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Alluminare’s Crafty Wallpaper Contest Winner!
We got a lot of nifty ideas for using wallpaper as a craft. Thanks to everyone who entered.
And now, without further ado, the winner of 20 square feet of custom wallpaper from Alluminare is:
Libby U!
Congratulations, Libby! You will be receiving your coupon directly from Alluminare. And your Design Hole T Shirt from me! Yay!
Here is her design, along with her plan for making picture frames and some cool art. I hope I’ve translated the instructions properly. If not, I hope Libby will set me straight. Or, better yet, send me a photo of the finished project.
Cool Picture Framed Art
- Buy nine – 1 foot square frames and spray paint them black.
- Carefully cut out a bunch of 1-inch x 1-inch squares of wallpaper – it’s ideal because you don’t need to trim or break the pattern.
- Tack the squares to the front of the frames (and only the fronts, no wrap-around).
- Arrange the frames into a 3-foot × 3-foot grid and secure them together (temporarily, carefully).
- Find a simple, graphic design and paint it in white across all the pieces.
- Separate the pieces, affix to the wall in the same grid order, but about 1 to 2 inches apart on all sides.
Libby suggests: You could do this in any arrangement. A cool option would be to have several squares in a row, vertically or horizontally, and a long, skinny graphic across them. Perhaps use the same pattern in border form…at an angle, maybe…endless possibilities. Even vector family portraits, Lichtenstein-style, if you’re particularly artistic (that would be rad).
Thanks again to everyone for giving us some great ideas. And thanks to my sponsor, Alluminare for such a great prize.
Last day to enter the Wallpaper Crafty Contest!
Welcome back! Hope you all had a great weekend. I spent my time shopping for home accessories. I’m finishing up a bedroom project. Oh, and then there was dinner with friends at Mr. Paul’s Chophouse, an old restaurant that still makes Caesar Salad and Cherries Jubilee Flambe tableside. Hope your weekend was fun as well.
Candy designed this beauty
Now to the contest. This is the last day to enter for a chance to win 20 square feet of wallpaper from Alluminare. You design it yourself! Just visit the site, design your favorite style and post the link in the comments. Let me know what your idea is for using the wallpaper in a craft project.
You can read all the details here.
I’ll announce the winner tomorrow morning. There’s no time to waste, so enter today.
Easier Shopping at Graham & Brown Wallpaper
Wow, Graham & Brown has introduced a new site that is one cool breeze. Choose your wallpaper and you can see it in a variety of room settings. You can also see other color choices and, best of all, coordinating patterns. Since they have such an enormous selection (and no, they didn’t pay me to say that), it makes finding what you want really easy.
You can start by choosing color, or a style, or a designer you like. It’s so efficient, it’s almost better than shopping in a store. But, since you’re not, be sure to order a sample so you know it’s the right color.
Check out their new line called Essence (above). It’s a series of wallpapers designed to work together. Most sell for $70 per double roll.
Going Big with Graphic Wallpaper Patterns
Wallpapers aren’t just back in style, they’re back with a vengeance. Big, bold patterns are a great way to make a bold statement.
You can’t get much bolder than Marimekko’s Unikko pattern. Try it on one wall, or all four in a small area like a hallway.
Black and white patterns look great and are easier to work with. They’re not blinding. Use color is in the accessories. Here I’m showing Walnut’s Little Whales pattern, and Graham & Brown’s Suzanne.
Bedrooms are a favorite place for a patterned wall. Anna French’s Glamour Collection is a particular favorite of mine.
If you want to use bold patterns like this, here are some tips:
- Try a colored pattern on one wall. Paint the other 3 in a matching color.
- Cover all four walls in a small space. This is the best way to make use of a bold pattern. A large room might create a kaleidoscope effect.
- Don’t stop at the walls – think about the ceiling, too. A powder room would look terrific covered in a bold print. Use a matching fabric on the window.
Are you brave enough to try a big, bold pattern?
Call for submissions
I’m in the process of redesigning Design Hole. It needs some sprucing up. I’m changing the masthead, which will now have a series of rotating wallpapers and fabrics. 
I’m contacting some favorites of mine, but I’d like to showcase undiscovered, young, old, interesting fabric and wallpaper designers. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in having their work on the masthead, please have them contact me. Their name will appear in the lower-left hand corner of the masthead, or just below it.
Thanks for helping me spread the word.
Historic wallpaper from Bradbury & Bradbury
The wallpaper company, Bradbury & Bradbury, must be a set decorator’s dream come true. Their collection of wallpapers encompass more than a century of design styles, from Victorian to The Mod Generation of the 1970’s.
Their wallpapers are very well done and put together beautifully. And I like the way their site is organized. The Victorian aesthetic was so over the top that it’s difficult for to figure out how to put all that pattern together in a way that makes sense. So, Bradbury & Bradbury organized the Victorian era and its friend, the Arts & Crafts movement, into vignettes.
Yowza! That’s a lot of pattern. It looks good, though. Check out the decoration on the ceiling. Leave no surface untouched! This is Bradbury & Bradbury’s Dresser Collection. High ceilings help pull this look off.
I like the girlie-girl flounce in their Aesthetic Movement Collection. Is it too over-the-top? In the right room, it would work really well. The pattern takes the place of molding. It helps, however, that the existing molding is beefy.
Bradbury & Bradbury also has a nice selection of more modern patterns, which are not shown in vignettes. They run through four eras.
There are several Art Deco styles in different colorways. These are a couple I like best. True confession: I really don’t like Art Deco. I’m not sure why. It must be due to a bad experience in a previous life.
Ah yes, the 1950’s. Who says the middle of the last century was all modern? I picture this in a cute cottage kitchen with a fabric skirt under the sink. I love that look.
Next up, Sputnik and the Jet Set collection. The 1960’s was a strange leap into the modern age. I have a collection of cookbooks from this era. You would not believe what you can make with Jello and how popular prepared foods were.
Finally, the Mod-Era when girls wore go-go boots, mini skirts and had Marsha Brady hair. I like the pattern on the right best. This would look fantastic in a powder room. To make the most of this pattern, cover the walls and the ceiling. Matching fabric at the window will give you the biggest impact.
All wallpapers by Bradbury & Bradbury are handprinted. Prices start at around $50 per single roll. Be sure to check their sizes because they’re not standard. They seem to have a very good customer service department, too.
How to you feel about wallpapers v. faux finishes? Are ragged and stippled walls truly over for you?
Introducing Marimekko wallpapers
This just in… Marimekko has re-introduced wallpaper to their fabric and home collections. The new vinyl wallpaper collection features some of the most well-known patterns, as well as a number of more recent designs from young, popular artists.
Let’s take a peek at some of them:
Unikko comes in 3 colorways – love it!
Pienet-Kivet comes in black, too.
Biloba anyone? Comes in two colors.
Joonas is also totally cool. Love the black.
Ystävät (say that 3 times fast) looks bold.
Minneapolis-based AlwaysMod is launching the wallpapers in the U.S. Initially, 12 patterns (some available in several colorways) will be available for quick-ship with plans to add more patterns in the future. The wallpaper is sold in European double rolls for $89 each. Samples are available.
Who doesn’t love Unikko? It’s one of my all-time favorite designs.
Friday Favorite: Trove wallpapers & window film
Every now and then I find myself scratching my head trying to come up with a interior design solution I’m really happy with. I’m one of those people who find it very hard to settle for second-best. Then, serendipitiously, when I’m least expecting it, the better-than-perfect thing comes along. This is the case with Trove.
I love, love, love their designs. Their patterns are some of the prettiest-with-an-edge wallpapers I’ve seen in ages. Each of their twenty designs are printed on either linen or plain paper stock and come in several colorways.
Many of their designs began life as a photograph and are styled to create a wonderful sense of movement. They’re about 34″ wide and are cut to the height of your ceiling. I particularly like the pattern on the right (above).
These are really pretty, don’t you think? You could use both of these in the same room. One design on three walls and the other on the fourth to create a focal wall.
In addition to wallpaper, Trove makes window film. The same designs are printed onto 3 kinds of paper – each with a different level of opacity. This is the find I’d been looking for.
I’m working on a powder room which boasts a beautiful window. So, I don’t want to cover the window with the typical gathered sheer and privacy is essentiall. None of the films I’ve come across fit with the style I’m going for. One of these designs – a smaller print – will be just the thing. Yay!
Trove has just introduced a couple of pendant lamps and carpet (not shown). Finally, they’ve also introduced heir patterns printed onto wood veneer (on the left, above). Trove has a showroom in New York. To find out more about where you can purchase their line, give them a call at 212-268-2046.
I’m not sure how I would use the wood veneer. Would it be pasted onto furniture? Make more pendant lamps? I need suggestions. What would you use it for?
Design Ideas: Using photocopies to create decoupage wallpaper
Here is one of my all-time favorite interior decorating ideas taken from the master, Kevin McCloud. Kevin is now the host of Grand Designs, a series on Channel 4 is the UK. But a while back he wrote a book called Decorative Style. It’s out of print, but you can find used copies on Amazon. It’s full of great ideas.
As I said, one of my favorites is using photocopies to create amazing faux architectural and pictorial detail.
This French farm house kitchen scene is comprised of limed paneling and pastoral photocopies,which were decoupaged onto the wall and hand-painted. Just above the paneling is a line of photocopied motifs left unpainted. The acorn design on the paneling is a stencil.
The same idea was used for this Gothic bathroom. The frame is painted, but the decorative finials are photocopies. The bathtub is stenciled.
Kevin used colored photocopies for this French empire study. This little decorative touch lightens the mood of an otherwise formal decor.
The scrollwork in the Venetian studio was painted first, and then applied with wallpaper paste.
Kevin demonstrates the application of painted photocopies onto the wall.
How-To Tips
- Paper can be used on any hard surface. Use wallpaper paste to glue your motif onto a wall, leather, or wood.
- You don’t need to cut out right along the edges of an intricate design. The edges can be painted to match the wall.
- Many types of paints can be used on your photocopies, including latex, watercolor and oil-based. Dilute latex 1:1.
- Paint the photocopy with diluted paint the same color as the wall so that it blends in.
- The photocopy will discolor if not protected. So, you have to protect it with the wallpaper paste or use a waterproof clear latex sealer or acrylic varnish.
For more resources, check out books on decoupage. You can find motifs in Decoupage Gallery. A fantastic array of stencils can be found at The Stencil Library.
ICFF: Design Hole’s Top Eight
There was lots to like at this year’s ICFF. Too much to pack into just one post. I’m starting with my favorites. Here are my top eight.
1. Siemon + Salazar
Glass lighting was everywhere. The California couple, Caleb Siemon and Carmen Salazar, stood out because of their beautiful use of color – combined with organic shapes.
Each of their pendant lamps is hand blown. They also make bowls and vases. Click here to find store locations. Click here to view their lighting collection.
2. Tom Dixon
Tom Dixon is one of my favorite designers, in general. I love his twist on the classic wingback chair. 
This offers a better view. The fabric is black velvet. But I’d prefer it covered in a wild, bold print.
3. Ochre’s Circular Mirror
This is a surprise. I didn’t expect to be quite so captured by this beautiful mirror from Ochre. I suppose its quiet simplicity makes it the perfect sophisticated thing.
4. Lizzie Allen
From sophisticated to whimsical. Lizzie Allen’s wallpapers and fabrics are fresh and new. Read more about her in my previous post.
5. Eve Design
My friend, Emily and I both loved these elegant, lively chandeliers from Eve Design. They’re handmade in white, silver and black. These offer some bling without being tacky. You can find them in the US here.
6. Ikea’s Stuga Rug
I loved IKEA’s large exhibit – especially this rug designed by Kazuyo Namura. It was inspired by how Northern African nomads make their rugs. 
Each year they weave a thin strip, where the length is defined by how rich the harvest has been. After several years they put the strips together and make a larger rug. The length and pattern changes depending how good or bad former years were.
7. J Good Design
More lighting. This time, J Good Design. Glass pendants were all over ICFF. A trend? Perhaps. No doubt I was attracted to their organic forms and beautiful colors. So the best of the bunch deserve a place on my best list.
Jeffrey Goodman is the artisan who creates lighting in his Greenwich Village, New York studio.
8. Jaime Hayon
Jaime Hayon created a series of candy jars for Baccarat. This is my favorite. I wish I had the $21,500 to buy one. Only 25 were made. Sigh.
Are these all contemporary? I don’t think we’d all agree that they are. What style do you prefer – contemporary or classic? Or do you see yourself as a little of both? I’m a little of both. How about you?
ICFF Favorite: Lizzie Allen
I returned last night from New York where I spent a few days touring the annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). I’ve got lots to report on, but I thought I’d start with one of my favorites – Lizzie Allen’s whimsical wallpapers. Lizzie hails from the UK. Her wallpaper designs reflect London life and are hand-screened. She thinks her wallpaper patterns look best on a feature wall. That means just one wall – creating a focal point in a shop or home. 
I think they’d look great in a powder room – where you can go a little crazy with pattern on all four walls. I also like the idea of using this inside picture molding all over a room.
Lizzie has just branched out into cushions, which will soon be available on her website.
I’m off to yet another round of physical therapy. But I’ll be back later today with my own particular view of the show.
So, now I need to know – would you put patterns like these in a powder room? I think the London City Gents pattern would work best in a tiny room. Agree?
Salone: Junk Mail Wallpaper
Cool wallpaper from todo.it is hanging in Milan this week.
Read more about it over at Poppytalk.