The right wallpaper depends as much on the room as on your taste: a busy hallway, a restful bedroom and a nursery all ask for something different. Below we go room by room with designs that suit each space, then finish with the mirrors and lamps that pull a scheme together.
Living rooms: a pattern with presence
The living room is where most people feel brave enough for a bold design, because it is a room you spend time in and want to enjoy. A large-scale pattern on one or all four walls gives it a strong identity.
The Leopard Walk Wallpaper by Cole & Son shows leopards marching left and right, their tails forming patterns and rhythms associated with Zulu dance and music. It was originally painted by Punch Shabalala, one of Ardmore's oldest and most esteemed artists. For a living room you could go soft with Soft Olive or Taupe, or choose the rich, moody charcoal with almost fire-lit burnt-orange leopards for evenings by the fire.
If you prefer foliage, the Florencecourt Wallpaper by Cole & Son takes its name from the Florencecourt Yew, widely considered one of the original yew trees of the British Isles. Its dense foliage has a contemporary feel and comes in Olive, Print Room Blue and Leaf Green, all easy colours to live with in a main room.
Bedrooms: calm, enveloping designs
In a bedroom you want a pattern that feels restful when you wake up and cosy when the lights go down. Darker grounds work surprisingly well here because the room is mostly used in the evening.
The Woods & Stars Wallpaper by Cole & Son combines two Cole & Son classics into a magical fairytale woodland. It is printed in moods ranging from cool neutrals and metallics to midnight blue and inky black, with colourways including Linen, Stone, Powder Blue, Midnight and Charcoal. Midnight or Charcoal behind a bed makes a lovely enclosing backdrop; Linen or Stone keeps things lighter in a smaller room.
Bedrooms are also a good place to coordinate fabric with walls. The Golden Lily Fabric by Morris & Co, designed by J.H. Dearle in 1899, has a strong diagonal arrangement of entwining lily stems and tendrils. It is printed on a linen-rich blend and is hard-wearing at 40,000 Martindale, so it suits a headboard or upholstered chair as well as curtains and cushions. Choose from Mineral, Midnight/Green and Green/Gold, and pick a shade that echoes your wallpaper.
Nurseries and children's rooms
For a nursery, look for soft colours and a design that will feel gentle at bedtime.
The Winnie The Pooh Wallpaper by Sanderson x Disney is a delicately coloured interpretation of the story, hand painted in watercolour from Disney's original style guides. It is digitally printed on a wide-width non-woven, which you hang by pasting the wall, and comes in Bonbon Blue or Macaron Green. Paper one wall and paint the rest in a matching tone if you prefer.
Hallways: make a first impression
Hallways are perfect for a bold paper because you pass through rather than sit in them. A strong pattern makes a narrow space feel intentional. Woods & Stars and Leopard Walk both work well here too.
A mirror is almost essential in a hallway, bouncing light around and giving you a last check before you head out. The Tetris Mirror by Seletti has an elegant gold frame that appears to break apart into shifting blocks, with a touch of Alice in Wonderland magic. It looks wonderful in a hallway or above a console table, and comes as the original Tetris or the larger Tetris 2.0.
For something more eccentric, the Seletti x Toiletpaper Gold Frame Mirror is printed with the studio's surreal imagery and set in a gold frame, sitting somewhere between a mirror and a work of art. Choose from designs including Lipsticks, Sea Girl and Two of Spades.
Finishing touches: lamps
Lighting changes how wallpaper reads, so it is worth planning alongside it. Low lamps make patterns glow in the evening and add warmth that a ceiling light cannot.
The Monkey Light Black by Seletti, designed by Marcantonio, is a black resin monkey holding a light bulb. It comes in six poses, including Sitting, Standing, Hanging and Swinging, and looks striking alone or in a playful group against a botanical wallpaper. For a softer glow, Edison The Mini by Fatboy is a set of three 15cm lamps with warm white light, ideal for a windowsill or dining table, charged together with a magnetic snap connector.
Ready to choose? Browse our full wallpaper collection, or visit the shop in Somerset or contact the team if you would like advice on the right design for your room.
