11 Gorgeous Accent Wall Ideas From HGTV's Erin Napier That Will Transform Your Home

When it comes to design, Erin Napier knows how to pull focus. And for the star of HGTV's "Home Town," the key to the perfect accent wall is all about the vibes. Much like she once did with piano lessons, "I still play by ear," she told Homes & Gardens, noting that since she never went to design school, "I'm feeling my way through." And that includes getting in touch with the attention-grabbing shades that give a space the perfect lift. "I went to art school, so color is the most important factor for me," Napier continued

Though she notes that "dingy whites are my love language," Napier doesn't shy away from making a bold statement — particularly when it comes to creating a feature wall. "Currently, I am absolutely obsessed with this kitchen that I saw recently that has school bus yellow cabinets and very bold wallpaper all around the walls," she explained. "It shows the homeowner knows who they are." As for Napier, she is someone who loves a maximalist print. "In some rooms, I use wallpaper with a busy pattern," she detailed, "that allows me to tap into the whimsy I loved when I was a child." Another standout design she's served up: a classically Southern plate wall. If you're craving adding an accent wall to showcase more of your personality, check out these ideas from Napier.

Life isn't all rainbows and unicorns, but your living space can be. On Season 7, Episode 16 of "Home Town," Napier skipped her go-to wallpaper in favor of a painted design that was equal parts simple and stunning. Wanting to highlight a credenza crafted by the client's grandfather, she dreamt up a design that echoed the handmade piece's rounded edges. "To have a real focus moment," Napier explained, "we painted this design on the back wall." In two burnt orange hues, she added, "It's this more youthful, geometric, kind of modern moment in the room."

And you can steal Napier's beautiful accent wall idea. To bend it like Napier, cut a piece of string the length of the desired radius for your arch. Tie a pencil to one end, find the middle point of your desired arch and tape the other end there. Pulling the string tight, draw the curve using the pencil, making sure to hold it at the same angle the entire time. Using a leveler to ensure everything is straight, use painter's tape to mark the straight sides of the arch. When painting, use a 2-inch angled brush to trace the outline of the arch and then fill in the center, keeping in mind you can always go back and correct any mistakes.

Who needs a gallery wall? The distinctly south-of-the-Mason-Dixon-line version is to serve up a wall of plates, not photos. Because not only is it entirely charming, but it's also the perfect way to display your favorite mementos and create a physical wall of memories. Landing in Sebring, Florida for Season 3, Episode 1 of "Home Town Takeover," Napier selected pieces from the town namesake's Sebring Pottery Company, along with Mississippi-themed plates, to place atop the citrus grove wallpaper she designed. "We need to just pile on the charm, so that the inside of this house looks like the outside of the house," she explained of her intention. "There's nothing more Southern to me than a nice plate wall."

The most crucial part of serving up the vintage-inspired wall design is choosing the right plates. If you're going for cohesion, try to stick with shades in the same color family or similar scale, but this is definitely an anything goes situation. Much like a standard gallery wall, you'll want to play around with different arrangements on the floor until you find the winning look. Then, snap a photo and replicate the design on your wall.

Having torn down a deteriorating built-in from the bedroom wall on Season 5, Episode 11, "Now it's just a box," Napier lamented to muralist River Prince of Prince Sign Co. "And I'm trying to give it more visual interest." Her bright idea: to create a huge painting of a sunset, allowing the sandy, desert-inspired shades at the top to blend into the deep green base. "This is not, like, a technical illustration, it's very free-handed color blocks," Erin explained of the technique. "We're just going to organically draw some shapes, fill in with color, blend some of them, not all of them, and see what we get." The result was a spot Napier labeled the best in the house, with a sense of tranquility that's ideal for a bedroom.

And her chosen hues are just a few of the colors you shouldn't sleep on when selecting shades for your bedroom. Among the best paint colors to create a peaceful environment: light blue and navy, which are known to create a calming vibe. Meanwhile, white can make your space feel bright and airy, beige sets a warm tone, and a muted pink can bring feelings of peace.

Stepping outside of her charming cottage core vibes, Erin leaned into an industrial feel to suit her client's taste on Season 6, Episode 10. That meant dividing up the downtown loft using custom-built slatted wood walls that created separation and privacy, without blocking out the natural light. "It's the style-maker," Napier noted of the accent wall. "It informs the aesthetic of this entire operation." Playing well with the exposed brick, the stained wood "is so much cooler in real life than hypothetically," Napier raved. When they initially discussed the plan, she thought it would be a conversation piece — if they were able to pull it off. But the end result "surprised the heck out of me," Napier admitted. "The light passes through it and the light itself becomes an element in the room."

They erected their standout piece to wall off the bedroom, but the viral accent wall idea can transform your home office into a cozy space. And while it may seem like a complicated upgrade, you can actually DIY your own wood wall. Purchasing a product like COMFORTHOMI's Acoustic/Soundproof Wood Slat Decorative Shiplap Panels means you can simply attach the panels to the wall using an adhesive. Though you may want to use screws to anchor the corners.

Determined to create a focal wall in the two-story great room on Season 8, Episode 2, Napier turned to the dark side. "We're keeping a mostly neutral color palette throughout the house to work with Mike's artwork," Napier noted of their artist client. "But, we have black in the den, which I think adds a little bit of drama." A sharp contrast to the painted white brick of the fireplace, Sherwin-Williams' Caviar shade delivered a moody vibe — and the perfect backdrop for her client's masterpieces. "The den is so dramatic with the light and the structure," she noted of the sun-drenched space, "but adding a little drama with black paint felt right."

Because, as it turns out, black interiors are on trend for 2026, with both Benjamin Moore and spray paint brand Krylon naming a warm brown-black version of the shade as their color of the year. To keep the feel moody and not cave-like, dark shades opt for a shade with warmer undertones that will deliver a cozier vibe than true black. You'll also want to consider pairing the hue with lighter decor pieces and make sure the space gets plenty of light — natural or otherwise.

As the Season 9, Episode 16 title of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" suggests, everything was, indeed, coming up roses when the couple dressed up a 1950s three-bedroom ranch that had already been completely gutted. With a client "unafraid of color and living out loud," as Napier detailed in a 2025 Instagram post, "We took a house that was, at first blush, very bland," and turned it into something electric and eccentric. That included the large-scale flower-printed wallpaper the client requested for the dining room that informed the color palette for the rest of the house. "She asked for every room to be soaked in green," said Napier, "except that she wanted this colorful wallpaper with florals, they're coming up out of the green — the leaves, the shoots, the stems. And I think that makes a lot of sense here."

Plus, the bold oranges, violets, and mauve hues in the print up the hygge vibes. "When you get to use really saturated color like that," Napier explained of the rich jewel tones, "rooms feel so cozy." Of course, to some floral wallpaper can easily read more grannycore than glamorous. To choose a wallpaper style that won't look like your grandma's walls opt for something bold. Oversized botanical or tropical prints feel fresh and playful, not retro in all the wrong ways. Another option is to pick a neutral shade that will remain timeless even as trends change.

When crafting a backyard pool area on Season 9, Episode 15, Napier wanted to make a real splash. So, she created a statement wall on the back of the gazebo, using the clients' own Willow x Adam Trest Floor & Wall Tile in a daring, large-scale pattern. "Adam has a collection of concrete tile and this is one of his new patterns," explained Erin. Pairing the maroon, purple, gold, and sage willow design with the gray granite of the pool, she added, "feels good together."

Of course, choosing the right tile for an outdoor space is about more than just good looks. In addition to durable concrete, porcelain is ideal for a backyard kitchen. Exceptionally durable, it also has a low water absorption, meaning it's nearly impervious to water and won't crack in freezing temperatures or get covered in mold and mildew. And since they're also resistant to UV rays, they're unlikely to fade over time.

Napier knew she was sitting on a bit of a gold mine when she saw the tan trim in the bohemian cottage she was renovating for "Home Town" Season 8, Episode 16. "A pickled wood trim like this can really shine against a dark wall color," she noted. And she found a real gem in York Wallcoverings' Geodes Wallpaper. Though the black onyx hue sets a moody tone, "I love the little bit of a gold fill element in it," noted Napier, the hint of metallic rose gold embossment elevating the entryway. "It's a statement, and it's the first statement that the house is going to make when you walk in the front door," she said. "It's just a little bit fancy. And very organic. I'm obsessed with it."

But if you're into even heavier metals, you could try a metallic wallpaper alternative that really brings the wow factor. Once used to add a bit of flash to ceilings in the 1880s, tin tiles are available in a plethora of shades, including brushed bronze, silver-tinged washed white, copper, and gold. And no matter what motif you choose, it will add texture and a slight retro-meets-industrial edge to your space.

A floral printed silk scarf planted the seed of an idea for Napier in Season 1, Episode 9 of "Home Town." But while she had "a modernized, punched-up version of this floral pattern" in her mind, she explained, "I couldn't find a wallpaper that was anything like that. And I thought, well, why don't I just use that as the inspiration?" Using her art school background, Napier hand-painted a delicate floral motif that she then digitized and used to create a pattern she could turn into wallpaper.

And if you're at all skilled with a paint brush, you, too, can say goodbye to plain walls with Napier's design tip. Using sites like totallycustomwallpaper.com or Rebel Walls, you simply upload your masterpiece, choose the proper dimensions and your preferred material (think: self-stick removable wallpaper, self-stick cloth wallpaper, or more traditional varieties) and et voilá, a completely custom wall covering. Another option for the artistically inclined is to paint on a design using a stencil, such as Royal Design Studio's Voysey Briar Rose Art Nouveau Stencil.

Creating a home for a couple looking to grow their food business on the premiere episode of Season 9, Erin and Ben uncovered the right recipe. In an effort to complement the living room's mid-century style — and cover up a blank space in the wall — Ben dreamed up a plan for a bespoke art piece. "You see these wood features on walls a lot in modern houses, apartments," he explained, noting that similar slatted wood installations were common in the 1960s. Using pieces of walnut and Spanish cedar, he attached slats of wood to a sheet of plywood in a geometric pattern. The result pulled focus from its brick wall backdrop in all the best ways.

And it's just one of several accent wall ideas that have been popping up everywhere as of late. Geometric wallpaper has made a bit of a resurgence, as has the textured variety in materials like silk or grasscloth. Painted murals and gradient shades are also growing in popularity. As for the wood feature walls, the slatted version is a more modern, refined take on the farmhouse-style rustic type.

Secret passageways sound like the stuff of fantasy novels and board games. But Erin and Ben created just that on "Home Town" Season 7, Episode 4 when working with a 1906 home that earned a spot on The National Register of Historic Places. Employing a raised board and batten design, they concealed the doorway that leads into the main bedroom so well they even fooled the homeowners. "Bob and Linda forgot that that was our plan — to have a door to the bedroom that was right there," Napier marveled of the wall that served as an eye-catching backdrop for art pieces. "I love that they forgot."

If you'd like to add a bit of intrigue to your accent wall, consider the easy DIY board and batten wall hack that works in every room. A type of decorative wainscotting, board and batten uses vertical trim pieces, or batten, to cover the seams of boards attached to the wall. Once you've purchased the wood for your battens in the desired size, start by attaching the horizontal pieces to the wall using a heavy duty adhesive and finishing with nails to keep them in place. Then, attach the vertical pieces using the same method.