Design News

This expert reveals wallpaper hacks you’ve probably never thought of before

Article by Homes to Love

With tips, trends and ingenious ideas, this is more than just a beginner’s guide to wallpaper. Transform your interior with these clever expert tricks

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Designers and homeowners are embracing wallpaper as a way to instantly create a mood and express your creativity. We round up the latest tips and trends.

1. Trending now

A dominant trend is the industrial style, which in wallpaper terms means realistic-looking rendering of distressed brick walls, faux concrete, metal plate and weathered timber. At the same time, a contrasting trend embraces maximalism in exotic botanical designs with lush tropical flora and fauna including palms, ferns and flamingoes.

2. Safe style

Florals are always in style, and current designs take an artistic, painterly approach, with garden and woodland scenes that look like they have been lifted from the canvas of the Dutch Masters. Geometrics are also making a comeback, with simple linear geometric patterns and textures such as linen and hessian and faux granite and stone proving versatile options.

3. The golden rule

As a rule, smaller rooms look best with smaller prints while larger rooms will handle larger prints. If you’re drawn towards a bold print but think a whole room would be overwhelming, use it on a feature wall, then pluck out matching Resene colours from the pattern for the other walls.

4. Where to begin

If you’re nervous about using wallpaper, a great place to start is in the powder room or guest bathroom. Because it’s a small place it will probably only take two rolls and it makes a great impression.

5. Secret tip

Most wallpapers are only available for sale for two or three years, so it often pays to buy an extra roll in case you need a little more later.

6. Creative solutions

If you can’t find exactly the right combination of wallpaper and paint colour, create your own using the Resene Paintables Wallpaper Collection. Apply the plain wallpaper in a texture of your choice, then paint over it in Resene paint. It’s a great solution for a renovation if you’re trying to hide
an uneven wall surface.

7. Feature walls

Looking for something really special for a feature wall? Check out the Resene Komar wall mural range of unique and highly detailed wallpaper murals. They’re easy to apply and can be tailored to the space you have available.

Expert tip

To see how a wallpaper will look in your home, take advantage of your Resene ColorShop’s borrowing system and take a sample book home so you can hold it up alongside your existing furniture and flooring. “Then if you like it, get a metre sample – especially if it’s a large pattern, because the book will only show one repeat,” says Resene colour consultant Sarah Gregory. “With a metre sample you can see the repeat and how it’s going to look.”

View the extensive Resene Wallpaper Collection in the wallpaper library at your local Resene ColorShop or find out more online at resene.co.nz

Images via: Resene.

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