Wallpaper can be used to create a very personal space, one reflecting the style and/or temperament of its creator, or possibly to inspire the desired mood. The myriad wallpapers in production at any given time range from ultra-minimal and loose, to dense pattern-rich designs. Peacock Garden, a beautiful design of flora and fauna by Walter...

At first glance, you might think this is a sauce bowl or pitcher used at the dinner table. However, it is something quite different all together, and would most definitely be an unwelcome addition to a table spread. The bourdalou, in fact, was a type of chamber pot that was specifically used by women up...

This sidewall was designed by the firm Denst & Soderlund in 1952-53. Thin, wavering black lines radiate out from a central point forming a large round motif resembling a dandelion flower gone to seed. The motif is repeated vertically on the panel, and is so large that it only takes two “dandelions” to cover the...

The design for Bloom was inspired by photographs of the cacti which the artist used to compose this lush explosion of blooms. Bloom is part of a collection of 3D or anaglyph wallpapers produced as a collaboration between Connecticut wallpaper company twenty2 and Pratt Institute. While many people think of 3D or anaglyph imagery as...

The French designer Edgar Brandt spurred a revival of interest in interior furnishings made of iron in the 1920s. His participation in the 1925 Paris Exposition won him great praise. Brandt’s ironwork was admired throughout the fair; he designed the gates of the front entrance, his work featured in Ruhlmann’s pavilion, and he staged an...

Designated as the “Royal Porcelain Manufactory” during the mid-eighteenth century under the reign of Louis XV, the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory needs little introduction as one of Europe’s most innovative and influential porcelain manufacturers during the eighteenth century. Eight years before Sèvres manufactured this cup and saucer in 1780, Louis XVI had become king, and the...

A rather severe group of peonies, roses and other flowers grow with grape vines in a tangled mass on this wallpaper frieze of the late-nineteenth century. Dark outlines and blocky coloring causes the blossoms to appear stylized and two-dimensional. Instead of subtle shading, the illusion of depth is created by overlapping the floral elements. The...

This wallpaper manufactured by Wallace Wall-Paper Co. is dated 1906-08. Although it is machine-printed on paper, the vertical thread-like lines make it look like a woven textile. A variety of textiles have been used to cover walls, so it is not surprising that the earliest and consistent influence on wallpaper design has come from textiles....

Cosmo wallpaper was designed by abigail*ryan, the young Belfast-based husband-and-wife design team of Abigail and Ryan Bell. The Bells have been designing textiles and home goods since 2009. Cosmo is from their first wallpaper collection which was introduced in 2013. abigail*ryan takes a hands-on approach to its designs. Both principals are very involved throughout the...

I have always enjoyed seeing this kitchen paper with its coffee pot, luncheon service printed over the fun plaid background pattern. It is just so perky and the use of complementary colors and gestural strokes give the design a nice energy and keep it from feeling stagnant. Printed in 1948, it still looks modern today....

As I have mentioned previously floral designs make up the largest grouping of wallpapers in the Cooper Hewitt collection. Many of the very earliest wallpapers in the collection are floral based and they never seem to go out of style. I was attracted to this design for its casual, relaxed nature, and its rather abstract...

This plate was designed by Joseph-Theodore Deck, who worked at Sèvres as a designer before eventually becoming director in 1887 until his death in 1891. Prior to becoming director, Deck was part of the Council of Improvement and helped to establish aesthetic and technical directives for the manufactory at the end of the nineteenth century....

This brooch of flowers in a basket is made of diamonds set in silver with a gold backing. The diamonds on this brooch are so numerous and so large that for a time, it was thought that the diamonds were fake and made up of a type of fake stone known as paste stones, which...

From the archives, an Object of the Day post on one of the design works featured in Rebeca Méndez Selects.

Neutral tones and subtle pattern define this mid-century Scandinavian wallpaper. Large, airy blossoms of Queen Anne’s lace float like fluffy fireworks on a light gray ground. The larger blooms are composed of hundreds of tiny white flowers supported by a framework of dark gray stems. As in nature, a single bright red flower marks the...