Decorating Guides

14 Ways to Take Advantage of Your Wallpaper

So you’ve made the decision to commit to wallpaper, chosen the best one and are now standing in your recently papered room. The paper may be up, but the procedure has only just begun. Next step: making the most of your wallpaper by way of décor.

Wallpaper isn’t merely a colorful or textural backdrop, but it’s an element which should interact with the overall design, and your décor decisions must reflect that. The job can often feel daunting or overwhelming, but I am hoping these next images will provide you the confidence to the handle the project successfully (while having some fun). Before you know it, visitors will soon be ooh-ing and aah-ing in your wallpapered room (and begging you for design wisdom!) .

Valerie interiors + design

Think bold colour. Don’t be afraid to match boldly colored wallpaper with different bold colour in the décor. This floral purple paper pops from these red contemporary dining seats. Balanced with a lighting fixture, the dining area becomes the region of the room.

Cynthia Mason Interiors

Pull out colors of the wallpaper. Really integrate the paper in your space by furnishing the room in the same colors found in the wallpaper. The green chest and neutral sink jar and accessories allow this toilet feel unified.

Attempt a pattern in a complementary scale. In case you have patterned wallpaper, make it pop by upholstering the furniture in a pattern of dimensional scale. The crucial word here is scale: Notice how the layout on the seats is smaller than that on the walls, so therefore balancing both within an eye-appealing pair.

Rupal Mamtani

Contemplate neutrals. Make your wallpaper the announcement bit by furnishing the room in neutrals. The delicate, natural feel of these pieces is calming from this floral paper, leading to a peacefully chic sanctuary.

Dan Brown

Re-create elements of the wallpaper. Have wallpaper with distinct shapes or designs? Reflect them in your own design. The circular shape of this very unique hood pulls the circles out from the paper while at the same time providing this contemporary kitchen a sculptural element.

Peg Berens Interior Design LLC

Match the wallpaper’s mood. The bursts within this paper have a playful, party vibe, and paired with these crystal sconces provide this toilet an understated feel of glamour and elegance.

Elizabeth Dinkel

Find furnishings with smaller-scaled layouts. Fabric isn’t the only element to consider when pairing patterns; furnishings will also do the trick. As always, scale is all. Try a mirror with a smaller-scale Greek key pattern with this green pine paper for a toilet that is both amazing and fresh.

M.A.D. Megan Arquette Design

Find furnishings with larger-scaled layouts. Scale goes either way: Furnishings with a larger scale will work just well playing off paper with a smaller scale, such as these dining chairs, in addition in a Greek key design.

Laura Bendik Interiors

Utilize the wallpaper’s pattern within the room. If you’re really stuck on how best to incorporate the paper, simple pull in the exact same pattern through an accessory. Throw pillows are a great choice — create custom made pillowcases and you’re all set!

Michael Fullen Design Group

Function in bold, graphic designs. If your wallpaper can be categorized from the dark, white, gray or neutral families, then you’ve got a great opportunity to inject colour and a sense of playfulness through daring, colorful prints. It’s a no-brainer for kids’ rooms, where pleasure is always welcome!

Atmosphere Interior Design Inc..

Go monochromatic with pops of colour. If your wallpaper is made up of essentially one colour or different colors of one colour, think about fusing all elements of the room by choosing furnishings in the exact same colour. To avoid it feeling excessively overly light, add one bold color through accessories, placed intermittingly through the room.

Nicole Lanteri Design

Hang colorful frames. Because frames have a rather intimate relationship with the walls, they’re a great opportunity to bring a little excess life to wallpaper. Bold colors pop from the paper, or even antique gilded gold eyeglasses for rich colors such as purples and blues. If you look closely in this picture, you’ll realize this designer pulled a particularly intriguing trick with the red-framed bit: Rather than showcasing art, he abandoned it empty, essentially framing the wallpaper. Yet another way to enhance the paper!

Niche Interiors

Ground it with organic pieces. Should you feel like your space is getting just a little pattern mad between wallpaper and décor, ground the appearance with a natural piece. It will round out your appearance, plus it’s hard to go wrong with well rounded, natural furnishings.

Margaret Carter Interiors

Have some fun with it! This dreamy, forest-like wallpaper would not be complete without a googly-eyed gargoyle keeping watch. The unexpected is what makes design unique.

More:
Decorating Secrets: How to Layer Patterns Proper
DIY Project: Wallpaper Goes Mobile

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Ceilings

Ceilings That Work: Designs for Your Space Above

Ceilings don’t have to be, and probably shouldn’t be, all flat, horizontal planes of white stained shingles. Whether a ceiling is shining, trayed, soffited or coffered, changing its elevation and contour can add spaciousness, definition and interest to a space. Using these architectural components can also break down the scale of a fantastic room, bringing to life a vast (and what could be dull ) space.

Playing the ceiling form and finish can also be a cost effective way of achieving something special and distinctive. Whether it’s a gabled vault in which the ceiling and structure will be the same, the accession of soffits with indirect illumination, or a bit of trimming to add scale and rhythm, ceilings are a design opportunity not to be missed.

Blackburn Architects, PC

A easy, gable vault in which the roof structure and ceiling finish have been combined makes for an efficient and elegant ceiling. Everything, like the skylights, metal tie rods and white walls, is performed to highlight the timber rafters. By placing the skylights at the ridge line rather than part way down the roof, a void is made that, like a retractable stadium roof, highlights the area’s connection to the sky.

I can not help but believe this would be a wonderful place for a baseball match regardless of what the weather outside.

Bud Dietrich, AIA

Here’s a good example of the classic tray ceiling used to attain spaciousness in a fantastic room. This remodeling job consisted of taking down a wall to create two rooms into one. To get around the oppressive feel that a constant, flat and 8′-large ceiling would make, the ceiling structure was raised a couple feet. In this ranch home space taken from the attic was an easy and cost-effective way to attain a well-proportioned room.

Sutton Suzuki Architects

The classic tray ceiling: this time at a bedroom. The beadboard finish and ceiling fan gives this room a tropical island feel. A particularly nice detail is how the ceiling, through the use of trim and crown molding, looks to begin on top of the windows. This has the effect of lowering the ceiling and creating more closeness, while the ceiling elevation adds spaciousness.

A tray ceiling like this offers a fantastic opportunity to set up indirect lighting. In this room, the indirect lighting offers generous general light and, using a change capable of dimming, can be turned to low for just the right, intimate level.

Christopher A Rose AIA, ASID

This ceiling comprises two measures of soffits. The first and lowest soffit follows the geometry of the space, as will the area rug directly below it. The higher soffit is a rectangular form to provide a centering device. This type of ceiling provides an order and arrangement to a room that incorporates different angles and asymmetry.

The lower soffit also provides a wider flat area at the mattress headboard. This wide and flat area gives more closeness at the headboard area as well as a place for ceiling-mounted things like grilles, speakers, etc..

Bud Dietrich, AIA

In a very simple bedroom using a low (less than 8′) ceiling, the measure up with indirect lighting provides spaciousness. Much like the above example, the stepped ceiling provides a centering apparatus in a room that has some angled walls and asymmetrical configuration.

Simply by borrowing from the attic area and adding some little framing extras, a ceiling like it is easily accomplished in a second-floor bedroom, or even a first floor room when there’s no second floor over.

Richard Bubnowski Design LLC

Here’s a nice little”pop-up” in an upstairs hall. Does this offer a place to hang a lantern with a very long string, but the extra bit of beadboard finish strengthens the coastal nature of the property’s style. A nice opportunity to achieve something special in what’s normally a simple, functional space.

Logan’s Hammer Building & Renovation

A little space with a tall ceiling can be a real design challenge. After all, who enjoys feeling as if they’re at the bottom of a Dixie cup? So in this example, the coffers, colours, beadboard and lighting keep this kitchen well dimensioned and comfortable to work in.

Another nice result from including a coffered ceiling, particularly in an old home undergoing a remodel, is your new space made for pipes, valves, conduit and other mechanical items. In this example, the visible air grille indicates that the coffers are used to hide ducts.

Yet another more costly way of employing the coffer to hide ducts while averting a grille like this is to introduce a linear, slot-type diffuser at the face of the coffer.

Harrell Remodeling, Inc..

The panels at a coffered ceiling could be of just about any substance. In this example, the panels are both decorative and translucent, allowing the lighting to come from a source hidden above the ceiling line. The plan of those coffer panels is very structured: a series of layered grids at a fun, somewhat abstract design of solid colours.

This large room has multiple action areas, each positioned beneath its own coffered ceiling. Even though the overlapping grids provide general order and structure, the colours reinforce the middle of the ceiling and each activity area.

Crisp Architects

A coffered ceiling can also be used to counterbalance a room’s decor. Here, this tasteful and earthy, deeply coffered ceiling adds structure and visual weight to the space, balancing the wall color and furniture style.

Max Crosby Construction

There’s no rule that says that coffers have to be a rectangular grid. In this case the coffering starts at the center rotated square and radiates out from there. This sets a geometry that is independent of the area’s shape, adding another layer of interest and detail to the space.

The timber coffered ceiling also strengthens the silent and serious character of the library-like room.

Occasionally a simple, wood paneled ceiling with wood beams is the answer. In this room, the timber beams divide down the large space while the timber finishes tie everything together.

In a room in which the main sitting area is away from the source of light and see, the timber beams direct the eye towards the window and out to the landscape outside.

Kenneth Fromme

At times the easiest approach is the most effective. Adding some thin, pencil-line trimming and panels that are raised to the ceiling adds just the ideal level of detail without needing too much attention to itself. And, since in this situation, in which there are lots of patterns and colours all around, including a regular and easy gridded pattern to the ceiling can add just the correct amount of structure.

Bud Dietrich, AIA

Extra height and well designed ceilings aren’t just for dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms and other big rooms. A simple, spare and functional mudroom can be produced light, bright and spacious with a vaulted ceiling.

More: Watch the wonder of Barrel-Vaulted Ceilings
How to Produce a Tall Room Feel Right

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Bedrooms

Kids’ Spaces: From Nursery to Toddler’s Room

Updating your child’s space from infant to toddler generally means shifting the crib for a bed, although you’re making that transition, consider including a fresh take to other portions of your toddler’s room as well. Now your child is more conscious of his surroundings, you can begin setting the tone for a room that he can grow and evolve . Have a peek at some of these considerations to help you produce a lively and reassuring space that you’ll enjoy just as much as your little one.

Just a Girl

Paint designs onto the walls. Painting is one of the simplest and least expensive methods to provide a room a new look; do so on your toddler’s space by painting a fun layout, such as this tree. It adds a lively spark that can easily and affordably be shifted down the street if your toddler desires.

Amy Lau Design

Replace the changing table with a quality wardrobe. Like picking classic layouts, a well-made and visually intriguing wardrobe will work to house clothing for a long time to come.

Kaylovesvintage

Add charm with a classic bed. If you feel like your toddler’s room can use a little eclectic style punch, then search for a mattress with that antique appearance. It will provide the room that comfy, lived in texture, plus the smaller beds take up less room.

Elad Gonen

Consider upgrading the closet. Your toddler is only just starting to amass a plethora of material goodies, and even in the event that you get that well-made wardrobe, you’ll also want ample closet space. If a full closet upgrade isn’t part of their budget, at least go in with some organizers to set the stage for a categorized closet from here on out.

Top the bed with a canopy. Canopies are a fun way to bring a princess-like flair to any room. Plus, they can readily be changed out if your toddler tires of it over the years.

Artistic Designs for Living, Tineke Triggs

Scout a mini work table. Your toddler’s imagination is simply starting to spark; allow him exercise it with a work table match only because of him. Start looking for tables that are shorter in height and have ample storage for substances.

Jeanette Lunde

Bring in a little bench. Whether a toddler wants to populate the bench with dolls, trucks, clothes or what are you, a classic bench having a cushion upholstered in lively cloth adds a youthful charm to the space. It’s also the ideal place for your toddler to learn to tie his sneakers.

Lauren Liess Interiors

Choose classic patterns rather than trendy, kid-centric ones. Your little guy is going to begin growing fast; choose classic patterns, such as stripes or foliage motifs, which will evolve with him rather than eventually feeling overly juvenile. You will appreciate both cash and time stored in the long term.

Annalea Hart

Add diverse art. You can’t fail with funky artwork that is also educational. This smart alphabet display brings color, visual attraction and a classic feel to the space.

sarah & bendrix

Here’s another fun way to display the alphabet. This one is a little more modernized, but equally colorful and lively.

Carly Sax

Consider built-in storage. When you have the room, you may want to splurge with extra built in storage. With all your toddler’s toys, books, clothes and other items, you can truly never have sufficient storage.

Skip the twin and go straight to a double. If your toddler’s area is spacious enough and you feel comfortable with the transition, consider a full bed in lieu of a twin. Your toddler will probably have it throughout his teens, so the investment is usually well worth it.

Jeanette Lunde

Include a desk. Like the work table, a desk will give your toddler a room to work on drawings or other activities.

More:
Kids Rooms: I’m a Big Boy Now
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