The Clever Design Trick Joanna Gaines Uses To Spruce Up A Space Without Overdoing It

Accent walls papered in bold graphics are nothing new. Wallpaper is a striking way to create an accent wall without painting, and it can still look amazing. However, novel twists on things we've gotten used to never fail to grab attention. Joanna Gaines has come up with an innovative way to use wallpaper: Using a dark, geometric print, Gaines papered only the lower half of a boy's bedroom for an unexpected wainscoting feel. Her wallpaper of choice had a navy blue background overlaid with white gridwork. The navy blue wallpaper could be too much on an accent wall, let alone all four walls. Yet, balanced with a white-painted top half on each wall, the room remains light while still keeping a masculine feel brought in by the dark blue. Gaines polished up the faux-wainscoting with navy blue-painted trim to transition the papered half into the painted upper portions of the walls.

There are plenty of advantages that come with only papering the lower half of a room. Besides not needing a ladder, a half-papered wall lets you enjoy a wild or dark wallpaper that would soak up all the light in the room or drive you to distraction with a busy pattern. With an abundance of eye-catching wallpapers out there, there's nothing stopping you from trying this trick in any room. You may feel more adventurous trying something outside of your comfort zone knowing it'll be balanced with a bright and calming upper half. Now, you can fall confidently in love with a wallpaper you might've otherwise overlooked.

Choose a room, choose a paper pattern, and see where this concept takes you. In general, wainscoting looks great in a dining room. With the transition between the two looks right at eye-level while you're seated at the table, Gaines' idea would lend itself wonderfully to a dining room, just as more traditional wainscoting typically does.

This idea may be a shoe-in for a bathroom as well. With heat and steam rising, a painted surface on the upper walls is likely to hold up better than wallpaper. Plus, trying this trick in a smaller space is an easy way to dip your toes into this design concept. Surprisingly enough, certain busy wallpaper designs can make small rooms look bigger.

Don't be afraid of the dark, or a walk on the wild side, either. Paper the lower portion of a teeny bedroom in a product like Mesquite from Wallism or a choice that's both dark and flashy like Rebel Walls' Vinum Hexagon for a living room. Perfect for the wainscoting look, Milton and King's ikat paper in black, blue, or green easily takes over a space. But paired with a serene white upper wall, you can take in its visual interest without getting dizzy.