9 Inspiring Ways With Wallpaper
A designer shares her tips on where to add wallpaper for the greatest visual impact
Wallpaper is hot. Homeowners are asking about it, designers are ordering it and manufacturers are producing it in ever-growing options of pattern and color. It doesn’t matter if your home is traditional, modern or somewhere in between, wallpaper can add instant style and drama to any interior. Read on to discover my tips on where to add wallpaper and which types to use to make the greatest impact in your home.
The graphic punch from this wallpaper, featuring black-and-white elongated hexagons, turns an entry hall by Zawadksi Homes into a stylish landing zone. The Eames-style coat hooks with black knobs blend into the design and are perfect for hanging coats, handbags and umbrellas.
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2. Stairway to (Design) Heaven
Wallpaper can tie together a staircase and foyer to create a more pulled-together, tailored look. I love the contrast of the black stair railing and the natural cherry bench against the wallpaper’s gray-and-white vertical pattern in this home by Liz Levin Interiors.
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Wallpaper can tie together a staircase and foyer to create a more pulled-together, tailored look. I love the contrast of the black stair railing and the natural cherry bench against the wallpaper’s gray-and-white vertical pattern in this home by Liz Levin Interiors.
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Elza B. Design used a modern wallpaper to add a contemporary touch to this Victorian-era staircase, without taking away from its vintage charm. The wallpaper provides the perfect backdrop for the antique curio cabinet and the carved newel post.
Pro tip: Many of today’s wallpaper manufacturers can make the scale of their prints larger or smaller to ensure the proportions are correct for the space.
Pro tip: Many of today’s wallpaper manufacturers can make the scale of their prints larger or smaller to ensure the proportions are correct for the space.
3. Use the Fifth Wall
Designers often refer to the ceiling as the fifth wall in a room, and it’s an area that should not be overlooked. Wallpapering a ceiling can create the feeling of a more intimate space, even in a large room.
This home bar by Transformation Renovations features a metallic gold star motif wallpaper that pairs perfectly with the metallic gold pendant lights. The wallpaper also takes some of the hard edges off this industrial-style space, making it more inviting.
Designers often refer to the ceiling as the fifth wall in a room, and it’s an area that should not be overlooked. Wallpapering a ceiling can create the feeling of a more intimate space, even in a large room.
This home bar by Transformation Renovations features a metallic gold star motif wallpaper that pairs perfectly with the metallic gold pendant lights. The wallpaper also takes some of the hard edges off this industrial-style space, making it more inviting.
A grasscloth-covered tray ceiling in denim blue coordinates with the bold wallpaper pattern on the walls of this dining room by The McMullin Design Group. Grounding the ceiling in a solid color keeps the space from feeling too busy.
4. Line the Insides of Display Shelving
Sometimes cabinets with glass doors or no doors that are used to display serveware or other objects need a bit more oomph. What better way to do that than by adding wallpaper with a distinct pattern?
The Cross Interior Design lined the back of a kitchen cabinet with a simple geometric wallpaper that adds a fun touch but doesn’t compete with the backsplash.
Sometimes cabinets with glass doors or no doors that are used to display serveware or other objects need a bit more oomph. What better way to do that than by adding wallpaper with a distinct pattern?
The Cross Interior Design lined the back of a kitchen cabinet with a simple geometric wallpaper that adds a fun touch but doesn’t compete with the backsplash.
Similarly, you can take a plain old bookcase, as designer Cristin Priest did in this kids’ room, and line the wall behind it with wallpaper. The pattern used here coordinates nicely with the bold zigzags on the headboard.
5. Paper the Powder Room
As the primary bathroom for guests, powder rooms are a great place to impress. One can often select materials at a higher price point for a powder room because of the smaller amount of square footage.
The green malachite wallpaper in this powder room by Cook Construction sets a moody tone, finished with a walnut vanity and sculptural teardrop pendant lights.
As the primary bathroom for guests, powder rooms are a great place to impress. One can often select materials at a higher price point for a powder room because of the smaller amount of square footage.
The green malachite wallpaper in this powder room by Cook Construction sets a moody tone, finished with a walnut vanity and sculptural teardrop pendant lights.
In this powder room by Great Rooms Designers & Builders, the abstract multicolored wallpaper feels like confetti at a party. Pairing this bold pattern with simple lines for the washstand and mirror keeps the space from feeling overwhelming.
6. Go Grand With Grasscloth
Grasscloth wallcoverings come in a bazillion colors and styles, including metallics and prints. In this perfectly curated living room by Landed Interiors & Homes, the blue-gray grasscloth walls add tailored elegance and just the right amount of texture to offset the harder edges of the furnishings.
Grasscloth wallcoverings come in a bazillion colors and styles, including metallics and prints. In this perfectly curated living room by Landed Interiors & Homes, the blue-gray grasscloth walls add tailored elegance and just the right amount of texture to offset the harder edges of the furnishings.
This bedroom by Blue Sound Construction features a great example of printed grasscloth, with a pattern that evokes Japanese watercolors. The soft gray-green print is a lovely complement to the tone-on-tone gray bedscape.
7. Glam It Up With Veneers and Embellishments
It’s truly amazing what can be done with wallcoverings today. You might think this photo shows a tile pattern above the sideboard. But in reality, Fiorella Design used a wallcovering made of wood veneers cut into a pattern and made into sheets for installation. It’s somewhere between wallpaper and wood paneling and it’s oh so chic.
It’s truly amazing what can be done with wallcoverings today. You might think this photo shows a tile pattern above the sideboard. But in reality, Fiorella Design used a wallcovering made of wood veneers cut into a pattern and made into sheets for installation. It’s somewhere between wallpaper and wood paneling and it’s oh so chic.
In this bathroom, rivets adorn the cream-toned wallpaper. It’s a bit like adding jewelry to a simple dress. The rivets add a bit of pizzazz to an otherwise monochrome scheme.
Pro tip: Wallpaper embellishments come in all shapes and sizes and are often done in a contrasting color or finish against a solid background.
Pro tip: Wallpaper embellishments come in all shapes and sizes and are often done in a contrasting color or finish against a solid background.
8. Marvelous Murals
If you want to tell a visual story, it’s hard to beat wallpaper murals. Rather than a pattern that repeats over and over, murals depict a full scene or photographic image across several panels.
These installations have to be planned very carefully, especially if the scene wraps around adjacent walls. The overall impact, as seen in this dining room by Crisp Architects, is both stunning and classic.
If you want to tell a visual story, it’s hard to beat wallpaper murals. Rather than a pattern that repeats over and over, murals depict a full scene or photographic image across several panels.
These installations have to be planned very carefully, especially if the scene wraps around adjacent walls. The overall impact, as seen in this dining room by Crisp Architects, is both stunning and classic.
This family room by Ann Lowengart Interiors features a photographic mural. To create the mural, high-resolution images were scaled up to fit the wall and then custom printed.
Pro tip: You can use your own images or you can choose from many preexisting scenes to create a photographic mural.
Pro tip: You can use your own images or you can choose from many preexisting scenes to create a photographic mural.
9. Be Bold With Botanicals and Floral Prints
Large, bold and colorful botanical and floral prints are having a design moment, yet they’re still classic enough to stand the test of time.
Who doesn’t love a good palm leaf wallpaper like the one used in this powder room by Carmit Oron Interior Design. It pairs well with the natural wood vanity but can also handle the dressier gold finishes.
Large, bold and colorful botanical and floral prints are having a design moment, yet they’re still classic enough to stand the test of time.
Who doesn’t love a good palm leaf wallpaper like the one used in this powder room by Carmit Oron Interior Design. It pairs well with the natural wood vanity but can also handle the dressier gold finishes.
Another great use of botanical or floral wallpaper is to add it inside the borders of wall moldings to create instant “framed” art.
Andrea Schumacher Interiors chose to repeat the floral wallpaper pattern on the dining room walls by using a fabric in the same pattern to upholster the host chairs.
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Before and After: 5 Bathrooms That Rock Wallpaper
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Andrea Schumacher Interiors chose to repeat the floral wallpaper pattern on the dining room walls by using a fabric in the same pattern to upholster the host chairs.
More on Houzz
Before and After: 5 Bathrooms That Rock Wallpaper
Find an interior designer
Shop for wallpaper
There might be no better way to make a bold design statement from the moment you open the front door than by adding wallpaper to an entryway.
This foyer by doesn’t need a lot of furniture to create its wow factor — the watercolor-esque floral wallpaper selected by Dayna Flory Interiors does that all by itself. The bench and basket add texture and provide a place to remove shoes and drop off the mail.