The range of associations we have with wallpaper are just one indicator of its staying power.
From quaint country kitchens to grand ballrooms in mansions, wallpaper has been setting the tone for our homes for centuries. It’s a classic design tool that never went away and has seen a big resurgence as we look for ways to make our interiors more engrossing and atmospheric as we spend more time at home.
Advances in technology and continued reinvention from artists and designers are giving us more options than ever to create new moods and worlds at home by decking walls in exciting colors, textures and graphics — don’t relegate imagery to an accent wall, let it envelop your rooms in wonder and whimsy.
Botanicals are big
Florals have always been predominant in wallpapering and there’s no stopping their comeback, but the tradition is being expanded to include vines, stems, seedlings, berries and anything else you find in the great outdoors.
Trees can create the popular jungle look, bring the forest outside your window inside or evoke a riparian system. Large-scale prints add volume and depth to large rooms while smaller ones add detail to more intimate spaces.
Warm the room
Deep, saturated colors are fantastic for creating an inviting glow within a room. The renewed interest in warm neutrals and earth tones is making that easier than ever.
Look for prints with stripes, florals or botanicals that have a gold undertone or, for ultimate luxury, find wallpaper with touches of gold leaf to get that inimitable radiance that will stick with your family and guests whenever they leave the house.
Get graphic
If floral or botanical patterns don’t interest you, there are a lot of geometric patterns out there for an angular alternative.
Rectangles, cubes, triangles, hexagons and many other shapes are showing up everywhere, in many cases arranged in tunnels and 3-D designs that play with space and help the room appear larger.
Others have a cheerfully retro midcentury vibe that evoke Space Age progress and optimism.
Texture gives context
Wallpaper that incorporates texture, whether through its composition or by imitation, is growing in popularity. This can have a more subtle effect than a printed pattern but is no less effective.
The feel and look of linen, grass cloth, raised leaf or other details can be created by heavily embossed sheets that lend a homey ambiance or printed wallpaper simulating wood grain, brick or other materials.
Silky sophistication
“Silk wallpaper” can be one of two things: any sheet of any kind of fabric that’s paper-backed or authentic silk applied to a wall, either with some sort of adhesive or after being stretched across a frame.
Given its fragile nature it’s difficult to successfully apply silk directly to a wall, but “silk plaster” is a paintable form of wallpaper containing natural fibers including silk, cotton, cellulose and other eco-friendly substances, offering a seriously sophisticated look that’s free of artificial ingredients.
