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# Beyond the lure of latex
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/beyond-the-lure-of-latex/
- Published: 2004-04-03T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:10:02.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By CJ JAEGER Special to the Daily Press I* t conceals, it reveals. Nothing hides wall imperfections, blemishes and unwanted décor as well as wallcovering. And nothing flatters a room with texture,color,and pattern in quite the same way, either.

Paint has ruled in popularity for the past few years. But there’s a lot to love about the new style and ease of wallcoverings.

Wallcoverings add warmth, detail and design in a way no other decorating medium can fully match. Picture a welcoming entryway arched with gold and auburn botanicals, an inviting sunroom patterned with pastoral toile,or an intimate living room accented with elegant,contemporary grass cloth.The inspiration for the latest coverings is limitless: British Colonial,Tuscan reds and yellows, the forests of New England, geometry, modernism, patriotism, batik.

Maybe you swore you’d never “paper” again.After all,there are many charming things you can do with a brush, a sponge and a few cans of paint. Go ahead, faux away. But if you want to try and create some of the season’s hottest wall styles you’re going to need a very steady hand. Nothing can truly match paper’s depth of texture and color, or offer the same array of pattern.

“Painting is beautiful,” says Debbie Carducci, interior designer and owner of Design Blenders in Worcester, Mass.“But wall-covering is just a little warmer and has more depth.” It transforms the feel of a room, sets the tone, and, according to Carducci,“gives it another dimension.”“Hallways and foyers,” for example, “have a very welcoming feel when they are covered with something warm, such as a tone-on-tone textured damask or a big leafy botanical.”

The hottest colors right now, according to Carducci, include olive greens, gold and rich, beautiful browns.Tuscan colors are also popular in warm oranges,reds and shades of persimmon.

“We are seeing a resurgence of the traditional, patriotic and, I think because of the times we live in, the whimsical,” says Betty Lydon of York Wallcoverings, in York, Penn. “Texture is also very, very popular.” York has recently unveiled a line of coverings called “Special Effects,” which use sand, glass, and beads to add dimension to the surface.

Wallcovering can be as subtle or dramatic as you choose. Traditionally, kitchens and bathrooms are the spaces we choose to cover wall to wall,even though they are generally the trickiest to paper. Master bedrooms, says Carducci, are most likely to get the dramatic, single wall of covering. This is beautiful in contrast with a complementary color painted on the remaining walls, and certainly draws attention to the area of the room you want all eyes on. It will bring the covered wall forward and make the other walls recede and seem further apart.

Don’t be afraid to follow your decorating muse,however.A soft,subtle print covering the entire wall surface will transform a space,making it warm, quaint, and intimate. Or, use wall-covering to add a little drama. Cheryl McCracken of Cheryl McCracken Interiors in Foxboro, Mass., recalls the prettiest room she’s seen in recent memory as having walls covered completely in deep red with enormous ferns.

In the appropriate space,a pattern or color you would normally dismiss comes alive and creates a striking visual balance with the subtle décor around it.

If you are decorating a small room, keep in mind that light colors on walls and ceilings,or wallcoverings featuring small patterns on light colors set against light-colored backgrounds, will make a room appear larger than it really is.The reflective surfaces of some of the new foiled or metallic-like wallcoverings also will expand the visual size of a small room.

Large rooms, on the other hand, can be cozied up and reduced in apparent size if they are decorated in rich, intense colors, using wallcoverings and window treatments with large patterns featuring warm colors. Similar to putting carpeting on the floor, rough textured wallcovering — now widely available and wildly popular — also will help to fill big empty spaces and bring them to life. Many of the textured coverings are grass or cloth-like and envelope the room in a soothing, luxurious warmth.

And yes, even ceilings are fair game. Covering the ceilings with wallcovering will, as you can probably imagine, dramatically change the look and scale of a room. If you have a room with very high ceilings,for example, wallcoverings in deep shades, such as brown or rich red, will bring them down.

Though traditional patterns are in style, wallcoverings of ancient legend — unwieldy, pasty paper beasts,difficult to apply and more difficult still to remove — have changed. Manufacturers are continually striving to make application and removal easier and to dispel paper’s less-than-user-friendly reputation. Eisenhart Wallcoverings, in Hanover, Penn., for example, recently introduced a product called Paperez, with a “paint-the-wall” application method. The pigmented paste goes on blue and dries clear, making it easy see where you have – or, more important, haven’t — applied it. Most new coverings also are resistant to tearing, stretching and shrinking. Cellulose-based application pastes and sealers make removal fairly easy.

When applied as a first layer, lining paper will smooth the wall surface and cover most imperfections,including minor damage,horsehair plaster — even old woodwork (think wainscoting) you don’t want to spend the time or money to remove or refinish.

If you’re ready to shop or just looking for some inspiration, you’ll find that many of the large wallcovering manufacturers have helpful Web sites with tips, catalogs and even virtual rooms where you are able to see designs in action. It’s a great place to get started. Among the leaders: • York Wallcoverings: www.yorkwall.com • Imperial Home Décor Group: www.ihdg.com • Seabrook Wallcoverings: www.seabrook-wallcoverings.com • F. Schumacher: www.fschumacher.com.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 3, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040304.pdf?ref=smdp.com)