Some clients can't get enough pattern, and others shy away from it. Combining disparate patterns can be very successful if you consider the scale, origin, and quantity. While many thoughts about pattern apply to fabric and wallcoverings, careful scale consideration is even more critical on walls. A large room covered in a small, organic pattern can be dizzying, where its scale may be taken full advantage of in something bigger and more architectural. IF the architecture is strange, covering it in an irregular pattern might be a good idea. Combining a large-scale abstract print with a small-scale animal print provides an exotic flare, while checks, houndstooth and stripes feel very buttoned up. Botanicals and florals connect the staid with the adventurous and can be easily incorporated into most homes. Chinoiserie is exceptional in a fine dining room and is a pleasant surprise in a formal house where damask may be expected. Dots and diamonds lend themselves to contemporary, transitional, and classic interiors. Flamestitch is enjoying a renaissance, and plaid never goes out of vogue in the United States. The secret to a successful mix of really unrelated patterns is to keep adding. Two or three may feel disjointed, but ten will feel like a garden worth exploring.
Wallpaper borders have been out of fashion since the mid-1990s, so it seems a comeback is inevitable. Cole & Son, the English wallpaper manufacturer established in 1875, carries a small collection of borders unlike those you remember from your childhood bedroom and may work well in your contemporary project.
Grasscloth is one of the best solutions for a client who is leery of pattern but wants a warm, luxurious surrounding. These papers are often made of real grasses taken from nature and genuinely bring the outdoors in. Some, like silver-backed grasscloth or gold-backed grasscloth, provide a luminous quality. Where plaster quality is lacking, this may be a helpful thing to specify.
Wallpaper murals and wallpaper panels add scale to any space they occupy. Usually conceived to have 1 -3 vertical repeats, they help take full advantage of a room's height. Groundworks Lucky Charm is evocative of a Chinese garden, while Cole & Son's Fornasetti panels carry viewers to another realm entirely.
Printed wallpapers are a mainstay in the interior designer's arsenal. With so many printing methods, from digital printing to hand blocking, the sky's the limit when it comes to the sort of attitude you can convey.
Many vinyl papers replicate other natural woven materials and work well in commercial and high traffic areas where durability is a real concern. Leather-covered walls are lovely but expensive, so faux leather wallpapers have been developed to make this a viable solution.
