I wanted to share this beautiful wallpaper with you. Columns of delphinium flowers captured at their peak, printed in intense shades of blue and white, are interspersed with a mix of smaller red flowers, all printed against a black background which makes the colors pop. It is a rather dense design but I think the...

This wallpaper border shows two landscape scenes with the bottom one illustrating different forms of transportation including an automobile, a steam-powered boat, and a bi-plane faintly visible in the sky. While the design contains three modes of transport in use at the time this wallpaper was produced, it seems surprising that a train was not...

Scenic wallpapers originated in the early years of the nineteenth century, and found a renewed popularity during the Colonial Revival movement in the early twentieth century. Many new designs in scenic papers and murals were introduced mid-century following World War II, and scenic papers did actually serve a purpose in these new homes as the...

This is a wallpaper frieze containing stylized rose bushes printed on a striped and swirled ground, while an upside down heart motif placed behind the bush defines the shape of the climbing roses. The motif of the rose vines is nearly symmetrical and the delicacy of the scrolling and curving vines shows the influence of...

A version of this post was originally published on June 4, 2017.   This is a repost from an earlier year, but it seemed appropriate for the warm summer weather currently being experienced across the United States. It is called El Sol, or the Sun, and it is printed in primarily cool colors which seems...

Presenting an unusual wallpaper border that reflects both the current wall fashion and the use of new technology. This paper border is embossed and die-cut, with many open or pierced areas within the design. The border consists of large bunches of purple grapes hanging on the vine with green-colored foliage. The vine is suspended from...

This design of tree canopies is an unusual subject matter for a wallpaper but it makes more sense when put in context. I’m not sure where this was intended to be used but it seems appropriate for a hallway, den, or maybe a breakfast room. Just another way to bring nature, or thoughts of nature,...

This is a fun, modernist wallpaper design most likely intended for a kitchen or breakfast nook. The high contrast colors, and the expanses of plain white background, give this design a very clean and fresh look. Three different bouquets of very stylized red flowers, each in a different vase on a shelf, is set against...

I thought while everyone is in the Fourth of July holiday mode it is a good time to write about a patriotic wallpaper, or rather a border. Since I’ve already written in years past about the firecracker wallpaper created for the American Bicentennial, and a scene from Views of the American War of Independence showing...

The 1950s produced wallpapers that fell into a number of different design genres, ranging from modern to kitsch to traditional styles. This paper definitely falls under the latter category. If it wasn’t for the word “WASHABLE” printed in the selvedge it could easily be confused with a wallpaper produced around 1900. With its repetition of...

Thought it was time to write about another children’s wallpaper. This is a post-war wallpaper, probably one of the first to be produced following the moratorium on new designs during the war. It took manufacturers about a year to get up to speed and introduce their first collections. This design shows a variety of different...

Here is a perky design that seemed appropriate for a summer post. Printed in shades of pink and green this floral stripe pattern is quite striking in its intensity. While this all but screams late 1960s it is a fun design that could work beautifully in a maximalist interior today. Different shades and hues of...

I thought this was a charming pattern, with its pastel-colored geometric background pattern reminiscent of tilework. The scrolling white lines covering the surface give the design a textural look, softening the appearance of all the hard lines. They also remind me of the Sno Ball pastries with the coconut-covered exterior. This was a very inexpensive...

Created by Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, the Scrapwood collection of wallpapers copy the surfaces he creates on his handmade furniture made of found wood. Digitally printed, each of the patterns perfectly captures the grain and texture of various found wood surfaces. It is nearly impossible to distinguish the printed papers from actual wood. These...

This wallpaper from the French Revolution period was one of the early pieces collected by the museum founders. It took me a while to understand how these papers were used as I can’t imagine hanging a political wallpaper in my home today. But the citizens of France felt differently, they thought that the Revolution could...