INTERIORS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT DESIGN CONSULTANCY APD INTERIORS
Q. I would like to liven up my home with wallpaper. What are the current trends?
A. Wallpaper has had a revival in the last few years after falling out of fashion in favour of plain painted walls. The use of wallpaper adds detail to an interior and can also help to soften a room. The trend over the last few years has been to use wallpaper to create a feature wall in the home, but we are also now seeing a return to fully wallpapered rooms.
This year, we have seen lots of colour emerging in all aspects of design and this is also true of wallpaper. There are some wildly colourful wallpapers available now that will add impact to any room, if you are slightly nervous of your choice use the bold colours in a room you don’t often use – a rich red wallpaper in a dining room is a good example of this.
In addition to colour, there is also lots of new textures now available in wallpaper. Osborne & Little have recently introduced a great range of flock wallpapers that add texture to any interior. If you are feeling brave, Timorous Beasties is a supplier with some very daring large-scale designs. Their London toile wallpaper looks initially like the Toile de Jouy wallpapers of the early 1800s but actually features scenes of modern urban London. This would be a great choice for use in a cloakroom. Floral patterns are still very big but often in a more abstract larger scale than previously available.
Q. I have just bought a period property where all the architectural details have been removed. How do I add them back without it looking too false?
A. The first choice you need to make before choosing any decorative features is just how authentic you want to be. If your property is listed, there are strict rules you need to obey. If your property is not listed, the level of authenticity is often decided by your budget because using materials true to the period of the home can be very expensive. It pays to do some research before you start to make changes, although it is ok to mix some styles if you are not aiming for period authenticity.