When a couple with divergent decorating tastes purchased their first home several years ago, they concurred about one thing: The wallpaper had to go.
A profusion of American eagles nested on their walls in drab tones of basic brown and faded tan. This was a thoroughly modern pair who would opt for straight-lined, tailored looks, no ruffles and neutral-painted backgrounds.
After the `60s, wallpaper seemed to have fallen out of favor, particularly with younger audiences, many of whom wanted clean, unadorned spaces.
Today wallpaper is back. It`s big decorating news and is available in myriad patterns, from classic to country to contemporary. Priced anywhere from about $10 per roll (or less on sale) to $50 and up, there`s considerable latitude for different budgets. Colors? Anything from mauve, peach, teal blue, taupe and gray to black, white and flaming red, with so much in between.
Borders are perhaps the most significant change in the slow-moving $1.2 billion wallcoverings industry. They are especially appealing because they may be used to spruce up even painted walls.
Designs have gotten better, and prepasted wallcoverings have made hanging easier. If you can do it yourself, you can save a considerable sum in labor costs.
This new love affair with wallcovering probably was inevitable as the world grew tired of whites and nearly whites, minimalism and plain walls, with nary a chair railing or cove molding to spark some interest.
Consumers are beginning to appreciate how much of a decorating element walls may be, rather than merely background in a room.
”Wallpaper can add warmth to a room,” said Peter Hermann, creative vice president of C&A (Collins & Aikman) Wallcoverings Inc., the largest manufacurer of wallcoverings in the United States, and producer of about 100 different lines of wallcoverings each year. ”You can create a much more individual decorating statement with wallpaper.”
A renewed fondness for more embellished interiors also has spurred interest.
”There`s the power of the press, for one thing,” said Mary Gilliatt, an interior designer with English roots who has written several books on decorating and has a new line of wallcoverings.
”The magazines and newspapers are going on about ornamentation,” said Gilliatt; even a book has been written on the subject. ”People are spending more time at home with videos, with television. Subliminally they are influenced by the backgrounds of soaps and movies without realizing it, and these backgrounds are richer.”
Because the home furnishings industry usually takes its cues from the fashion industry, it`s not surprising that this important wallcoverings segment is taking the same cues. A tremendous boon to the industry, as well as consumers, is the introduction of what is known in the trade as concept selling.
A prime catalyst was Raymond Waites, co-founder and creative vice president of Gear Inc. He went to C&A (then Imperial) nearly 10 years ago with an attractive packaging idea. ”Waites told us, `Hey, guys, you`re not working in a vacuum,` ” Hermann recalled. Wallcoverings are part of the industry, argued Waites, and they`re tied to fabrics and furniture. ”Let`s try to coordinate the home for the consumer,” he told the manufacturers.
The New Country Gear line soon was born. Gear`s wallpaper book offered consumers beautiful graphics and a wonderful presentation with images of how everything works together, complete with the desirable accessories-antiques, quaint memorabilia, quilts-all the things that impart charm to a home.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Now we see wallpaper books with themes, collections put together by designers with or without name recognition and collections involving museums such as the Victoria and Albert in London, New York`s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
”I think that historically people go for more decorative designs toward the turn of the century,” said Gilliatt, whose own collection, manufactured by Hexter, is called ”Edwardian Garden” and features fabrics manufactured by Cohama Riverdale. ”It also happened that way in the 1790s and in the 1890s.” Generally, patterns seem to be more elegant. Counterparts to the damasks, jacquards and velvets we have seen as upholstery fabrics are sophisticated floral prints or papers that resemble fabrics themselves-moires, taffetas. Accompanying borders even are highlighted by dressmaker details-tassels, braiding, cording.
Faux papers have been enormously popular with designers across the country. Often these papers, which mimic marble, tortoise shell, granite, precious stones such as lapis lazuli or malachite, are, in fact, hand-painted- and expensive.
THE TRENDS
In his own company research, Hermann has observed the thirst for elegance. Other trends that he identifies parallel, for the most part, what is happening across the board in home furnishings design.
– Borders: Borders probably are the fastest-growing segment of the wallcovering industry. ”They make nice decorating statements. . . You can use them to frame windows, create chair rails, hide imperfections.”
– Gentrification of the country look. Hermann calls this a ”fancying up” of country styles. Those covering home furnishings trends have noted that country has headed upscale. The more polished French, English and European country looks exemplify this trend.
– Increased acceptance of contemporary design. While this segment of the home furnishings industry still is small (no more than 20 percent), the impact of Eurostyle (most prevalent in appliances) has boosted this wallcovering category.
– Southwest style. Furniture manufacturers decided that this needn`t be a regional phenomenon. The popularity of Santa Fe influence, American Indian motifs and desert colors have wended their way into fabric and wallpaper design.
– Rejuvenation of the juvenile market, as its called in the industry. The Baby Boomers and their boomlets have generated a demand for coordinated products.
– Wear-and-tearability. Late last year Imperial Wallcoverings launched a kitchen and bath collection coated with DuPont Teflon soil and stain repellent, the first in the industry. Overwhelming response to DuPont`s Stainmaster carpeting suggested that there might be an analogous need in wallcoverings. The Stamp Out Stains line boasts durability, scrubbability, colorfastness, abrasion, heat and cold cracking resistance.
– Color trends. Pastels will always be around, but Hermann says color directions are shifting. Jewel tones are becoming far more prevalent, as are hints of sparkling metallics, dabbed on fabrics and wallcoverings in more subtle ways than we have been accustomed to. Bold pastels, including seafoam, periwinkle and coral, have come into their own. Shades of khaki, sage and sand have emerged with signs of Southwest style. Neutrals in taupe and gray now are competing with beige.
– The total look. It`s now possible to select a group of complementary papers, borders and fabrics so that you can achieve a pulled-together interior that smacks of a designer`s deft touch.
”Wallpaper is not an impulse buy,” said Hermann. ”It`s a planned purchase. You have to live with your choice for a while.
”You can buy a great sheet for $60 and put it on the bed. When you get tired of it, you put it in the closet. You can`t hide wallpaper.” –
