When we first bought this old house, its gorgeous walls were covered in parrots. That’s right. Brightly colored birds flying around the halls and stairways. It was at that point I decided I really loved wallpaper. Don’t get me wrong, I really hated the parrots, but I knew this house would look beautiful in a pattern that had a little more subtlety and a little less wing span. I looked for ways to integrate it without being overly patterned. Much to my surprise, the parrots came down quite easily. I picked a timeless pattern for my hall and that was that. With today’s wallpaper being so much easier to hang and remove, I knew I needed to sprinkle it throughout in more places than just a wall.
We have an old built in hutch in our dining space that was covered in a million layers of paint. The inside was slathered in an sparkly shade of gold. I thought this would be a perfect place to bring a fun pattern in, without being overly busy. A hutch, curio cabinet, or any cabinetry with open or glass shelving is an ideal place to bring pattern into your home without having to paper an entire wall. Not only is it a small and easy space to work with, but your cabinet items fill the space as well, allowing for practically any pattern that suits your fancy. Like this lovely afternoon bouquet.
I chose a more modern bloom pattern, that I thought would work well against the pure white hutch. I filled it with items I often use in my kitchen and absolutely love the way it turned out. The pop of color is just enough in the small space.
With a boost of confidence after seeing the hutch makeover, I took my paper trail a bit further. Where else can I sprinkle in some pattern? STEPS!
I know what you’re thinking. How do you pick a pattern that you will love forever? Wallpaper is so permanent! Here’s my secret. You don’t have to. Not only has wallpaper made leaps and bounds in its hanging and removing ability, but now many companies make peel and stick wallpaper. This is exactly what I used for my stairs. I joined the masses with the ever popular chevron pattern and the peel and stick was just as easy to put up as it sounds on paper.
If you’re having trouble putting pen to paper on where in your home you can bring in some pattern, there are so many more options! When picking a pattern, I ordered samples. While, they didn’t make their way to my steps, hallway, or hutch, I do plan on framing their pretty patterns, and hanging in our living room among photos. You can paper accent tables, single accent walls, use it as book covers for display books, cover your canister sets in the kitchen, line your drawers, cover frames, lampshades, or even give those boring filing cabinets a new life.
One of my favorite wallpaper resources is Spoonflower. They allow you to upload your own pattern if you can’t find what you like and they will turn your print into whatever you wish. A wallpaper, an adhesive decal, fabric, or even wrapping paper!
So I am papering over all those cringing thoughts about wallpaper and its bad rap. It is truly a perfect way to add some glam in any space. The days of flowers and birds have flown the coop and pretty paper is here to stay.
