From florals to stripes, grasscloth and vintage designs, wallpaper lets homeowners imprint their living space with personality.
By Sharon Stello
With the resurgence of wallpaper in recent years, a wide range of styles from bold geometrics to dainty florals and stripes have filled the market, but the product has come a long way in the past few decades, with seemingly endless options that are easier to apply and remove.
“I think that design is obviously cyclical, so everything comes back at some point in time,” says interior designer Elizabeth Flaherty. “But I think one of the reasons that people are more open to wallpaper now is that it’s not the wallpaper of the ’70s, like our grandparents’ wallpaper, where to pull it off you had to like rip the wall off.”
Today’s wallpaper is easier to remove including peel-and-stick options, which might be a good choice for renters although not as luxe. With these removable types, Flaherty still recommends using a light adhesive.
“Even the wallpaper that’s not peel-and-stick, the glue is a water-based glue so it’s a lot easier to pull off and scrape off without damaging the wall,” Flaherty says. “So it’s not this huge commitment like it was back in the day.”
Many people choose to use wallpaper or other treatments like shiplap or wainscoting on one wall as an accent. “It’s something that’s going to be a conversation piece,” Flaherty says. “It just polishes off a wall. … And things like that will make a room look bigger—vertical patterns [especially].”
When choosing a wallpaper pattern, Flaherty recommends selecting a design that fits the look and period of the home. “It totally depends on the style of the house,” she says. “I’ve done everything from florals to midcentury modern to Star Wars to kind of funky abstracts.”
Often, clients request wallpaper in a child’s room, which can be fun, or a powder room. “I have found in the bathrooms that I’ve done, most of the wallpaper … has been some kind of floral, whether it’s a black-and-white floral or like a floral that’s a monochromatic color where it’s not overly girly,” she says.
She recalls arriving at one client’s house for a project and the powder room was covered in unexpected but beautiful butterfly wallpaper.
“Powder rooms are definitely my favorite things to wallpaper,” Flaherty says. “… If you’re having a party or you’re having people over to your house, there’s a very good chance that someone’s going to use that room. … It can be one of the places where you have a little wow factor.”
Flaherty advises that the size of the space being covered dictates the scale of the paper’s pattern.
“Bigger prints will look better on bigger walls,” she says. “When you have a really big wall with a small pattern, it can look overwhelming. … So, generally, if the wall is really big, I’ll stick with a bigger print.” Along those same lines, Flaherty says, small patterns work well in small spaces. “When your eye has a lot of things to look at, you feel like there’s more going on, so it makes the space feel bigger,” she says.
Flaherty strongly recommends that, although do-it-yourself videos may make wallpaper installation look simple—it’s not—and hiring a professional is always best. Before even putting the paper on the wall, the surface must be prepped with a skim coat to cover any texture that might make the paper appear lumpy and bumpy. A few other tips: avoid using peel-and-stick or grasscloth wallpaper in a bathroom or anywhere that might be wet or humid.
Above all, Flaherty advises clients to avoid trends and choose a style they like, since they’re the ones living there. “If it’s something you like,” she says, “a good designer will find a way to make it work.”
Pattern Play
Wallpaper styles abound, from traditional to fun and whimsical, with many options available at local stores.
