
If you’re looking for a material that could unify and bring uniqueness into your home interior at the same time, then wallpapers are what you need. This tool is considered a visual treat for many interior designers as they come in countless colors, patterns, and textures.
Be it bold, subtle, big, or small, wallpapers can also be used in a variety of ways. Traditionally, they are used to cover the entire wall surface in a room. Considered as the most classic use of this material, this design style has survived many generations and is still being used today.
But if you’re over the classic and are ready to see wallpapers in a new light, you can try these five clever ways to use wallpaper in your home’s interior design:
1. Wallpaper as Frames and Canvasses
Tired of those old school wooden or metallic frames? Why not try wallpapering artwork and picture frames to add color and tie your wall décor to your interior design?
If you have plenty of wallpaper scraps, you can use them to cover the frames or serve as background for artwork. Then, you can create a collage by placing artworks and pictures along the walls of your staircase. This would make for a continuous flow of the design, especially if you used the same wallpaper by covering the walls (or any other element) in your living room.
Of course, you can always limit the color or pattern to a single room while still making use of this nifty tool to make an entire room look like a piece of art. The trick is to wallpaper one wall before arranging a collage of wall decors on the wall opposite it.
2. Cover Only Half-a-Wall
Traditional use of wallpaper entails covering all the walls of a room from top to bottom. However, an old technique that entails covering only half of the wall has reemerged and is now making interior home designs looking better than ever before.
Whether you choose the bottom or top half of the wall, you can create an excellent look without the risk of overwhelming those who enter with the pattern you chose. To make it work, experts recommend separating papered and non-papered parts of the wall with architectural moldings like chair rails.
3. Use Two Wallpapers on the Same Wall
Another interesting take on papering is the use of two different wallpapers on the same wall. While it can be challenging to pull this off without making the interior design look and feel overwhelming, it can lend a bolder and, ultimately, a more memorable look to a room.
To make sure you do it right, always separate the two halves of the wall with different wallpaper designs with an architectural molding (as explained in item no. 2). You should also decide on a general theme or style you’d like to pull off for a room. Below are some examples:
- For strong and bold interior designs, you can use contrasting patterns that come in strong colors. This can be a pairing of stripes with toile or damask and chevron.
- For a subtler theme, you can match tone-on-tone patterns that have simple and similar styles.
Since this technique yields eye-catching results, you must be careful what colors or patterns you mix and match. Make sure that all the wallpaper designs you chose will complement rather than clash with each other.
4. Have a Feature Wall
Another excellent use of wallpapers in interior design is through feature walls. Making a feature wall entails using a color or pattern of wallpaper on a single wall to create a focal point in a room that draws the eye. It serves as a striking feature that adds pizzazz to the interior design.
Traditionally, creating a feature wall entails painting it with a different, bolder color. However, modern-day interior design techniques have evolved, making it possible for you to use wallpaper on it instead.
When doing this, you should make sure that your feature wall isn’t competing with other existing focal points in the room. You see, more than one focal point tends to yield confusing visuals and, thus, might create a sense of chaos and disorganization in the room. The trick is to establish a feature wall on the same side as the fireplace or the TV since they naturally attract the eyes.
5. Wallpaper the Inside of a Bookcase
Wallpapers are great for adding personality to an open bookcase. Instead of painting them a plain color or leaving them bare, put wallpapers on the backs of the open shelves to unify the furniture with the interior design of the room.
To start, you can cut out pieces of foam core that would fit the nooks of the shelf. These would serve as an anchor to support the wallpapers and would make removing them easier when needed.
Let Your Creativity Flow to Your Interior Design
Like fabrics and paint, wallpaper can serve as excellent material to let your creativity flow in interior design. Try these clever ways to use wallpaper in your next home improvement project and watch your room come to life with wonderful colors and patterns.