When it comes to our bedrooms, there's less pressure to play safe - this should be the one room that represents your style to its fullest. While bed linen and soft furnishings can help you express yourself, what you choose to do with the wall - or walls - can also make a big impression.
'In the past, a feature wall in a bedroom was just a wallpaper or stronger colour behind the bed,' says Justyna Korczynska, Crown Colour Consultant, 'but today, we are being far more creative and feature walls take many forms, shapes, textures, and materials. Of course, paint is a very easy-to-use and versatile material that can produce very effective results.'
While paint and wallpaper are the go-to for inexpensive and easy bedroom ideas, there are lots of other clever and stylish ways that you can use to make your bedroom walls look fantastic.
If a design has really caught your eye, why not use the wallpaper and fabric for a real style impact. It's a full-on maximalist look, so use the wallpaper just behind the bed and team with a co-ordinating paint colour on the remaining walls, giving the design space to be seen and appreciated.
Choose artwork that echoes the theme for the wall space between the wallpaper and curtain fabric, such as these mystical woodland prints. Keep bed linen plain, allowing a few more patterns to be introduced in smaller amounts, such as a cushion, accent pillowcases and a throw or two.
Give your bedroom feature wall a geometric look in pastel shades. Section of the area behind the bed (this will create a sleep zone), and mask off three sections, coming together at a central point above the bed. This is a great way of using up leftover paint, while keeping the rest of the walls and flooring white ensures the look stays fresh.
Choose a geometric bed linen design and echo the colours of your bedroom wall décor with your choice of cushions and throws.
Use the space above your bed to create a motivational moment, with slogans, favourite city imagery and even a camera for inspiration. Rather than frame your artwork, try clip hangers, making it easy to swap when you fancy a change to your bedroom picture wall ideas.
Hang your artwork from hooks screwed directly into the wall, while a dark grey shade of paint lends a smart, contemporary feel.
Make a feature out of storage, with a shallow run of cupboards with panelled doors. The ledge above makes the perfect space for display - both objects and a painting or canvas lent against the wall - and provides the perfect spot for bedroom wallpaper ideas.
Choose a relaxing seascape theme for your bedroom wall décor, that can be echoed in bed linen, cushions and even bird ornaments. Classic white and blue is always a calming colour combination for a summer bedroom.
Enjoy the beauty of wood on your walls with bleached or washed wooden boards. It's the perfect wall décor idea for a modern coastal look. If you need to make a room appear taller, then fix the boards vertically, and vice versa for a narrow room.
Play with stripes, continuing the look onto your bedlinen with a simply white-and-blue striped duvet set. Rather than option for more coastal classic blue and white accessories, think of those sandy hues, with ochre and coral lending that modern touch.
The space above a bed is made for display - why not arrange your collection of vintage plates? The colours will really pop against a white wall. Try a mix of size and, just as you would arranging a gallery wall, make paper templates and arrange until you are happy with your design, then fix to the wall.
Plates used to be hung from plate hooks, which were visible on the plate edges - to avoid this, look for self-adhesive plate hooks, which fix to the reverse of your plates.
One for teenage-cap-wearing fans! Turn what they love best into decoration. Here a grid mesh panel makes the perfect spot to show off a collection of caps, while providing handy storage too. Use mini bulldog clips to hold in place and avoid pulling the mesh totally flush to the wall to allow the clips to open.
Adding personality to a tween or teen boy's bedroom ideas is often about being creative - finding something that is cool yet practical.
Fallen for an expensive wallpaper? Try this tip to use just one roll. Hang three drops floor-to-ceiling behind your bed, then edge with painted moulding, making the bed the star of your bedroom (providing you stop just below the mattress, you might not even need to go down to the floor - a great tip if your wallpaper design has a large pattern repeat as you should get enough drops from the roll).
Paint the walls the same colour as the background of your wallpaper - the moulding is enough to make the feature pop. Echo this accent in your choice of lighting and accessories to complete the scheme.
Display and storage space combine with this shelving solution. Go as high as you can to avoid any bumped heads and keep the shelf shallow to avoid overhanging you too much when in bed. Baskets, books, and glassware will make a pretty display. Paint the shelves the same colour as the wall, so they blend in rather than contrast.
If you are looking to add more texture to your bedroom décor, then why not try a reclaimed wooden bed (or even just a headboard fitted to a divan base) made from reclaimed floorboards? It's a great way of working an industrial look, and the wooden tones pair beautifully with shades of blush and grey.
Give classic country bedroom wall panelling ideas a twist by choosing a wider T&G board. Paint the panelling a soft sage - it's a great shade to team with shades of blue and blush. Plants are a great way of bringing in colour and life to a bedroom, with this Bird's Nest fern in a concrete hanging planter filling an empty corner spot.
Go large with your headboard, helping to give your bedroom wall maximum colour and interest.
A bedroom panelled wall with hooks painted the same inky blue shade provides an ever-changing display space (and even when left empty, the hooks add visual interest). Try a hanging pendant, which you could hang in a bedside light position for reading, or from a central hook to add ambient light.
Got a lovely shopping basket collection, why not hang from hooks to create a textured feature wall, while tidying them up off the floor.
Use wooden letters to spell out the word that describes your bedroom mood; others to try are 'sleep', 'relax', 'chill', 'chic'. the possibilities are endless. Try to visually connect your chosen word in your styling; here, a branch and feather bird, teamed with bird bed linen, play on the use of the word 'nest'. But the look is much cleverer than just soft furnishings - a self-coloured wallpaper with feathers provides the backdrop to this fresh bedroom look.
Wooden letters or initials can be painted to suit your scheme. Look out for vintage ones at car boot sales and flea markets - you could even have an alphabet themed wall.
Can't find the right painting for your boutique bedroom? What about a fretwork panel? It's a trick that hotel designers love to use. Look for a panel with a distressed finish, lending a 'found at a souk vibe'.
Choose a paint colour that will contrast with your panel - you want to be able to see the intricacy of the fretwork.
MDF panelling is a great way of transforming a plain wall, but it can be tricky to then decide on artwork or frames to go such a feature. How about using the panelled sections to display frames? Picture ledges have also been cut-t-fit the recessed sections, giving space to show of vases, pictures and even plants.
Use Japanese masking tape in your accent colour to stick postcards or black and white photographs to your feature wall for an easy way to make it special.
Use vinyl floor tiles to create a bespoke headboard, adding colour and pattern to your bedroom. Use a thin beading to edge the tiled panel, fixing each tile either to a thin sheet of MDF, which is then secured to the wall, or direct to the wall.
Take the tiled panel up to the ceiling, or depending on how many tiles you have, two-thirds of the way, for as much visual impact as possible. Pick out a hero colour from the multi-coloured tiles for your accessories - a warm grey/blue lamp brings the look together.
Yellow is such an energy boost, perfect if you struggle to get motivated in the mornings. Here, a sunny shade has been used to paint the alcoves and chimneybreast wall, with storage either side in a calmer grey. The central chimneybreast makes the perfect spot for your favourite artwork, ideally a piece that has both yellow and grey in.
Planning a wall of storage in your bedroom? Think about where you'd keep bedside essentials; here the base drawers and wall units have a convenient gap, which doubles as a bedside table.
While an upholstered headboard can make your bed look amazing, you can also increase the 'wow' by hanging a print (or pair of prints) to decorate above a bed, really catching the eye and directing it to your beautiful bed. With walls, full-on yellow, white framed prints break up the intensity of the colour.
Panelling can transform a plain wall, adding depth. Here, MDF boards have been fixed to the wall, leaving a gap between each, before being painted with eggshell.
Turn a plain white wall into the stuff of dreams with a painted mountain mural. Start by masking off three peaks, taking your design into the corner of the room (this adds an extra dimension, almost making the mountain feel real), then paint the blue sections, before adding sunny yellow summits.
Picture ledges allow for a changeable display in a children's bedroom, allowing them to display prints - and even favourite toys - of the moment, without the need to fix into walls.
Often, we get fixated on bedside tables, which don't make the best use of the space. Try tall shelving units, which fit snuggly to the bed, creating a built-in look. With the walls painted fresh turquoise, the colour pops through the open shelves.
This look is all about the symmetry, with a pair of wall lights and framed prints echoing the shelving units. This is continued to the bed, with matching pillows and cushions arranged formally.
In a bedroom, the feature wall is often behind the bed, which means if you've fallen for a bedroom wallpaper design you don't get to appreciate it when in bed. Try wallpapering the walls either side, linking to the bed by choosing an upholstered headboard in a colour picked from the wallpaper.
Think about what you need: do you need more colour, more storage, a style injection, display space. or more than one of these? The space above the bed is a natural feature in a room, but it's wall we see less (as we're in bed, often facing a dull, uninspiring wall), so think about what wall you want to feature.
While paint and wallpaper are great quick fixes, they are often the first layer for bedroom walls: it's the artwork, accessories and clever ideas that go on top that make a bedroom complete.
'Feature walls shouldn't work in isolation,' says Lisa Honiball of Honey Interior Design. 'A feature wall gives an opportunity to give the eye a starting focal point before the eye moves on and you take in the rest of the bedroom.'
Start by raiding the shed: are there any tins of leftover paint or wallpaper samples that you could utilise to paint frames or even frame and hang on your wall? Do you have any collections that you could turn into display - frames, mirrors, plates, even bags, can all create a statement wall in a bedroom. Don't think that any paint or wallpaper must cover all the walls - you could try an ombre effect or an edged wallpaper panel, which might mean you can afford to use less of that designer range you've set your heart on.