Painting - Painting square office

We are planning to repaint my office. It is a small 10 x10 square with alot of shevling that is currently painted an off white and the walls are light yellow. The diplomas and certificates on my walls are matted in school colors of red and blue and the desk is a medium wood grain. I would like a textured look and was told that a square room needs to have an accent wall to make it not look so box-y. Oh and the other killer...no windows...so I have to go with light colors...right??

:confused: :confused:

Speaking as a design professional, accent walls are kind of dated in my opinion. I certainly don't think they make a room seem less boxy. Seems like something people used to do in the 1980's, and it seems very commercial. I would advise against it. Texturing is fine, but you should do all the walls, not just one. To me, an office is best when it's clean, if you're messy at all, you'll have textured walls, messy desk, messy shelves, and well, it will always look like chaos. I'd stick with simplicity, keep it clean. Light colors are good in an office, maybe a yellow creamy (similar to what you have, I know) color for walls, and off-white for shelves.

Accent walls were big in the 80's, but it's been 20 years ago, and like everything else, it all comes back in style every 20 years! so, guess what - accent walls are back! however, they don't particularly solve your "boxy" problem. which, in my opinion, isn't a problem. it's a room - 4 walls, a floor & a ceiling. like all rooms - boxy! and it's a small room - 10x10. chopping it up by painting some walls different colors will only make it seem smaller. so, to maximize the space, paint all the walls the same color. i think the real problem is that there are no windows and the ceiling is flat, instead of vaulted. so, yes, you'll want to stick with light colors to keep it light & airy. you might also stick with cool colors, which help walls to receed more so than warm colors. so think blues and greens. and a fresh, clean white ceiling won't hurt anything either.

the only thing i've ever seen that actually made a square room look rectangular was when one color was put on the north & south walls AND the ceiling, and a 2nd color on the east & west walls. the north/ceiling/south color really elongated the room. but it was a dining room, and the long table in the middle helped a lot. so, i'm not sure it would really work in your case.

MarkNOK's right........keep your lines clean & your colors light. get some great storage so everything's out of sight and in it's place - uncluttered.