Despite popular belief, you don’t have to be a bold decorator to bring wallpaper into your home. Sure, there’s no shortage of loud and colorful patterns out there, but if subtlety and timelessness is your thing, there’s a wallpaper for you too. Muted palettes and nature-inspired patterns make even the busiest of motifs digestible, and can be exactly the interesting detail your space needs. Ready to dip your toe into the world of wallpaper?
We advise keeping the square footage small to start — a powder bath is the perfect place to experiment, and pairing the pattern with wainscoting means you’re keeping the application to a minimum.
More of the go-big-or-go-home type? High five! We’ve got some great examples of daring wallpaper patterns done oh-so-right too. Scroll down for 15 print-filled spaces — all totally different — that get an A+ in our book.
Miranda Brooks’s Brooklyn Home via The Times
Justina Blakeney’s blue patterned living room.
Katie Kime’s banana leaf walk-in closet.
Neutral botanics wallpapered foyer from Lacquered Life
Rich yellow pattern from Agnés Monplaisir’s country estate.
Kim West’s colorful kids bathroom.
Emily Schuman’s glam guest bathroom.
Baby Iris’s room in the home of Stella Tennant and David Last, via Caldwell Home.
Midnight oil wallpaper from Drop It Modern.
A micro pattern in a gust room in Gil Schafer’s house in Maine.
Custom wallpaper in the master bedroom in Miranda Brooks’s Brooklyn home.
Quadrille’s “Climbing Hydrangea” pattern in Kristin Gish’s spare bedroom.
A traditional bathroom in Suffolk, designed by Todhunter Earle Interiors.
Little Lulu’s patterned and playful bedroom.
Wallpaper by De Gournay in Laura Vinroot Poole’s dining room.
