Feature walls that don't look dated next year

Feature walls go in and out of fashion faster than the rest of interior design. The trick is to pick a treatment that adds character without dating itself in three years.

Approach one: deep, considered colour. A single wall in a properly-saturated dark green, navy, terracotta or aubergine reads as architecture rather than trend. Use Farrow & Ball, Little Greene or Edward Bulmer pigments — cheap dark paints look dull within months.

Approach two: wood panelling. Shaker panels, tongue-and-groove, or modern slatted oak. Properly installed, panelling reads as period detail and ages beautifully.

Approach three: hand-printed wallpaper. Anything by Cole & Son, Lewis & Wood or de Gournay will look as right in 2046 as it does today.

Approach four: polished plaster or microcement. Adds genuine material depth that paint cannot.

Approach five: a single statement piece — a large painting, a heritage mirror, a textile — hung on a quietly-painted wall. Often the most powerful feature is no decorating at all.

What we'd avoid: vinyl peel-and-stick murals, geometric three-colour paint jobs and anything described as 'on trend'. By definition, the trend is already passing.