This is a collaborative post
Thinking of taking your spring clean to the next level this year? Maybe you’re sick of the sight of your four walls (we’ve definitely had enough time to look at them this past year!).
If you feel like you need a fresh start, just clearing out your old clothes might not be enough. If you want to get creative and do something a little different you’ll actually be able to enjoy every day, this is the guide for you.
You might not think of wallpaper as a super adaptable, elegant way of updating your interior (it’s a cheap substitute for paint, right?), but it’s actually a great way to add colourful, vibrant and even subtle touches to your home.
Bold, bright and brimming with character, I Love Wallpaper’s versatile wallpaper collection might just be the best tool for giving your home a daring makeover this year. So, let’s look at how you can use wallpaper to update your interior.
Give each room a different flavour
Wallpaper is a great way to make every room in your home feel truly unique.
While most of us find consistency calming, some strive to make each room in their home feel distinctly different. Beyond furniture, it’s not immediately obvious how you can do this, but wallpaper makes it relatively easy to be bold in your choices.
By using a different pattern in each room, you give yourself and your guests a different experience in each room. Rather than plain, painted white walls consider:
- Calming cool blues in the bathroom
- Warm and inviting South American tones in the living room
- Nature-inspired, earthy patterns in the guest bedroom
Wallpaper allows you to make a statement with each room and paste your feelings to the four walls. Much more versatile than paint, if you want to express yourself with a feature wall or contemporary 3D pattern, you can do just that.
Decorate reclaimed furniture
Giving reclaimed furniture a second chance is one of the hottest trends in interior design right now. Some millennials might have the unfortunate label of brand advocates and wasteful buyers, but there’s nothing some of us enjoy more than sanding down an old coffee table or building a kitchen full of lovingly varnished furniture.
What you might not have realised is how great a tool wallpaper is for jazzing up refurbished furniture.
You can add a little flair to your upcycled dining chairs, bedside tables or desks with some vibrant or earthy wallpaper patterns. Try your hand at contemporary art full of vibrant contrasts. This works particularly well on straight-edge furniture with striking lines.
This Hunker guide is a great place to get started on giving your old furniture a little 21st-century style.
Wallpaper the ceiling
The nature of new build houses and affordable flats means most homeowners are now dealing with very small spaces to make their own. Despite this, there is plenty of prime space going ignored where they could let their personality and design skills shine — their ceiling.
Most ceilings you find are painted a bland white, with homeowners reluctant to update them, even if it does look like a crack is starting to develop. However, your fifth wall and abundance of beautiful wallpaper patterns provide a brilliant opportunity to do something your neighbours haven’t even thought about.
Ceilings are a great place to let the bold side of your inner interior designer thrive. As you’re less likely to be looking at it all day as you will be with walls, a vibrant or radical ceiling wallpaper can counter the subtlety of a more traditional wall covering or paint job.
While we don’t recommend giving this a try as your next weekend DIY project (the risk of bubbling and peeling is very real with this tricky job), it’s worth thinking about what you want to see from your walls and how you might be able to wow friends and family next time they come over, just by looking up.
Brighten up your bookcases
Nothing brings class and sophistication to a room quite like a grand bookcase. However, you might not have considered wallpaper as a way to set your bookcase apart and celebrate your love of literature.
Much like upcycling pre-loved furniture with wallpaper, unique patterns and beautiful neutral colours allow you to build a bookcase that makes a statement.
Rather than leaving the backs of your open shelves bare, consider covering them with a pretty pattern. Something classy that wouldn’t look out of place in a university or a loving celebration of the arts before it? The choice is yours!
If you’re worried that classic original bookcase passed through the generations will look out of place in your contemporary flat or new build house, this is a great way to make it blend in. Likewise, a wonderful decorating project for renters looking to give their walls a personal spark.
Use wallpaper as a framing device
Got a lovely centrepiece fireplace you would love to make the focal point of your room? An elegant wallpaper pattern is a great way to draw the eye in and make it stand out.
Wallpaper is a wonderful framing device, whatever room you find yourself updating. While paint demands consistency around the room, wallpaper is super adaptable and can be mixed and matched to guide the eye to specific areas.
If you want to show something off or build your room around a unique centrepiece such as an original chimney, wallpaper is a wonderful way to do it without having to restructure the room.
Bold or subtle, wallpaper is a delightful accoutrement to your feature wall.
Wallpaper is such a versatile decorative tool. Beyond these tips, you could:
- Hang wallpaper as art
- Install two contrasting designs on one wall
- Make your hanging lampshades stand out
Among plenty of other modern design tips. You might have taken wallpaper for granted in the past, but now is the time to get creative with it and update your interiors.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post