Liven up your home with a feature wall

To add some colour and vitality to the inside of your home, consider the effect that a brightly painted feature wall could have on an indoor space crying out for some personality.

While a neutral colour scheme can look stylish and make decorating with embellishments easier, adding a differently-coloured wall to particular spaces - especially dedicated entertaining areas - can promote a feeling of liveliness and freshness and even encourage conversation!

So have a go at DIY painting and create your own feature wall with these essential tips:

Firstly, because this wall will become a focal point in the room choosing good-quality paint will stand you in good stead for cleaning and maintenance of a bright surface.

Secondly, be sure to use masking tape and seal off anything that could be painted over - features like windows and door frames.

Don't forget that you will also need a clean line between your coloured wall and the adjacent one so be sure to tape the boundary as well.

Thirdly, paint around the outside of the taped-off areas to make sure that the edges are covered before you begin on the larger surfaces of the wall.

Now you can start with your roller - remember to get an even coating and roll diagonally first, then up and down and side to side afterwards, covering about one square metre at a time.

Once your first coat is dry, you can go for the second coat - use the same stroke directions to ensure a smooth finish.