Are you interested in elevating the look of your accent walls? By creating intricate and thoughtful designs out of molding and trim, it’s a simple task to take your accent wall to the next level. Here are nine accent wall molding and trim design ideas to get those ideas flowing:

1. Use a Subtle Hand with Minimal Chair Rails

The designer for this beautiful room utilized a flat, angular molding to create a chair rail that perfectly accentuates the minimal aesthetic. This choice provides a break in the taupe-colored accent wall, adding a subtle touch of personality.

Notice how the molding enhances the look of the baseboards and trim along the windows. Each piece adds energy to the room without pulling focus or overwhelming the design. This is a perfect choice for any dining room, where family, friends, and guests can gather to eat, socialize, and celebrate.

2. Elevate the Look of Your Fireplace

This living room exemplifies the idea of an accent wall by focusing all the attention on the fireplace. This is a fixture meant to grab and hold your attention as soon as you walk into the room.

The built-in woodgrain shelves pop in contrast to the white shiplap covering the fireplace wall. The crown molding used at the top and bottom of the wall accentuates the fireplace, making it stand out even more. Instead of a typical wooden mantel, they’ve mounted a flat-screen television that perfectly matches the width and deep black of the fireplace. This living room belongs to a family that entertains in style.

3. Create Sharp Angles with Dark Molding

Let’s challenge the idea that molding and trim need to be white. This room utilizes molding with chocolate tones to cut a sharp angle along the edge of the ceiling, floors, and windows. This pairs well with the industrialized light fixtures and darker design elements throughout this kitchen.

It’s impossible not to notice how well the chocolate trim around the door perfectly complements the courtyard green of the accent wall. The choice to keep this color uniform allows the accent wall to pop. Everything about this room feels modern and luxurious.

4. Create Floor-to-Ceiling Panels

The choice to use molding to create panels from the floor to the ceiling allowed this designer to take a standard accent wall and transform it into a showstopper. The molding is also utilized on the non-accent walls, creating a striped texture to accentuate the décor.

The best decision here, by far, was the decision to keep everything the same color. This allows the molding to create contrast with shadows. Depending on the lighting and where you’re standing, the panels will have a different look and depth.

5. Transform Your Ceilings and Walls

Aside from the blue steel accent wall, this room is packed with intricate design techniques that create an awe-inspiring and cozy living space. The molding accents on the ceiling and along the top of the accent wall create a sense of dimension that is anything but typical.

This design creates a focal point that draws your attention to the accent wall and fireplace, which perfectly complements the design aesthetic of the built-ins on the adjacent wall.

6. Create the Look of Picture Frames

Dark accent walls are quickly becoming a hallmark of modern design aesthetics. They draw your attention immediately and offer a splash of personality without making the room feel too dark.

But why stop there? The designer of this living space transformed the green accent wall by creating the look of empty picture frames. They used actual picture frames to create this effect, but the same can be done with molding. In fact, if you want the edges more uniform and the sizes more customizable, molding is the ideal choice.

7. Embrace a Chic and Minimal Office Design

Less is more with a minimal office design. This accent wall is cut in half with an elevated chair rail. This is a smart choice because the room still feels warm, bright, and inviting, even with the darker shades of blue.

The designer of this room decided to take the chair rail concept a step further by adding molding to create panels along the wall. This makes it almost feel like the room is split into three sections. This is both intriguing and modern, but also timeless.

8. Utilize Thin Molding to Create Narrow Panels

While we’re into the idea of revolutionizing accent walls, let’s focus on a different type of paneling. You don’t have to use thick molding to create this effect. In fact, you can use thinner strips of molding to create narrow panels that look both expensive and sophisticated.

This navy accent wall is the definition of luxury. The thin panels give a touch of personality to the wall without drawing too much attention. The white baseboards highlight the accent wall, drawing warmth and brightness from the rest of the room.

9. Get Creative with Intricate Molding Designs

No rule says you can’t have fun with your molding and trim designs. This room is a prime example of that. By creating an unconventional striped pattern along this juniper-colored wall, you immediately feel like this room is ripped straight from a modern interior design catalog.

Adding a touch of nature to this design aesthetic, the rich dark color of the accent wall perfectly complements the plants, woodgrain, and wicker basket. Pairing it all with the industrial black light fixture and grey metal headboard makes this bedroom absolutely stunning.

What’s Your Design Style?

After seeing all these inspiring design ideas, you’re probably itching to do something with your own accent walls. If you don’t know which molding or trim to choose or you’re unsure of how to get started, I’m here to help you determine the molding and trim styles that are perfect for your design aesthetic. I can show you all kinds of design treatments that would work best for your space, so just let me know if what you’ve seen here has inspired you. I’m easy to reach – you can choose a contact method right below this blog post, or click this “contact” link. You can also email me at: carmen@sohointeriordesign.com, and, of course, you can always call me anytime at (407) 743-2399.