Transforming Spaces: The Art of Crafting a Feature Wall
As a lover of maximalism and all things colour, white walls have a very draining effect on me. When we rented a flat, I lasted 6 months before I couldn’t cope any longer and had to paint bright jewel colours on some of the walls to break up the dreaded magnolia. Neutrals work for some people but they’re absolutely not for me. Now we have our own house I have gone to town and plan to take it a step further this year.
In my studio, the walls are all white - or at least they were when I first moved in. I get the theory of white walls in an artist’s studio - it’s supposed to be a blank canvas in which to create. Do you know what I do with blanks areas? I splash on joyful colour.
Why create a feature wall?
Perhaps the better question is why not? Or how many is too many?
I love a feature wall. It’s a way to celebrate what you have collected in a really personal way. It gives you an opportunity to play with colours, levels and shapes.
If you have a plain space that needs something interesting or the frame you put on the wall looks lost, then this could be what you’re looking for.
The feature wall I’m going to talk you through was designed to show off my art in a more homely style so I wanted it to hold plants and trinkets as well as framed art. I already have frames hanging on a wall so wanted to go a different way with this area. I’d seen some floating shelves at an exhibition I was in and that sparked an idea…
Creating the Feature Wall
Rather than paint the whole wall (it’s massive and I didn't want to paint behind my printing table) I went for a circle. Circles can be problematic - it’s so obvious when they’re off- so I needed a steady guide. For this I used a pencil tied to a piece of string the length of the radius of the circle I wanted to(so the circle would eventually be twice as wide as that string). I secured the non pencil end to the centre point and used the pencil on the string like a compass to draw a guide.
Once I had the circle I could paint. A tester pot was enough to fill the shape and do a couple of touch ups once dry.
Then came the shelves. I had a studio opening before this wall was finished so only one shelf went up at first.
The following week, two more went up. The shelves are from IKEA (Malmback - they come in 2 sizes) and have a ridge in them to rest frames and boards in them. They were perfect for what I wanted.
Things to Bear In Mind When Creating Your Wall
There are so many ways that you can vary a shelved feature wall. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Where are you going to create it?
Will you paint or paper your wall?
How many shelves do you want? Odd numbers work really well - 3s are my favourite!
How will you layout your shelves? Do you want them all aligned in the same size? Do you prefer jaunty? The latter does make life easier as you don’t need to painstakingly line it all up
What are you going to add to compliment your art? Books, plants and ornaments are great
I’m sure you’ll agree that the finished space looks soooo much better than a plain white wall.
If you’re looking for more inspiration then check out my art here.