Would you have the courage to put a busy pattern on your walls? If you want to make a quick visual statement or a strong impact, this is a sure-fire way to do it. Whether with wall covering/papers or fabric, I think it's a great look. When I was first married, I upholstered (with the help of my mom of course) our dining room walls in our first home. It was yellow with a busy floral pattern. I covered our dining room chairs in a plaid, and you know what? With all that pattern going on, the room was not busy at all. It was actually very pleasant. I recommend you do at least one room like this in your lifetime. Unless your a total minimalist....then maybe not.
Above two designs by Tom Scheerer Inc.
Design: Miles Redd
A great way to tone down a busy room is to match the window treatment to the patterned walls.
If you have an entry that is small and has no room for furniture, then a patterned paper is a good way to distinguish it from the rest of the house and give it some presence. I am doing this in a a current project right now.
Above three designs by Joe Nye.
Photographs by: Roger Davies for House Beautiful, August 2009
I like how Nye treats this paper as a solid, by still hanging and leaning paintings on it, and how he uses a contrasting fabric for the window treatments. And the art he puts against it is not subtle, yet it works. Above he even incorporated plaid and because each pattern is so different, you really notice each one even more!
Design by: Meg Braff
Design: Nancy Boszhardt
Photograph: Tria Giovan for Veranda, September 2009
Yolande Lingerie, 1946
Vogue, 1963
Janet Leigh, 1958
What a gorgeous picture. The shoes, that hand-painted back drop....love it.
