Texture Talk
Don’t just think in terms of color and pattern when selecting your wallcovering. Consider texture as well: grasscloth, cork or bamboo for a natural feeling, crystal-embellished for drama or a three-dimensional design—just for fun!
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Wow It with Wallpaper
Designers share their tips for new and notable wallcovering applications.
- by Nancy Christie
As a design element, wallpaper definitely offers options you can’t get from paint or paneling. Try these ‘out of the box’ (or ‘off the roll’) options to give your interior space the “WOW” factor.
On the Ceiling
Wallcoverings aren’t just for vertical surfaces, points out Tom Williams of Carmel, Calif.’s Hale-Williams Interior Design. Williams includes ceilings in his design approach and has put wallpaper in areas such as:
- Powder rooms: “I papered the walls and ceiling in the same small print. I then bordered the ceiling, as well as the adjoining upper wall, to create the look of a wrapped package.”
- Dining rooms:“I used a larger-scale vinyl with a square motif on the walls, then used a coordinating smaller-scale square motif for the ceiling.”
For a Focal Wall
Create a feature wall with wallcovering to give your room impact, focus and visual interest or to enliven a room lacking architectural elements.
- Coordinating colors: “[Choose] a tone-on-tone pattern on the feature wall and then pick up one of the shades for the rest of the walls,” suggests Stacy Senior Allan, marketing director for the Newark, N.J.-based wallpaper firm Thibaut.
- Open-concept rooms: “Ground” a room with a pattern on the feature wall, says Allan. “The wallpaper gives you a place to start to organize your decorating [for] a very cohesive look.”
As an Accent
In addition to walls and ceilings, wallcoverings can add design impact in a host of other ways:
- Furniture updates: “You can breathe new life into old furniture with leftover rolls of paper,” says Cathleen Williams, interior designer and owner of CW Design Group in St. Louis, Mo. “Put it on the inside back of an old glass door cabinet and you have a chic and interesting piece. Or cover drawer fronts or old file cabinets for a fresh new look.”
- Enclosed spaces: For a decadent feel, wallpaper a walk-in closet, suggests Marianne Buckman, owner and senior designer at CocoBello in Hudson, Wis.
- Accent pieces: Wrapping mirror frames or cornice boards in a great pattern can add visual impact. “Why paint it when you can cover it with interest?” says Buckman.
