Decorating Tips: Head-Turning Walls

Uccelli wallpaper by Fornasetti from Cole & Son

One of the tenets of good interior design is that every room should have a focal point. If you don’t have a natural focal point in your room – like a fireplace or a window with a view – and you don’t have any artwork, try turning your whole wall into a focal point. 

These wallpapers designed by Italian artist, Piero Fornasetti, are conversation-stoppers!  They’re quirky, they’re unique, they’re anything but boring. If you're tired of the usual florals and geometric prints put you to sleep - take a look at these wild patterns. Above in the Uccelli pattern, a flock of birds brighten up a dull hallway.

Cole & Son is reproducing famous designs by Fornasetti and turning them into wallpaper for the home. You have a boring stairway? How about these zebras peering out at you as you climb the stairs?

Procurati wallpaper by Fornasetti from Cole & Son

Nottambule wallpaper by Fornasetti from Cole & Son

If you don’t want the whole wall covered, try a border around the room instead.  Have a hoot with these night owls, the Nottambule wallpaper. And if prints of animals are just not your style, the Teatro wallpaper will take you on a night out on the town.  Theater-goers peer down from their balconies in this wonderful old-style Fornasetti design. Now that's a wall full of drama!

Interested in learning more about wall treatments?  Take a look at Sheffield School's Complete Course in Interior Design.  At Sheffield, you will learn how to transform a space, create color schemes, and select furniture, lighting, and accessories.

Design Video: Lulu deKwiatkowski on Living the Designer's Life

 

We always want each student we teach in our Complete Course in Interior Design to learn the basic elements that comprise great design and then add liberal dashes of your personal style and creativity to select a path that feels "so right" for you.
 

 

We found this video featuring textile, wallpaper, and product designer Lulu deKwiatkowski, and she examplifies how we'd like our students to morph into their own creations, find their own style paths, and celebrate the design heritage they grew up with.
 

 

What inspires you? Where do your best ideas come from? Where is your passion for design? Ask yourself these questions while you're mastering the basics of interior design, and you'll be on a solid path for personal and professional growth. Please visit Lulu's Lulu DK website to see her inspiring creations, and click on any of the photos for more information.
 

 

Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Wall to Wall Design

(Squares wallcover from Graham and Brown)

Are you tired of looking at wall paint? Do you wish your walls could be livelier, more exciting, more in your face?  If you’re not afraid of shaking things up, then take a look at these paintable, textured wall coverings.

Graham and Brown offers their paintable Squares and Pure wallpapers.  Squares shows off a dynamic geometric pattern that can be left white or painted in fun colors as seen behind the bookcase above.  Pure wallpaper is a curvaceous choice that creates an elegant background. 

(Pure wallcover from Graham and Brown)(Architect Wall Flat from Inhabit)For an even more dimensional wallcover, we have the wall flat series from Inhabit.  Above is the Architect wallcover which is made from bagasse, a fibrous matter left over after sugarcane stalks have been crushed.  It is lightweight and recyclable. Below is the Drift wallcover, a design that hints at slender tree limbs. 

(Drift Wall Flat from Inhabit)Besides providing visual punch to your walls, these wallcovers are perfect for covering flawed walls.  If you have uneven walls and you do not want to replaster them – a process that can take several days of application – then these textured wallcovers will hide the imperfections. 

Introducing Wallpaper that Blocks Electromagnetic Waves

If you think you've heard everything in the world of interior design and decorating, think again - enter modern technology. We've had many revolutions in our industry due to technology, ranging from greener building materials to time-saving appliances. Soon we're going to have Wi-Fi blocking wallpaper!

A French research team at Centre Technique du Papier developed a snowflake-patterned paper - they call it metapaper - made from recycled materials that is effective in blocking 99% of the electromagnetic waves that travel through the air. Traditional wallpaper can be hung right over this special paper if you're not grooving on the flakes.

Why the fuss? Several reasons: homes and businesses that need boosts for their own wireless Internet signals will benefit; personal and corporate Wi-Fi will stay put inside the walls of the home or business to help discourage signal hacking; and there are purported health benefits in blocking out the bombardment of electromagnetic waves we're now being constantly subjected to. The special paper won't block FM radio signals or emergency frequencies. Keep your eyes out for metapaper; it's not on the market yet.

Bonus

But what about regular wallpaper for interior design and everyday decorating? Click here to read all about wallpaper we've been admiring lately at Sheffield: Graphic Power Geometrics. 

If you're interested in learning more about interior design and decor, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

100 Layer Cake: Vintage Wallpaper Wedding Details

We have a particular interest in patterns and colors and textures when it comes to weddings and decor in general. So when we think about projects to share with brides planning and crafting their wedding, these elements immediately come to mind.
 
 

The challenging part can be finding patterns that are unique, that go together, and that come in big enough pieces that you can use them for all sorts of projects throughout your wedding.

Actually, it doesn't have to be vintage. It's the cuteness of the patterns and the amount of material you get with each roll that makes it special. But you can find awesome deals on vintage rolls and the patterns tend to be really fun.

Because you have so much of it, wallpaper is an awesome way to carry a color theme through your entire wedding.

Click to read more ...