Which wall do you make a feature wall?

lisalouauger

I am about to redecorate my pretty small living room.

I have a large victorian fire place in black and grey and want to make the rest of the living room neutral but do feel it needs some kind of feature wallpaper or paint.

My question is do i feature the chimney breast? either side of it? or the long wall that is opposite?

i know it's difficult without seeing the actual room but really don't want to make a huge mistake and have to start over.

Any comments would be appreciated

MaggieBaking

Whatever look you rather!

The chimney breast - http://images.vebra.com/images/1086/004/type1/59heyl.jpg

The recessed bits - http://images.vebra.com/images/1150/009/type1/6mshlr.jpg

The whole wall - http://www.housepaintingtutorials.com/images/rich-violet-colour-feature-wall-in-my-bedroom-21269414.jpg

We have a (faux) fireplace but no chimney breast and we have gone for all plain throughout the lounge. If we had a chimney breast I think I'd like to make a feature out of the recessed areas, but it's all personal taste - in the same way you'll paint it a colour that some will like and others wont.

You could do the wall opposite, normally a feature wall helps to give a bit of interest to something you look at often (the fireplace is often what the furniture is pointed at in a lounge). But you could just as easily give the "back" wall a bit of interest to change the feel of the room.

Like - http://blog.grahambrown.com/us/wp-content/uploads/feature-wall.jpg

Edit - I would recommend lots of samples to make sure it's a good idea. The only hint as to whether or not you'll like it and whether it will look good is to test it with samples. Wallpaper samples, paint samples etc (even for your neutral colour to make sure it goes with your 'feature'). Paint samples are expensive compared to a tin of paint, but worth spending a pound so you don't spend £10 and then need to redo it because you don't like it.