Take a risk

Wallpaper is no brief fad, says Carol O’Callaghan, we continue to be seduced by its textures and shimmering surfaces.

Minimalists who aren’t quite ready to embrace pattern might like to try a wall-sticker. Easy to apply and to remove, they bring a touch of something new without drastic change (Grafika curls and dots €13 at www.artstickers.ie)

Farrow & Ball have stylised the acanthus plant on wallpaper into soft and playful vertical stripes against an uncharacterically pink background (€100 p/roll at Boulevard Interiors

Bring a touch of the dramatic into a functional space with a floral wall mural. The Tulip comes from Aoki Interiors (€110)

Play princesses with wallpaper by Graham & Brown (€28 p/roll at Woodies, Atlantic Homecare and B&Q)

Does the distant memory of scraping layer upon layer of wallpaper off when you bought your fixer-upper house make you shudder at the thought of ever hanging a roll again? It’s a hard job even with all the fancy gizmos available. Maybe you discovered, as I did, that the layers of wallpaper were holding crumbling walls together, so what started as a DIY job became a job for a man with a trowel and an accompanying invoice. Who could blame you for wanting to stick with the quick and easy to apply pot of emulsion that can be changed speedily should you tire of the colour, or lack of it, and without much expense.

Funny how a few years ago we all thought the revival of wallpaper would be a brief fad, but it has clung on and slowly turned our heads with its variety of styles and applications. Who, for example, would have thought flocked wallpaper, once so beloved by pubs could have utterly seduced us with new textures and shimmering surfaces.

Those of us who have succumbed to wallpaper’s charm may have been lured in by the easy does it, test the waters approach of decorating one wall. Maybe it’s a chimney breast, but a more recent development is the application of paper to panels to make a feature which can be deployed to define areas in open plan spaces or especially large rooms. Such a panel can also be multi-functional. Place it behind a bed to act as a headboard of sorts or consider using it at the end of a long hallway or landing. As soon as you tire of the paper you can remove the panel without having to hire a steam machine and enduring all the huffing and puffing and sauna-like effect that will inevitably ensue.

For a touch of luxury, consider fabric wall-coverings. These can be bought in plain colours to bring a gentle variation of texture and tone and a whole new dimension to wall treatments. Admittedly, they’ll be considerably more expensive if made of silk but there are other materials too that are no more expensive than a mid-range paper, but work beautifully and look appropriate in bedrooms on a feature wall, where the emphasis is on softness and comfort. Texture and pattern have come on in leaps and bounds as wallpaper continues to evolve, but don’t run for the hills thinking I mean anaglypta or the dreaded woodchip. Pattern is the perfect antidote to minimalist living, but it is very easy to get it wrong. Don’t try to do it all at once. Give your wallpaper time to settle in and see how comfortable you are with it. The paper will be the most dominant pattern in the room and may be enough, so live with it for a few weeks before you move onto cushions, rugs, throws and lampshades. Remember that worn out old truism: less is more, and try to keep your flooring plain.

Above all, take a risk. Try a show-off wallpaper, but if risk in decorating is just too, well, risky for you, remember the single wall or covered panel.

* Next week we’re in love again with sideboards and china cabinets.