The Wall

When I was a kid my mom wallpapered a single wall in my bedroom in a flocked, red and white, damask type pattern. And I loved it. I was hooked – for life. It just seemed so cool to me to be able to get pattern and texture onto walls. It was so fabulous, and sophisticated, and cultured, and colorful, and intense, and beautiful, and art-like, and magic that I was mesmerized by it. And then, when house-hunting with Mom, I discovered wall murals – it was more than I could take. I wanted a mural in our house so bad I could hardly stand it. It never happened.

Of course back then I was completely unaware of wallpaper murals but, well, let’s just say that once discovered I’ve never been the same. I love the variety of wallpaper murals from the gorgeous chinoiserie patterns, to the over-scaled flora and fauna, to the bright and whimsical scenes. The amount of detail in the wallpapers is stunning. When I look at some of them I feel like it would take years to see every detail in the pattern.

If you haven’t seen Ken Fulk’s rooms from this year’s Kips Bay Show House you are truly missing out. I’m a huge Ken Fulk fan. I particularly love his whimsical, Alice In Wonderland-esq designs like the dining room in this year’s show house. The de Gournay blog describes Fulk’s concept this way “Imagined as the interior of a 1960’s doyenne of Upper East Side polite society, the San Francisco native conceived a motif depicting a menagerie of animals from the city’s zoo abounding within her exquisite garden, having escaped their lesser lodgings in Central Park.” And it’s perfect.

Here is a great example of color. I mean just look at the L’Eden pattern, the colors are gorgeous and vibrant. And pulling the colors into the bed, bedding, and pillows ties this all together so nicely.

Here it is again in a different space.

And the Rosseau pattern is so vivid it makes me think of sitting on a veranda on the edge of the jungle.

The Sans Souci pattern on crackled gold metallic silk in this dining room is gorgeous. And the blue of the cabinetry, pulled from the inside of the chairs gives it a beautiful modern-traditional look.

And if your shoe absolutely must match your interior you can now get a fabulous mule from Acquazzura to complement your custom pink Amazonia patterned wallpaper. Works for me.

The walls in Alex Papachristidis’s living room in his former Manhattan apartment are decked out in an amazing Gracie wallpaper depicting stylized Chinese scenes. The rich purples and blues of the furnishings lend a bit of moodiness to the space.

Isn’t this Audubon Heron image, blown-up into wallpaper, fantastically over-sized? No wall art needed here.

This scene from Pip Studio is just so fun and whimsical. This would be great in a really cheerful breakfast nook or a kids playroom.

How about actual hand painted wall murals? This one is from a home on Vashon Island, right here in Washington, it took the artist a year to paint. Did you notice the tiger in the temple over the front door?

Here’s another view from the front door looking up the staircase. AMAZING!!

And let’s not forget the the 5th wall – the ceiling. These stenciled birds flying overhead give the space a soaring feeling.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great 1st week of summer

Wendy