While most of us prefer to skip the drama, Sallie Lord is an expert at creating it in unexpected places. The designer and principal of Chantilly-based Grey Hunt Interiors is developing quite a following on Instagram, sharing inspo-worthy posts of her designs that combine gray scale and brights, intricately patterned tile, and custom painted murals.
Here, she shares examples of her favorite projects and explains the finer points of making your own accent wall to bring her signature style of the “visually layered space” into your home.
Maximize The Fifth Wall
For many people still working from home, the home office is a space that ranks lower on the list of priority when it comes to interior design.
Lord says, “Your ceiling, or fifth wall, is a traditionally ignored area with incredible potential. We added wallpaper to the ceiling of this Virginia home to add detail and give the room a cozier feel.”
Play With Scale
“In this sweet nursery, we transformed the room and made the wall a focal point that would grow with the child,” says Lord.
This hand-painted mural was sketched by Lord and painted by Bristow-based artist Lynn Whitely of Whitely Design Studio, who specializes in Italian plasters, marbleizing, decorative finishes, and concrete overlays.
Offset Dark Paint with Clean Gallery Arrangements
“Another way to incorporate an accent wall into your home is to add larger-scale wall coverings or art to create a feature,” says Lord. This opaque blue remains subtle when paired with the crisp white of the framed prints.
Big Patterns Play Up Small Spaces
Smaller, hidden spaces like this butler’s pantry can become the focal point of the larger room in which it’s situated.
Here, Lord used bold, graphic wallpaper to wrap the room, starting at the baseboards and up to cover the ceiling. She chose a mirrored subway tile behind the shelves on the opposing wall to offset the darker wallpaper, to ensure the space didn’t feel closed off.
Focus On Texture
Lord recommends emphasizing texture when planning your accent wall project, rather than focusing on pattern alone.
In this bedroom, she let the wallpaper print play off the softer fabric in the bed linens to make the accent wall three-dimensional. She says, “When you mix patterns and textures, make sure they don’t fight with each other. For example, don’t use two geometric [patterns] together unless the scale is extreme. Textures, colors, and mixing linens with velvets can showcase details in both materials.”
Feature image by Stacy Zarin Goldberg
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