ways with wallpaper

The death of the feature wall, as predicted by a handful of top interior designers, was premature. It’s alive and well and looks set to thrive for many years because it’s a great idea.

You can pick the busiest, brightest paper and it won’t overwhelm a room if you team it with plain painted or papered walls. There are also lots of other ways with wallpaper and an amazing array of designs to choose from. Here are some ideas:

*Murals. Wallpaper murals usually come in three panel drops. They looks good in the centre of a wall or as an alternative “bedhead”. A clear winner this year is Little Greene’s Upper Brook Street, which comes in three colourways and features brightly-coloured kniphofia flowers, commonly known as torch lilies or red hot pokers. Wallsauce.com also has a good selection of murals, including maps. Checkout Surface View, surfaceview.co.uk for something special.

*Frame it. If you can’t afford to paper a room or even a wall with your favourite, expensive wallpaper then frame it. It only takes one roll of something very special to create three large pictures, which you can hang as a triptych. Osborne and Little’s new Japanese Garden paper, £171, a roll, would look sensational in a frame and is right on trend.

*Bunting. This obviously works well in a children’s room but can look equally good on a hallway or kitchen wall or strung across a dresser. Make a diamond shape template from some card and use it to draw diamond shapes onto your wallpaper. Cut them out, fold in half and glue one side of the inner triangle. Then thread string along the fold line and stick the two sides of the diamond together. Repeat until you have the required length of bunting.

*Lampshades: It takes about two hours and a minimal amount of kit to cover a plain white or cream drum lampshade with wallpaper. All you need is a craft knife, wallpaper paste/spray adhesive, scissors and a measuring tape...plus some patience. There are lots of helpful “How to” videos on YouTube showing

the best ways to achieve this.

*Line your drawers: This is what our parents and grandparents did and it’s a great way to use off-cuts of wallpaper, while brightening up your furniture.

*Upcycle furniture. This works really well on table tops but you can also transform doors, drawer fronts, chests of drawers and shelves. Sand them down and then cut the paper to the required shape and cover with wallpaper paste, place it on the surface you want to cover and smooth down taking care to get rid of wrinkles. Trim excess paper with a craft knife. When the paper is dry you can seal it with a clear, water-based varnish.