Trend Watch Latest Wallpaper Trends

Date Published:

11/06/2008

Some Affordable & Expensive Wallpapers

There are some wallpaper designers using a similar method of production but on a larger scale, making hand-printed wallpaper accessible to all of us. One of the leading producers in the field is a company called Timorous Beasties. What's great about their work is that they've taken something very traditional and subverted it to say something very contemporary.

Alistair McAuley of Timourous Beasties elaborates. 'We like the idea of designing stuff with a traditional bias. Our emphases are on colour, repeat and drawing and we use them in a more modern, up-to-date way. We're using a very traditional layer-and-repeat aesthetic but just inserting into it contemporary images.'

Timourous Beasties' hand-printed papers start at £75 per 10 metre roll. So the best advice would be to pay for a specialist to hang it. More important than anything else, think very carefully about the design: Oversized patterns work really well in big rooms, when there's enough space to see the repeated pattern.

Small patterns just look a bit busy in roomy spaces and work much better in small rooms, while reflective patterns bring glorious shades of light into an area.

Trends have moved away from the strict constraints of 90s minimalism. And colour and pattern are being whole-heartedly embraced, particularly when it comes to wallpaper.

We have a greater choice then ever before, from high tech to high spec. For the ultimate in bling, this design incorporates small glass-beads which give great texture. But it's not for the faint-hearted. Especially since the minimum order is for 12 metres and will cost you £1,900.

The very latest development is 'animated wallpaper'. Imagine walking into a room... And the walls changing! This cutting edge technology could radically alter the way we light our homes. But there's a hefty price tag: it costs £1,500 per metre.

There's loads more advice on the latest interior trends on the 4Homes Style homepage >>