Surprising Wallpaper Solutions

Designers show how the right wall covering can help solve your decorating dilemmas.

by Nancy Christie

Some rooms are just difficult. They present challenges to designers and homeowners alike. Yet the right wall covering can turn a design issue into a design asset, says Cathleen Williams, interior designer and owner of CW Design Group in St. Louis, Mo. So whether you’re battling a low ceiling, undefined area or a space that feels cold and unwelcoming—hope can be found, and it’s sold by the roll.

Low Ceilings and Small Rooms

To give the illusion of height, Williams suggests using vertically striped wallpaper, complemented by a ceiling color that matches the paper. The right wallpaper can add depth and make a room feel layered.

As for small spaces, think small patterns in cool colors, says Sarah Cole, director at Farrow & Ball of Toronto, Canada. A light blue ground color with a small-scale pattern—for example, a small cover floral pattern like a toile—will make a room appear bigger, while warm colors and large patterns can visually “shrink” a room.

Connecting Space

When two rooms are separated by a third space, wallpaper can visually unite the three, says Marianne Buckman, owner and senior designer at CocoBello in Hudson, Wis.

“One of my clients has a very large entranceway with stairs leading to the second floor. To the right was the dining room and to the left the living room. I used a wall covering in the foyer to pull the two adjacent rooms together, taking it up to the second floor to create even more of a grand entrance.”

Undefined Areas

Great rooms and loft-style spaces can benefit from textured (rather than patterned) wall coverings, says Tom Williams of Hale-Williams Interior Design in Carmel, Calif. And plan to commit to papering the whole visual expanse. “It’s never a good idea to simply ‘cut off’ a paper at a certain point in a room and expect it to look well planned,” he explains. “One wall or the whole space is the general rule of thumb.”

“Cold’” Rooms

Rooms that lack the tactile benefit of upholstered furniture, bedding or drapery (think home offices, bathrooms or dining rooms) can be “warmed” with wallpaper, says Stacy Senior Allan, marketing director for the Newark, N.J.-based wallpaper firm Thibaut. “It softens the edges of the space and can give it more impact.”