Views on 'feature walls' that are painted a different colour to rest of room?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

I'm wanting to decorate the living room- it is currently magnolia and we are getting a new sofa and carpet that are both neutral (mink / light brown). There is a stone fireplace on one wall and I am thinking of painting this wall a bolder colour than the rest of the room so it is more of a feature. I'm not sure what colour though or if it would look really tacky?

Any views on this or recommendations for decoarating? Thanks!

[HalbAndTwiceTheFun]

personally, I like them if they are tastefully done. when we moved into our house, the previous owners had bright red bedroom walls with a black, flowery feature wall.

our living room has two slightly more brightly coloured walls and two silvery grey ones, and the furniture/decor matches that, but not too much.

have you tried looking online on decorating sites? I've seen some lovely things that I just found through google. :)

[ilikeyoursleeves]

I've had a look online tonight but can never seem to find anything that vaguely looks like our living room! I am thinking of perhaps doing the feature wall a metallic paint even? I'd need to get a sample but a friend had metallic paint in her hall and it was lovely. Not sure if it would look silly only on one wall though...

What paint is your silvery grey?

[Selks]

It can look great but it's all about the colour that you choose. Choose carefully, and choose something that you'll be able to live with and not go off if the novelty wears off.

[lalalonglegs]

I don't mind walls different colours (as long as it's not just the chimney breast or the alcoves either side picked out) but I hate it when just one or two walls are papered.

[lalalonglegs]

Off the subject but, sleeves, is your nickname inspired by the Deborah Ross interview in the Times mag on Saturday?

[AllYourCakeAreBelongToMe]

I like it. I use it to make rooms appear wider/bigger/brighter than they actually are. For example, my downstairs room is very, very long and thin, and can look like a corridor. It also has a protruding bit where the staircase is, which extends about a third of the length of the room. I painted the short walls and the wall behind which the staircase is in a lovely dark red. The rest's cream, and it looks much much less narrow. I also sometimes paint the darkest wall in a room with something the same colour as the rest of the room, but a couple of shades lighter...

[HalbAndTwiceTheFun]

our silvery grey is from the dulux custom range, mixed at our local DIY store. I just showed them what I wanted and they made it for me.
have you thought about getting some panneling, maybe, so it's easy to change if you don't like the colour? although, considering that you said it's the wall with the fireplace, I don't know how practical that would be.
wallpaper?