How To Choose Wallpaper

Today, we're going to talk about how to choose wallpaper. There is so much on the market now, wallpaper has come along in leaps and bounds, we've got vinyls, we've got printed wallpaper, textural wallpaper, metallic wallpapers, linen wallpapers, silk wallpapers - so let's have a quick look at various types of wallpapers and wall coverings that are available and I will give you an idea of where I might use that kind of wall covering. Right, if you look at my table here, I have strewn all sorts of wallpapers all over it. Down here, we've got quite a few printed wallpapers which are the traditional type of wallpapers, these are papers which have literally have had prints on top of them. You do have to be careful with a lot of these as far as not having them in wet environments or you can have them in a bathroom but not near the wet areas of bathrooms, so if you have a wall which is away from the sink or the bath, you could put these kinds of things in. They come in all sorts of colors, patterns, you can have paint effects, this is a washed paint effect that is just a wallpaper instead of the paint effect. Children's wallpapers, wallpapers that look like something else. Twelve degree wallpapers which are a very nice traditional style wallpaper, and they come in all sorts of different colours, these were developed in the 1700's in France and nowadays, there are some manufactures that make modern 12 degree which have modern images on them instead. This is very classic diamond wallpaper and I quite like this one; this is one of my favourites. This is from Cole and Son, this is a tree wallpaper and I have used that in downstairs bathrooms for clients and also as feature walls. The vertical here almost works as a stripe so if you have a low ceiling room, it will make the room feel taller. Here's a fresh one here, this could be an accent. Busy ones like this could be a bit hard to live with if it was on every wall in a room but as an accent wall, perhaps in a boys room where you were using lots of navy that could be quite fun as its quite energetic. This is a Fornasetti print by Cole and Son again, that is quite fun to have in a dressing room or a guest bathroom or guest room maybe, on a feature wall again, I think It would work better on a feature wall, having it around the whole room maybe a bit much. I am not sure I would want the eyes staring at me if I was in a guest bedroom, so maybe behind the bed. This is quite a fun one, these flamingos for a bathroom, a guest toilet. This is a very nice traditional floral print for, I would say, a bedroom rather than a living room or anything like that. Stripes are great in hallways in particular if you have a low ceilinged hallway, that's something nice which would be over the top part of the wall if you have a dado rail or panelling underneath. This is a traditional print, with birds and plans; this is based on an archive pattern by Cole and Son which they have re-coloured. This could be very pretty in a bedroom, a guest bedroom, or even a dining room, quite a pretty dining room. These are the printed wallpapers. Moving on quickly, these are the metallic wallpapers over here which are more contemporary. They were really started in the late 60's and were very popular in the 70's. This is a very traditional 1970's style and it's called Paradise Tree by Cole and Son, and it would be great fun to have in a guest toilet or if you have a very funky dining room or something like that, this could be quite fun. The reflective quality is good in a room where you use a lot of light in the evening so it would reflect. In the day time, you don't quite get the same feeling from those. This is a more subtle damask, modern damask with a modern shine too it, lovely in the dining room, I would say. This has a bit of a 3D quality on the metal bit when you shine it and that would be quite fun, maybe in a kids' room, a teenager's room, something like that. And just moving though quickly, you see different patterns that have the metal effect which can be quite nice to give dimensionality to a room. This is a nice metal effect one here in a stripe for a hallway or a living room maybe. This is a textural one here, a vinyl tough as nails, doesn't look like a vinyl. I have actually used this as a feature wall in a master bedroom. Vinyls are fantastic because they are tough as nails and you can use them just about anywhere, really. Quickly, some other ones, texture ones, pleated wallpapers are around these are all pleated ones. That's a modern vertical stripe, another pleated one, very popular. Here, suede wallpapers, that's lovely in a study and I've also actually used suede also in a hallway because it stands up very well to people rubbing against it, it doesn't wear, so suede is lovely and it's paper backed so it goes straight on the wall. Here, I will pull this one out. This is a silk wall covering, this is paper backed, very nice for a dining room or a living room. That's actual silk so don't use it where you are going to have a lot of pets or children going around because it won't stand up that well to that sort of thing. And finally, out of this pile, I'm going to pull this one out. This is a flocked wallpaper which were very popular in Victorian times, they have come back and been re-colored and what it is, it is like a velvety feel which is called flock, so that's it from Cole & Son in a very vibrant colour way. Moving over here, rather than being called wallpapers, these are called wall coverings and this one is made up of lots and lots of little bits of stone which have been attached to a wallpaper back and that's very interesting for a hallway or a feature wall. It's quite tough. I've used it as a feature wall in a master bedroom, and it comes in different color ways. This is from Brian Yates. And here, we've got a vinyl. This is a vinyl in a crocodile effect, this is from Cole & Sons. So, vinyls don't just come in what you'd think are laundry room and kitchen type of wall covering. This is, as I said, a crocodile effect in a vinyl so that could be used in hallways or anywhere where you might be worried about the longevity of the wallpaper. So, that was a whistle stop tour of different types of wallpaper, wall textures and where I might suggest you want to use these types of wall coverings. If you want some further information or some ideas about interiors, you might want to have a look at my book which is called The Home Decorator's Colour and Texture Source Book, you can buy that on my website at www dot adriennechinn dot co dot uk.