An accent wall easily becomes the focal point of any room. It creates visual interest in the space, helps to showcase your personal style, and it can even enhance your home’s existing architectural features. When you’re exploring accent wall ideas, though, don’t limit yourself to just paint colors. In a 2021 episode of “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home”, Joanna Gaines wowed the new homeowners and viewers alike when she used natural stone from the home’s original exterior materials to create natural accent walls in both the living room and the bedroom. These walls brought gorgeous texture, rustic undertones, and timeless beauty to the couple’s home.

Incorporating natural stone materials like brick, limestone, or sandstone into your interior space gives the room a warm, nature-inspired design that simple paint could never live up to. Best of all, it complements a wide range of interior designs, including classic and traditional decor, modern contemporary designs, and, of course, rustic farmhouse styles.

When styling a room around natural stone home decor features like accent walls, it’s important to keep the stone as the room’s focal point. Provide complementary visual interest with your furnishing and decor and avoid overwhelming the accent wall. Complementary doesn’t necessarily mean matching, though. Gaines did style that gorgeous stone bedroom wall with light, airy colors and warm wood tones that matched the feel of the wall. However, she also incorporated shiny, metallic gold sconces and sleek, dark-colored night stands to create contrasting — but still complementary — visual interest.

To apply this concept to your space, the gorgeous warm texture of exposed brick can be paired with a smooth, matte paint finish on adjacent walls for aesthetically pleasing juxtaposition. For a sleek, modern look, adding dark-colored minimalist furniture and metallic or glass surfaces helps to create a contemporary interior design that adds striking contrast to the room.

For a modern farmhouse style, pair the soft, neutral tones of limestone or sandstone with stark white shiplap on walls surrounding it as well as rich-colored wood accents. When it comes to furniture and decor for this rustic style, clean lines, light-colored, airy fabrics and smooth surfaces create visual contrast with the rough texture of the stone. The key to a gorgeous integration of your natural stone accent wall is to balance complementary tones and materials with ones that provide contrast — without taking away from your already eye-popping wall.