What makes a player housing design exciting? Colour, contrast, texture and shape all stimulate the brain, giving your build greater appeal and depth. Of all the elements in our rooms, walls are the trickiest spots to decorate. That large expanse of blank space can be downright boring.
While carpets, pictures, curtains, and plants can dress up a wall, some designs call for a background with extra pizzazz. This is where the texture wall comes into play. It adds a subtle depth to your backdrop without stealing the focus from the main feature.
I used this technique to solve a problem with ‘The Land of Medical Mayhem‘ build. The backdrop for my pill machine was two Mechagon Armory Racks. They fit the theme perfectly, but the wire grid let the strong blue glow of the daylight room bleed through. A quick application of mechanical-looking décor, I had a wall that was both interesting and thematic.
There aren’t strict rules for building a texture wall. A quick gaze over the examples in this article might leave you thinking that chaos guides their creation and you’d be right! Overall harmony matters more than the exact placement of items. While it’s more about a feeling than a rigid structure, if your house calls for a texture wall, then these are the guidelines for building one.
- Give your wall a theme. A texture wall is meant to enhance the concept behind your build. Avoid a random mishmash of items.
- Get creative with your décor. While your wall may have a machinery theme, not every component needs to be mechanical. Many tables have steel banding or rivets; let the steel shine through and hide the rest under other decor.
- Overlap your décor. A texture wall is meant to look crowded; no one item should dominate. Overlapping décor adds to that busy feeling and can hide bits that attract too much attention. Split a large item into segments by covering their centres. Impress people; let them think you have used an extravagant amount of items.
- Keep it in the background. Your wall should not be so colourful or bright as to draw the attention away from the main focus. Use caution with strong colours, moving parts or heavy particle effects. Don’t let them overwhelm the rest of your creation.
- Use the whole wall, or just a nook. Texture walls can cover an entire room or a neglected nook or forgotten corner. Your floors and ceilings can use some love, too.
While texture walls do eat into your decor limit, the charm they bring to a room is worth the budget. As our housing limits continue to expand, now is the perfect time to splurge on a rich, layered backdrop.
Left: Fill up a nook with a texture wall like this mystical, runic style arch.
I seldom see texture walls when touring other other homes. One inspiring example I did find, is GP at Home’s wall of tentacles. Thematic, gooey and tentacly, great for a Cthulu or haunted house build. Halloween is coming, so check it out.
Have you built a texture wall? If you did, leave a link in the comments, I’d love to see your creations!
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