You love it. You hate it.
Covering your walls in anything but paint elicits strong opinions. Like art, wall coverings are a personal design statement and one that you should really love and want to look at every day.
For color, texture and that “wow” factor, wall coverings come in a variety of materials, each with unique properties to transform any room. There’s paper, of course. But so much more. Vinyl, acrylic, fabric, and bamboo to name a few. You can also over your walls in wine bottles, but we’ll save that topic for another day.
‘Wallpaper is a key trend for 2020,” says Homes and Gardens “and the insatiable appetite from consumers doesn’t look like abating any time soon. Whatever your taste, there is something everyone, from traditional florals and trompe l’oeil, to contemporary geometric and tropical patterns or animal motifs and architectural designs. The progress in new printing techniques and finishes is constantly pushing the boundaries, and the availability of new substrates makes it even more exciting. Gone are the days of just printing on paper, you can now embellish corks, grass-cloths and silks with pretty much any design.”
Let’s take a look at how our favorite designers, some of them recently featured here, use wall coverings.
Murals
Fine art-inspired wall coverings are having their moment with life-size art murals.
Jose Solis Betancourt of Solis Betancourt & Sherrill, explains the story behind the beautiful painted mural in a dining room his firm designed.”When the client was at Cambridge University he saw a beautiful woman at a ballroom dancing class there and decided to ask her to dance. They have now been married forty-plus years. The mural is an historical interpretation of their meeting place.” Jose loves to use wall coverings in his projects, especially
on the back surface of book cases. “Using a wall covering such as a dark velvet or a vibrant sea grass helps to add visual interest, texture, and provides a nice back drop for the collection of books and art on display.”
Photo by Marcos Galvany. Mural by Bryan King of Artifice Inc.
Botanical
Leafy prints and large-scale floral are making a comeback. House Beautiful says “Botanical designs, a metallic twist on geometric patterns, and applying wallpaper in the bathroom are among the biggest wallpaper trends for 2020. With wellness in the home being a continuing trend, our love for botanical designs will feed into this, bringing the outside in and creating a sense of calm. It’s not surprising that green wallpaper designs will be the color of choice, although slightly punchier than the muted shades, and this will be further complemented by earthy tones.”
The iconic British wall coverings firm of Graham & Brown has announced their Wallpaper of the Year for 2020, the great big chintzy Bloomsbury Neo-Mint celebrating the influential creative output of the Bloomsbury Set – a group of intellectuals, philosophers, artists and friends who lived and worked in the area in the first half of the 20th century.
They show it in every room and several color ways but we especially love it for a powder room.
Pamela Harvey of Pamela Harvey Interiors definitely creates that “wow” factor when she uses an oversized blue floral print as a backdrop for a framed white flower. How very Pantone of the Year!
Tricia Huntley of Huntley & Co. has paired a lovely sepia-toned tree photo with a leafy tone-on-tone wallpaper.
Geometric
GreyHunt Interiors turns a dark woody powder room bold with a green geometric wall print.
Chinoiserie
Evoking Chinese and East Asian traditions, Alison Giese of Alison Giese Interiors styles powder room with chinoiserie wallpaper.
Not just for walls and grown-ups
Check out Arlene Critzos’s for Interior Concepts Inc. dining room masterpiece.
Peltier Interiors brings delight to the youngest set in their Pasadena Showcase nursery suite with a soft cloud-filled wall-to-wall print.
From a raw silk grasscloth behind your bookcase to a wall-to-ceiling oversized pattern that matches your living room sofa, go quiet or go bold. There’s a style and material out there to give your rooms that extra touch of luxury.
Looking for design advice? Give us a call.
