant to post a photo as we do occasionally get people who dare to venture over the threshold.

[WhatamessIgotinto]

Oh I'm sure people will be along to say the usual 'ugh, so tacky' bollocks. I would say that if you like it keep it!

[dementedma]

We have magnolia walls and a coral red chimney breast. It’s an old house with high ceilings and bay windows (sitting room). Wood floor, red rug and red sofas. It looks good when candles are lit at night

[SenorFrog]

Mine is duck egg blue, couldn't give a hoot what anyone else thinks. I'm about the redecorate and I'll be doing another feature wall, I like the look. Our house only needs to please us.

[RaspberryToupee]

Probably 🤷‍♀️ But we’ve just repainted our bedroom with a feature wall. We also used grey though for the other 3 walls, so we broke a MN rule there too. I like it though. I don’t like our second bedroom, which also has a feature wall but I think that’s because I don’t like the colour. If you want a feature wall, have a feature wall. You’re the one mostly looking at it. With what you’ve listed, I’d probably look at something in the mustard, burnt orange spectrum - depending on how bold of a colour you like.

[PolaDeVeboise]

We are totally un-cool, with a feature wallpaper wall

[TheQueef]

I always paint the chimney breast a dark colour to hide the my sooty handmarks.
I want a nice dark green but it can wait until after winter now.
People still crazy in DIY stores.

[funtimefrank]

I don't love them but dh and dds like them so they have them in bedrooms and study.

Study is dark grey with light green other walls. Colours go very well actually but I'd have preferred the grey as just an accent colour.

Dd2 has turquoise and navy - again quite striking. She has grey carpet and lots of white furniture.

Dd1 frankly I don't know where to start. Bright orange and apricot. I need a gin just to walk in the door.

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

It was a hideous olive green for a while Really don't know what I was thinking there.

I suppose it will always be a feature wall, purely because I really can't be arsed to track down the same colour as the other walls. It's just that at the moment, it looks like a feature wall chosen by two very cowardly and indecisive people. Which is probably accurate.

[PurBal]

I don't like them personally but I don't think they're tacky. If I had my way I'd be papering everything in William Morris wallpaper. To each their own.

[Itsmemaggie]

I joined mumsnet just over 10 years ago and apparently they were out of style then, but all that means is that some mumsnetters really don’t like them.

If you like it that’s all that matters as it’s your house and some rooms really do suit not having every wall the same colour.

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

@PolaDeVeboise I'm not allowed to do wallpaper after The Bedroom Debacle.

[nancybotwinbloom]

We have a chimney breast also. The main bit is dark grey with the two sides either side of it a light grey. Other three walls are white.

[FloresTorres]

I took the wallpaper off the chimney breast of the old house we've bought.
Some of the plaster fell off. So I helped the rest off.
Down to old bricks. Then some of the mortar fell out.
This meant that: I had to re point, and then I realised that I needed to clean the mortar streaked bricks.
At this point, I declared the wallpaperless, deplastered, old, red brick chimney breast "a feature."
I stand in front of it, as best I can, if we are having visitors.

[Randominternetbitch]

I only read they were supposedly tacky on mumsnet, no one I know in real life seem to think this as we all have them.

I have multiple feature walls and wall papers and love each and every one of them. Couldn’t give a hoot what anyone else thinks.

[WinterAndRoughWeather]

I don’t find them tacky, just a bit boring. I’ve never liked them, I much prefer a whole room papered or painted a bold colour.

@PurBal

I’d do the same re: Morris wallpapers. I had the hall, stairs and landing in my last home done in William Morris, and a vintage Laura Ashley in one of the bedrooms. It was beautiful.

[Xyzzzzz]

I’m also looking to redecorate and paint, I was going to keep my feature walls but just do them a different colour

[EmmaStone]

I do still quite like a feature wall, but for me that would be a v bold wallpaper rather than colour, I'm not a huge fan of different coloured walls in the same room. DD needs her bedroom decorating and wants about 15 different styles, I'm having to keep reining her in 😭.

I'm obsessed with this wallpaper at the moment, but haven't found a suitable space in my house (yet...). I've just had the living room painted in F&B (matched) Parma Gray, would have loved a wall of the wallpaper with the same coloured background, but none of the walls quite lend themselves as a feature. www.farrow-ball.com/wallpaper/lotus

[PlanDeRaccordement]

Feature walls are tacky in any room that is less than 10mx 10m. So unless you live in Versailles, or similar chateau/Palace, it’s a crime against fashion.

[MsEllany]

We have a mind-boggling geometric wallpaper on our chimney breast. Off-white on the walls.

I like it. I don’t especially care what other mums think of my decorating. I live here and they don’t!

[JoeCalFuckingZaghe]

We have “feature” alcoves. Room is dark blue up to picture rail and it’s white above that (including in the alcoves) and alcoves are papered a white and dark blue geometric pattern. I couldn’t give a flying fuck of people think it’s tacky, I’ve seen people posting pictures of their “naice” decor and it’s fucking awful imo. It just goes to show style and taste are quite personal.

[VenusClapTrap]

I’ve just done a mural feature wall in my bathroom with this, and I bloody love it.
rebelwalls.com/uk/wall-murals/categories/nature/forest/perspective-jardin

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

@PlanDeRaccordement looks like you're outvoted Though I do agree a huge garish feature wall in a tiny square room is not an ideal look.

@VenusClapTrap love that, and @EmmaStone's one!

Right, I have provisionally identified two colours I like, though I don't know if I'll be able to find them in paint. First one is in a painting we have:

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

Second one would be a really deep, burnished, maybe slightly red golden colour.

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

Funny thing - I didn't get the home improvement bug at all during lockdown, but now it's all I can think about. I haven't felt this way since I had the nesting instinct with DS (and no, it's definitely not that!).

[Puffalicious]

Embrace whatever you like, OP.

Personally I find brown and red pretty dated, but a gorgeous blue would be fab with the wood and brown. French navy would be lush, or a classic duck egg/ eau de nil?

Good luck.