WALLPAPER REVIVAL IN INTERIOR DESIGN

Wallpaper is making a comeback…although it never really left. For the past several decades, home owners were discouraged from installing paper, because a home with wallpaper was deemed a hard sell if it were ever placed on the market. But that was long ago when every room in the home was papered. The more modern application is to decorate select rooms. Today, wallpaper used properly, actually increases a home’s value by giving it a more custom and unique look. Not only is wallpaper decorative, it also can provide solutions to problem spaces.

I love including wallpaper for several rooms in the design scheme of a home. It might be something dramatic on the walls (and always the ceiling) of a small powder room. It ups the elegance and sophistication quotient in a dining room above the dado. It’s warm and welcoming in an entry hall, and is graceful and cozy in a bedroom.

It’s not necessary to paper all walls in a room. One wall behind a bed, a fireplace wall in a library, a single wall in a bathroom are all great places to experiment with wallpaper. Nor is paper limited to walls. Ceilings or kitchen islands are perfect candidates for special treatment. 

Following are some applications I’ve used for wallpaper:

Powder room: (see photo left)

Bathroom: instead of papering the entire wall, I used tile wainscoting and papered the remaining wall and ceiling.

Condo: A graphic floral pattern in a condo corridor with a simple companion pattern to break up the long expanse of hallway!

Kitchen Island: Open concept living areas where the kitchen opens to the living and/or dining areas generally separated by an island. The challenge was how to make an elegant transition. I used a mica paper in a slate blue that matches the kitchen and is used throughout the living room. 

In another apartment, I’m using a ‘stainless steel’ paper that marries the stainless of the kitchen appliances and the base of the table in the dining area.
(See below).

The beveled 2x4 bisque tile and soft graphic paper below will be transforming a guest bath. The tile will be applied as wainscoting; the paper will cover the remaining wall and ceiling. Very soft and monochromatic. The home owner can bring any color in to accessorize, and even change colors according to season or mood.