Wallpaper Is Not Just For The Rec Room
As with any trend, there is a point in its life cycle when it turns
from trendy to tacky. One only need refer to shoulder pads to get a sense of the sting that can come from a sudden change of trend.
Looks and ideas come and go, and before you know it, you're left with a closet full of broad-topped blazers, never to be worn again. So, with wallpaper being hung from every surface feasible,
we must step back and ask: have we gone too far?
Looking back to the early 2000s, DIY faux wall treatments were all
the rage. Suede, leather, stippling and sponging, there was nary a
solidly painted wall to be seen. With the rise in minimalism came the
banishment of these tragic treatments, and once again we ushered in
those beautiful white walls. However, with the bleakness that can often
come from too clean a palette, our little paper friend began to tiptoe
back into home decor.
If you asked one hundred people for their opinion on wallpaper, you
will most certainly receive a rash of varied answers, in part due to
the personal vision that arises when the very word is mentioned. For
some, it brings back vivid (and horrid) memories of the brown, beige
and orange striped finish in the downstairs bathroom. For others, it
drudges up past annoyances of attempting to remove the former
homeowner's chicken motif from the kitchen backsplash. But is it fair to
paint this trend with the same brush we used to decade ago?
Today, there are hundreds of boutique design shops that are
creating some of the most incredible products. They are in themselves,
works of art. For example, look at Vancouver-based company, Rollout.
They commission artists to create prints that they then execute in
beautiful patterns, that can be customized to meet ones personal
aesthetic desires. (I am rather partial to Julie Morstad's 'Coral with
Eyeflowers' which I feel would be just lovely in a child's room).
You
can also look to the NYC company, Trove, who creates some of
the most ethereal surreal, and any other 'real' you can come up with.
They print in-house and also, like Rollout, can work with your
pre-existing sketches to create one-of-a-kind works of art-in wallpaper
format of course.
I suppose the answer to the question, then, is simply that it depends on who is doing the pasting. If you can see past the horrors of wallpapers past, and invision wallpaper as a highlight, not an oversight, then there is much to choose from - so get creative!
 Lisa Kehler | |
| About the author: | |
After graduating from the University of Winnipeg with an honours degree in art history, I felt the need for speed and landed in Vancouver, BC. And the story goes that I fell in love with a rugged, outdoorsy-type, we made a baby, and the 3 of us moved to Halifax to try our hand at another coast. With the help of my son, Sir Oliver the Small, I am beginning to understand a different side of life: a sort of realization that life is a puzzle and the beauty in it depends on which side of the piece you are looking at. | |
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