After paint leading the way for years, wallpaper is making a comeback, and it’s climbing walls, ceiling and even shelving.
It can be used to fill in panelling, to make a statement in a guest w.c, to create a trompe l’oeil effect in an eat-in kitchen, to draw the eye up to the ceiling and as a matching pattern on seating and surfaces.
Dial up the drama in a dining room
The contemporary Italian wallpaper company, Wall & Deco, was founded by interiors photographer Christian Benini, who had already been using custom digital backdrops to enhance his work and spotted a gap in the market.
White Spring, pictured, is custom-printed to fit your space so everything is proportionate to the room it inhabits.
Its sophisticated monochrome mood will work in both contemporary and more classically decorated spaces.
Prices start from about €500 per metre.
Surface tension in dormer and attic rooms
If you want to amp up the ambience in an attic room or dormer space, follow the lead of Yellow London, which papered the walls and sloping ceilings of the pool room at Coombe End Manor in Boråstapeter’s In The Oak wallpaper to create a Gustavian feel.
It delivers a more-is-more effect that will suit a period property.
A 10 metre roll costs about €84, excluding delivery from Wallpassion.com.
Bring shelving and dressers to life in a kitchen
In The Garden is a new range of papers by Little Greene that is inspired by the grand grounds and historical florals that are overseen by Britain’s National Trust.
Papering over shelving is back in vogue.
It's a way to work floral papers into a traditional kitchen but also modern.
The idea, shown, cheats a little, for the dresser has an open back, so it just creates the illusion of this decorative move, with none of the faff.
The print is May’s Tulip in linen wash and costs about €161 per 10 metre long roll, excluding delivery.
Uniformity on drawing room walls and seating
Zoffany’s Italian Garden, from its Arcadian Thames collection, looks very sophisticated when you juxtapose upholstery and wall coverings, as seen here.
The digital print woven paper comes in two colourways, Tuscan pink or indigo, and is sold by the metre. Given its construction differences, each drop may occur, creating a beautiful, panelled effect in a room.
It costs about €341 per metre to order from Dun Laoghaire-based Brian S Nolan.
Optical illusion in a hall or bedroom
This big top-like mural from Photowall features a design that will work equally well when used to cover a ceiling, drawing the eye up to a central light pendant.
It will make a talking point for an entrance hall or vestibule, or a kids' bedroom, where they can drift off dreaming they are under a circus tent.
You will need to allow at least six cm extra margin on each extremity to ensure proper coverage.
It comes in 12 different colour options and costs about €35 per square metre.
Black cat magic in a guest bathroom
Even maximalist scaredy cats are plumping to go large on the look of their guest w.c., a small space that allows you to shut in the noise when it all gets too much.
Wallpaper company Divine Savages has designed a print for cat lovers with an art deco sensibility.
The moggy is fond of a martini, picked out here in metallic gold and styled here with agate stone and brass hardware.
It costs about €224, excluding delivery, for a 10-metre roll.
Wow-worthy wildlife in a lounge
Injisuthi by Cole & Son, shown as the lead image in this story. takes its inspiration from the UNESCO heritage waterfalls found within the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa.
As a watering hole, it gathers big cats, flamingos and fish, which all feature in this vivid botanical print.
It is shown here in a contemporary setting paired with laid-back Italian seating and lots of natural daylight.
It comes in three colourways, jade, pictured, veridian or stone and sand and costs €494, ex delivery, for an eight-metre roll.
