Tired of the same old paint? Wish your walls, ceilings or architectural features were dressed up with little bit of pattern? Then it’s time to reacquaint yourself with wallpaper. For some reason, wallpaper fell out of favor with interior designers and I’m not sure why. It allows a form of creative expression that is impossible to accomplish with paint unless you are an incredible artist in your own right.
For example, look how the addition of floral wallpaper transformed this small powder room into a whimsical and beautiful space. That simply isn’t possible with paint unless you purchase a bunch of colors, have unique artistic abilities and/or are very precise with stencils. In other words, wallpaper opens creative doors for your interior design.
Modern Interpretations for Wallpaper in Any Room in the House
Here are suggestions for modern wallpaper applications – it doesn’t always have to go on the walls.
Look for metallic prints and accents. Look for wallpaper with metallic accents. It adds elegance, shimmer and a little reflective light to any space. Some papers are 100% metallic, which makes a bold statement. Others are lightly laced with metallic stripes or accents that add just a hint of glamor and interest.
Use it for an accent wall. One of the most powerful uses of wallpaper is for an accent wall. Papering an entire room is a bold move; you have to like that pattern a lot because stripping the wall again to re-paper or paint is fairly labor intensive. So, if there is a bold, bright or wildly stunning pattern you love – but feel won’t last forever in your taste book – use it on a single wall. It will achieve the look you want and will be easy to re-move and re-do when you’re ready for a change.
Try a wallpaper backsplash. There are plenty of attractive tiles out there, but without getting into pretty cost-intensive mosaic work, it’s not easy to get the colors and patterns you envision for a stove’s backsplash. This is especially true in smaller kitchens where a window wall, or cabinets and the fridge, prevent you from gaining a burst of color or pattern elsewhere. In this case, look for wallpaper that is heavy-duty and designed for bathrooms or more moist environments so it can handle steam from the pots and the occasional wash down with a sponge.
Use it on the bed wall. Wallpaper can make an excellent backdrop for your bed. Rather than covering the whole wall, simple measure, cut and apply wall paper in the shape or dimensions that suit your room and bed. If you’re feeling bold, it’s a fun way to play with color and pattern layering, combining the print from the paper with the patterns on your bedding and accent pillows.
On the ceiling. There is something stunning about the right patterned wallpaper on the ceiling. In bedrooms, it gives you something interesting to look at while you lie in bed. In the dining room, it can provide an echo of the table’s shape or highlight a stunning chandelier. In the living room, it’s a place to add a print or color that you may have felt was too overpowering for a wall.
On architectural features. Finally, you can use wallpaper – or leftover scraps to decorate architectural features that aren’t normally decorated. These include the back walls of book cases, the risers on your stairs or the sloped ceiling of a stairwell. Use eye-catching patterns and colors.