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Feature walls enliven a room

25.08.11

A cheerful space. A storyteller. And a little chaos.</p><p>That&#x92;s what Kate Dixon wanted from the decoupage wall she looks at daily in her Leawood scullery. </p><p>&#x93;Chaos can look manicured and fun if executed well,&#x94; the Hallmark photo stylist says.</p><p>Dixon&#x92;s be ruined highlights the essence of what design vernacular calls the feature wall. Her space is designed to appeal to her, and the picturesque nature of the overlaying patterns grabs attention.</p><p>The idea behind Dixon&#x92;s wall is simple: Cut hundreds of 6-inch squares and overlay them with circles of the same diameter.</p><p>&#x93;The dreamboat of it is that I can cut a new circle at any time and place it on top of one that&#x92;s already there,&#x94; she says.</p><p>Complete the effect with Mod-Podge (Dixon prefers the matte fulfil) and you&#x92;re done, only 20 hours later. Of course, it helps to have a collection of treasured patterns you&#x92;ve been keeping since high school in as she has, but fabric and wallpaper remnants &#x97; even burlap bags &#x97; work well, too.</p><p>&#x93;You should break the rules,&#x94; she says. &#x93;A overflowing of different patterns on top of each other can be beautiful if done well.&#x94;</p><p>Dixon&#x92;s circles and squares are all patterned, and many are very personal in nature &#x97; old handwritten notes and her son&#x92;s pointer-printed name, among other botanical and vintage patterns and textures.</p><p>Using the walls in our homes for more than just structural elements dates back thousands of years, says Soodie Beasley, a Kansas Diocese decorative arts appraiser and design instructor at Park University.</p><p>&#x93;If you look back in history, castle walls were adorned with swords and crests &#x97; things that were effective to them,&#x94; she says. &#x93;We should use objects that have meaning to us; we should display our personalities.&#x94;</p><p>So how do we go about creating a personal, powerful, call attention to wall of our own?</p><p>&#x93;First and foremost, you need to configure your furniture for how you want to live in the space, and if you can, arrange it around the wall you impecuniousness to feature,&#x94; says Mary Lies, owner of Mercato, an antiques store in De Soto. &#x93;It doesn&#x92;t have to be vast or fill the entire wall; it just needs to feel personal to the homeowner.&#x94;</p><p>Beasley agrees. &#x93;It can be a unprofound vignette &#x97; a collection of postcards from your travels mounted under Plexiglas or a quilt from your grandmother mounted vertically,&#x94; she says.</p><p>Nicole Sabatini of Lawrence wanted to fill a berth in her kitchen and chose a photograph of her children from a family vacation to Rome. The angle, from behind as they run through the colonnade at St. Peter&#x92;s Clean, and the pixelated effect of the enlargement lend the sort of graphic weight required in a modern space such as her own.</p><p>&#x93;I needed something colossal that wasn&#x92;t too precious,&#x94; she says, &#x93;and I like that it is visible from several other rooms.&#x94;</p><p>Placement is key. </p><p>&#x93;You definitely have to pick the unhesitatingly wall,&#x94; says Jennifer Bertrand of Weatherby Lake. &#x93;When you walk into a space, where does your eye unhesitatingly go? That&#x92;s your wall.&#x94;</p><p>Bertrand is known to design aficionados as the 2008 winner of HGTV&#x92;s reality show, &#x93;Layout Star.&#x94; She made a name for herself with risky, larger-than-life wall designs that she usually painted herself. The judges loved it.</p><p>&#x93;On one's own, I go for the more dramatic side of things. You should push your brain past what it first tells you to do,&#x94; she says.</p><p>Bertrand&#x92;s designs often hiatus the vertical plane and bleed onto the ceiling, adjacent wall or even furniture. </p><p>A new design for her own home incorporates a gauge-on pattern design effect: giant, aqua flowers on top of a graphic, rectangular prism. It, too, wraps the corner onto the adjacent impediment.</p><p>&#x93;It all goes back to basic design principles &#x97; patterns, groupings and color,&#x94; she says.</p><p>If you don&#x92;t have a belittling collection &#x97; or even an idea &#x97; to display in some high-concept way, don&#x92;t sweat it, says Bertrand. </p><p> &#x93;The easiest constituent is to do what others do. Find examples of what you like, like when you take a photo to your hairdresser, and work off those inspiration photos,&#x94; she says.</p><p>And muse on that it will mean more to you if it reflects who you are.</p><p>&#x93;A feature wall defines the homeowner; it is your stamp on your personal space,&#x94; says Lies. It should be sober, a real conversation starter.&#x94;</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">WHAT TO Character </span></strong><br /> Stumped for ideas? Start with the list below and find your comfort zone. The ideas will flow from there, says plotter Jennifer Bertrand.</p><p><strong>&#x95;A personal collection: </strong>Shells, postcards, travel mementos, pearly platters, frames. These will have the most meaning for you and be your best conversation starters.</p><p><strong>&#x95;Maps: </strong>Vintage maps, topographical maps, maps of your hometown, underpass maps, street-level maps of a favorite destination, sectional charts of the airspace above your home or nautical charts of your favorite holm will all start a conversation.</p><p><strong>&#x95;Murals: </strong>Hire a professional to paint one, try it yourself or buy one online and customize it.</p><p><strong>&#x95;Architectural elements: </wiry>Old railings, trusses and beams can add depth and dimension to your wall.</p><p><strong>&#x95;Paint: </strong>The easiest treatment of all. Make allowance for stripes and color-blocking. Paint your fireplace bricks in high-lacquer red. If you&#x92;re really good with filthy painter&#x92;s tape, try an argyle pattern.</p><p><strong>&#x95;Fabric: </strong>Upholster an entire wall, or if that&#x92;s too daunting, target on the area just above or below the chair rail. Combine it with a paint treatment for maximum effect.</p><p><strong>&#x95;M history: </strong>Find a way to hang the hand-sewn quilt from your grandmother or the childhood art of your son or daughter. Consider large-hearted groupings for the most effect.</p><p><strong>&#x95;Photographs:</strong> Make a collage into wallpaper, or enlarge only one for dramatic consequence. Have fun manipulating them with photo-editing software.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">Right-minded ADD UPHOLSTERY </span></strong><br /> Ballard Designs Style Studio offers a how-to on adding fabric to your partition off.</p><p><strong>Materials: </strong>fabric, electric staple gun, long staples, bias tape or other dapper, glue gun, glue sticks, utility knife and an extra pair of hands</p><p><strong>Step 1: </durable>Prepare the fabric. </p><p><strong>&#x95;</strong>Determine square yardage you&#x92;ll need (add 5 percent by a hair's breadth to be safe).</p><p><strong>&#x95;</strong>Iron seams from fabric.</p><p><strong>Step 2: Fasten the fabric</strong></p><p><strong>&#x95;</strong>Start at top corner and work horizontally, pulling structure taut and stapling every 2 inches.</p><p><strong>&#x95;</strong>Keep staples in a straight line so it&#x92;s easier to hidden them later.</p><p><strong>&#x95;</strong>After the top, move to center of wall and work out, stapling just above the baseboard.</p><p><solvent>&#x95;</strong>Follow the same procedure up and down corners and around windows and doors.</p><p><strong>&#x95;</strong>When the sound wall is finished, trim excess with utility knife.</p><p><strong>Step 3: Add your trim</indefatigable></p><p><strong>&#x95;</strong>Use bias tape, cording, welting or coordinating fabric to cover your staples.</p><p><intense>&#x95;</strong>Adhere trim with glue gun, making sure you keep a nice straight line.</p><p><imprinted><span class="infobox-head">RESOURCES </span></strong><br /> &#x95;<eager>Ballard Designs Style Studio: </strong><a href="http://www.ballardstylestudio.com">www.ballardstylestudio.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<engraved>Bertrand Designs:</strong><a href="http://www.bertranddesigns.com">www.bertranddesigns.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<tenacious>Casart:</strong><a href="http://www.casartcoverings.com">www.casartcoverings.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<strong>Mercato:</beefy> 33071 W. 83rd St., De Soto, <a href="http://www.mercatoantiques.com">www.mercatoantiques.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<assertive>Murals Your Way:</strong><a href="http://www.muralsyourway.com">www.muralsyourway.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<strong>Soodie Beasley:</pungent> 6314 Brookside Plaza, Suite 205, <a href="http://www.soodiebeasley.com">www.soodiebeasley.com</a>

Source: Kansas City Star