Wallpaper in Frames

I have a hang-up about hanging wallpaper.

When we moved into our house in 2004, most rooms were wallpapered. Ghastly wallpaper, like one bedroom had navy background with dark forest green leaves. Looked like colorful mud on the wall. One bathroom had thousands of ivy leaf vines on white paper. It hurt our eyes and was distracting in the mirror when you’re trying to focus on your face in the morning. Oh I could go on … most wallpaper was promptly removed. It took lots of time and sweat equity, and then great expense when we failed to remove paper that was super-glued to the walls and we hired help.

I will not be hanging wallpaper again.

But there are some inspiring wallpapers out there. Some are huge bold prints that I might like in a smaller dose but not all over a room or big wall:

Schumacher Tokat Wallpaper

Some beautiful wallpapers are pricier:

Schumacher Fern Tree Graphite Wallpaper

There’s a lot of pretty vintage wallpapers but limited quantities of them, like this 1950s wallpaper from Hannahs Treasures Etsy store:

Vintage 1950s Wallpaper from Hannahs Treasures Etsy Shop

So what if you want to use a wallpaper that’s very bold, expensive or limited in quantity? Or you rent?

Why not treat wallpaper like a large painting or print, and frame it? Here are some examples of framed wallpaper …

From Canadian House and Home, these framed wallpaper panels in a landing add a lot of impact behind a console table:

Framed Wallpaper Panels via Canadian House and Home

The large frame around this de Gournay wallpaper “grounds” it and adds extra visual interest. By Laura Vinroot Poole via Charlotte Home+Garden:

Framed de Gournay Wallpaper via Charlotte Home+Garden

… and Domino:

Laura Vinroot Poole House Framed de Gournay Wallpaper

Here framed wallpaper anchors a bed. This might be from Elle Décor but don’t quote me on that:

Framed Wallpaper Behind Bed Headboard

This is an innovative use of wallpaper, by Woodson & Rummerfield in Christina Aguilera’s home:

Framed Wallpaper in Christina Aguilera's Home by Woodson and Rummerfield

If you like the idea of curved corners like this in molding, here’s a place to get it for a decent price.

Shared at Houzz by Maison21, this is a perfect alignment of framed wallpaper to highlight this table, lamps and benches:

Framed Wallpaper via Maison21

Here, wallpaper framed with molding gives a sconce more presence on the wall, from NEWmouldings.com:

Framed Wallpaper Around a Sconce

I love how wallpaper is used to make a little “room” within a larger room here by Jessica Lagrange Interiors:

Framed Wallpaper via Jessica Lagrange Interiors

Here’s another scene, like the one above, of wallpaper treated as framed art, by Schuyler Samperton:

Framed Wallpaper by Schuyler Samperton

Wallpaper can also be the headboard, as shown here via Castorama:

Framed Wallpaper as Bed Headboard via Castorama

From Better Homes & Gardens, this dining room shows how framed wallpaper can be layered over another pattern on the walls for extra drama:

Framed Wallpaper via BHG

Another example from BHG, this wallpaper is perfectly chosen for the sofa and accessories. If you get bored of the wallpaper, or you change the room, you could easily switch the wallpaper when it’s framed:

BHG Framed Wallpaper Makeover

Here’s another example of a large piece of wallpaper behind a sofa. It’s Cole and Son Cow Parsley wallpaper featured in Country Home:

Framed Wallpaper via Country Home

I love, love, love how this wallpaper is framed with this table and layered with this picture frame. In Julie Charbonneau’s Montreal Home featured by Canadian House & Home:

Framed Wallpaper via Canadian House & Home

Here wallpaper segments are framed under a chair rail along a staircase, by Centsational Girl:

Framed Wallpaper Under Chair Rail via Centsational Girl

Finally, if you don’t want anything attached to the wall – perhaps you are renting – you can frame wallpaper and lean it against the wall. From Apartment Therapy:

Framed Wallpaper via Apartment Therapy

If you are like me and not interested in pasting wallpaper to your walls, would you be willing to frame it? I admit I might be interested now.





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A Place to Dine on Lotus Roots and See Swirls

I’d never eaten lotus roots before. But I did last Friday night. There wasn’t much to taste in the lotus roots themselves, but they were perfectly crisped and sauced with flavors. And I kind of liked the darkness and the strength of the place. I got a bit obsessed with the walls, there …

What a neat little touch, those gold jewels on the walls. There was just a single subtle row of them, maybe seven feet up.

I will be back again for more lotus roots. And swirls.





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In Awe of Decorative Painting

With the clean slate of the India apartment’s walls, imaginations of what to do can run wild and free! There’s nothing existing to constrain ideas. No things like a royal blue velvet sectional that must be accommodated in the design. Or Chinese celadon pottery. Or Hello Kitty wallpaper.

I’ve written previously about creating an old stenciled look on many of the walls:

Something exotic. Patterned but not overwhelmingly so; maybe it’s faded and uneven like it wore away over centuries.

During online travels through the world of decorative painting, I “met” Sylvie Michel Bilger of Metamorfaux, who was in Chicago this week for a client project, and I had the wonderful opportunity to really meet her, in real life! We had a lovely conversation about all sorts of creative and life things, and time flew by so fast. That’s when you know you’re having fun. We laughed about how homes may not always be as they appear in blogs — it’s true! — because we choose to put our best faces forward here.

I wanted to share Sylvie’s work with you, which opens my eyes and mind to things that can be done with walls that I never thought possible. I admire most in this world the ability of people to make the impossible possible, and the ability to envision and innovate from literally and figuratively, blank walls. This applies to decorative endeavors as much as it applies to things like leadership and entrepreneurship.

So I respect people who can turn visions into reality. Like these images below from Sylvie’s Metamorfaux blog. Wouldn’t these stucco impressions help make the cool and calm feeling I just posted about, but add texture to make a room interesting:

Continue reading “In Awe of Decorative Painting”





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Paprika Paint, Applied – Dining Room Re-Do Revealed

See photos from around our “new” colorful dining room:

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