Bold Patterned Wallpapers: Tips for featuring them in your Home Decor

Many of us have a passion for creating our home interiors, whether it’s an outlet of expression of our own personality or we are looking to boost our mood by surrounding ourselves with our favourite colours and textures for a sanctuary at home which enhances our well being. It’s often through our love of hosting guests, that we look to ensure that our home is an interesting and beautifully decorated place in which to entertain our friends. 

There are many ways in which we can put our individuality into our home decor - from the works of art that we choose, to decorative souvenirs of our travels and adventures, and beloved heirloom pieces. One excellent way of adding visual interest is to select bold patterned wallpapers to feature in our space. A beautifully designed wallpaper can be a truly transformative addition to a room. Florals, animal prints, botanical and geometrics shapes are all options available to us with the rise of eclectic collections of patterned wallpapers from independent designers. But we might be asking ourselves the question ‘How can I use bold patterned wallpapers in my home?’

There are many things to consider when choosing patterns for your interior and here we will look at many of the things you can explore, from how to choose a colour palette for your home decor, things to think about when selecting patterns and motifs to compliment your particular style of interior and, importantly, where you might feature patterned wallpapers in a room.

Choosing a Color Palette for your Interiors

When looking to feature bold patterned wallpapers in our space, we first want to develop our colour palette for the whole room. Often, falling in love with a particular wallpaper or other key piece comes first – and can be a useful starting point from which we then work to create a colour palette for the interior which will compliment.

If we have found the wallpaper which we want to use in our interior, it’s important to consider a colour palette for the whole space which will best compliment it. For wallpapers which are of rich or bright colours, we might look to temper this with more muted hues elsewhere in the space on our textiles, flooring or other walls. A palette which offers variations on the same colours can work well, for example, a wallpaper of deep and rich blues would be well complimented by paler, muted blues on the paintwork. If we have selected a wallpaper of a more muted colour palette, we might choose bolder hues for other pieces in the interior.

There are several ways in which we can choose colours which work well together in a palette; Taking a look at the colour wheel, using colours which are opposite to each other is one way of picking out complimenting colours for a space. Blues, for example, could be complimented within the decor by warm hues of Orange and Yellow. We can look to create a harmonious colour palette by choosing colours which sit next to each other on the colour wheel; If we wanted to create harmony in this way using Green, we would look to add Blues or Yellow to the palette. Another way to develop our colour palette for an interior would be to work with families of colours; We can choose a group of colours which are related hues such as varying shades of pinks with lilac.

Mood – How Can Colours Make Us Feel in an Interior?

When choosing a colour palette for our home decor, there are various factors to consider. A good starting place is to think about mood. Consider what you want the mood of the space to be – how do you want to feel when using that room? It may be that it’s a living room and you want the space to feel inviting, relaxing and cosy – perhaps this leans you towards darker hues or warmer colours. Maybe you want a bedroom space to be a sanctuary of calm, peaceful and serene, and you feel drawn to colours which are soft, muted or pastels. A dining room where you regularly entertain might mean that you are looking for a palette which compliments evening glamour – maybe for this mood you will find rich jewel tones, darker hues and metallic aspects appealing. To create a room which feels relaxed but upbeat, happy and joyful, it may be that you select multiple bright colours to sit amongst eclectic or natural textiles and fresh warm white. For some, greens are calming and soothing whereas others feel that they are refreshing, energising and bring us clarity – think about how you feel about different colours and how that might translate into the particular space.

Existing Colours in the Interior - It could be that you are to consider the existing colours in the space; a warm wood floor in a south facing room means the warmth of sunlight through the windows creates warm hues which you want to compliment and elevate.

Think about the Style of the Interior - Once you have determined the desired mood for the space, consider the style of the interior. Traditional interiors with period features are often beautiful in softer, muted colours. A more contemporary style of home might better suit bright colours.

One Dominant colour in an Interior - We might want to select one dominant colour which is to be used throughout the space. This colour will lead the rest of the colour palette and we will further explore ways to do so below. Our chosen dominant colour will feature heavily, across main items in the space such as a large wall, a sofa and / or full length curtains.

Accent Colours in an Interior – Accent colours can accompany a dominant colour to bring some depth into the space and to add interest to the overall palette. Accent colours are often brighter than the dominant colour or more richly saturated. We might use accent colours on smaller items such as footstools, cushions, rugs and wall art.

Neutral Colours in an Interior - Neutrals are often chosen for large areas within the space such as floors, ceilings and larger furniture. Neutral hues such as white, greys or beige can be used to bring balance to home decor and to retain a feeling of calm amongst the incorporated colours. Neutrals can help to make the colour palette feel more cohesive.

Patterns and Textures – Within the colour palette we are developing, patterns and textures may play a significant role. Fabrics such as velvets and wallpapers with a metallic or pearlescent finish can play beautifully with the light in a space, resulting in a variety of hues and creating a richer sense of depth.

Fabric, Wallpaper and Paint Samples

When developing a colour palette, we can use samples to allow us to bring the various hues together and, importantly, to see how they look in the space itself. Samples of textiles and wallpapers can help us to get an idea of how they look in the available light in our interior. The light conditions in a space will greatly impact the visual result of different colours; How much natural light we have and whether the windows are south facing with warm sunlight entering the room or north facing with a cooler light all has an effect on the colours we see. Placing wallpaper and paint samples on the walls, we can observe the effect of the light on the colours at different times of the day and be sure that we like the result. Artificial lights in an interior are the other crucial aspect that we will want to look at. Try all of the samples in the space with each of the different lighting conditions.

Choosing a Pattern and Motif Style for Bold, Patterned Wallpapers

When we are choosing to feature in our interior a wallpaper with a bold pattern, we ought to consider the style of pattern and motif style that best fits the interior design style. A modern, minimalist interior design style might suit a pattern which is of a more abstract or with elements of geometric pattern. Traditional interior styles often work very well with florals and patterns with organic shapes. An eclectic interior style means of course that we have more freedom to explore a variety of patterns and motifs to compliment the diverse range of elements and styles in the space.

We might look to feature several different patterns within the interior. One bold pattern can be a more dominant feature visually, which is complimented by other more understated patterns elsewhere in the room.

The scale of a pattern is something which can be influenced by factors such as the size of the room. For a larger room, a large scale pattern can work very well to become a striking feature in the interior and can help to fill the large space with visual interest. Whereas for smaller spaces, we might look for a pattern which is of a smaller scale so as not to overwhelm the interior.

Pattern motifs in contemporary designer wallpapers are often a fusion of both traditional and modern design elements. These pattern elements can range from organic forms inspired by nature to geometric shapes and can heavily influence the feel and character of an interior space. Bold, patterned wallpapers from contemporary designers are often of a variety of influences which we can find in Art History. The Art Nouveau influences of organic forms and nature inspired motifs displayed in an ornamental way can be found amongst many of the designs in the Becca Who Wallpaper Collection. Whereas other designers feature more geometric shapes and angular lines borne out of the Bauhaus movement. We can look to echo the style of our interior, and even the period in which our home was built, through the pattern motif styles that we choose to feature.

Where to Feature Bold, Patterned Wallpapers in an Interior

We can use our choice of bold pattern on the walls in a variety of ways within a space to add visual interest and character. Here are some of the ways we can feature bold patterned wallpapers in our home decor;

Statement Wall - Featuring pattern on just one wall in an interior is a dramatic way to create a focal point in a space with wallpaper, which can then be balanced out by the rest of the walls being a solid paint colour. The eye is drawn to the bold pattern and, surrounded by the solid hue, the statement wall enjoys the spotlight within the room. This is a popular way to incorporate bold pattern without feeling overwhelmed. The adjacent solid colours can be complimenting or muted versions of the wallpaper colours as explored when creating our colour palette.

Entire Rooms Wallpapered - For the more adventurous, wallpaper which fills an entire room with bold pattern can have a powerful and dramatic effect in the interior. It may be that you look to do so in a smaller room, featuring a heavily patterned wallpaper on all of the walls creating powder rooms and hallways which are visually stunning and add interest to the home. Wallpapering half of the walls by use of a a dado rail can bring beautifully striking results when paired with complimenting paint colours.

Focal Points - We can look to add pattern to aspects which can be a focal point such as chimney breasts and archways by using wallpaper. An area which already draws the eye in a room can be enhanced by pattern to create a definite focal point in the space. Consider the size of the focal point and bear this in mind when thinking about the scale of the pattern. A wallpapered ceiling in a smaller space can enhance the ceiling rose and light fitting as a beautiful focal point overhead.

Furniture – Increasing in popularity is the creative addition of patterned wallpapers to furniture pieces. We can choose a special piece of furniture and add another dimension to it by incorporating a striking wallpaper for a beautiful result. You might add wallpaper to the inside of a book case or drinks cabinet, or to the top of an elegant sideboard, to create a highly original and beautiful piece of furniture.

We know that featuring bold, patterned wallpapers in your home decor can make for interesting and visually stunning interiors with beautiful character. Hopefully you have gained insights from this post as to how to incorporate patterned wallpapers, giving consideration to colour palettes, which motifs might work best, the desired mood of the interior, the style of the property and ideas for where you can feature these wallpapers to result in the desired effect in your space.

Take a look at our blog post on the benefits of choosing Luxury Designer Wallpapers: The Key to a Beautifully Bold, Maximalist Interior
Explore your own creative ideas with patterned wallpapers and see what results you can enjoy in your interiors.