Wallpaper Trends

Wallpaper Trends 2015/16

Wallpaper is the least expensive way to add real drama to your space. You might think a can of paint is the simplest way to transform a space, however, paint just acts as a background whereas wallpaper will add tangible pizzazz. I never decorate a show home with out covering a number of walls.

 

The biggest problem we consumers encounter with wallpaper is that we think it’s a permanent decision. Years ago wallpaper was exactly that. Paper. And it WAS irrevocably affixed to its surface. I actually know someone who removed an entire wall because the thought of spraying, steaming and scraping was too much to bear. Well bear no more. New technology now allows manufacturers to produce wall coverings on a non-woven backing. Similar to that of a tea bag, or the material found in shirt collars, these backings do not allow absorption. They are resistant to breaking down in water and will never rip into a thousand pieces when being removed. It can easily be peeled it off in one strip.

 

Remember soaking your roll of wallpaper in water to stimulate the glue? That’s also gone. Now we can place a water-based adhesive directly onto the wall, and guess what, it also has a 2 hour curing window just in case our inner Martha needs to tweak a seam or two. How great is that? And talk about the selections out there..! No longer are wall coverings the repetitive static images we often recall from our past, they have been replaced with a depth and breadth of dynamic representations that can even change the way they look during different times of the day.

 

I am a confessed wallpaper fanatic and I recently had the pleasure of attending a workshop with Ali Nikzad of Primewalls, where the latest trends were revealed. Here are what you’ll be seeing on walls everywhere this and next year:

 

1. Natural Faux Finishes – think rough hewn barn board planks
2. Concrete – like a soho loft with an entire wall clad in grey slabs
3. Exposed Brick – but not the brick of yore, it’s more muddied and weathered
4. Weathered Geometrical – faded broken patterns, like an ancient Moroccan mosaic
5. Chinoiserie – hand painted effects as found on silk fabrics
6. Panelled Murals – any picture of good resolution can be customized into wall art
7. 3D – makes you want to get closer and touch it
8. Grass Cloth – this has never gone out of style, new colour selections will amaze
9. Timeless Luxury – classic embellishments like glass beads, metallic fibres, embossing, fine silks and linens are all being used on wall applications with tremendous abandon

 

 

And I guarantee that your new wallcovering will garner more notice from friends and family than a new fridge, stove and countertop combined. And not only is it a fraction of the price, but because like art, it’s a pure reflection of one’s personality. We may live within 4 walls, and have the same things inside these walls, but what is ON our walls is what makes each of us unique.