Latest Interiors looks at wallpaper trends for the new season including Brighton’s very own paper!

We love wallpaper. It’s been riding high in the best-seller charts for a few years now and shows no sign of going away. If you want to add colour, texture, or an ever-changing library of pattern, prints and characters to a room – well, what better way to create an instant makeover? This week, Latest Interiors takes a look at the new season’s offerings, and finds out just what the best-dressed walls will be wearing.

Colour me beautiful
Wallpaper can bring colour, light and life into space. It’s the perfect antidote to late-winter gloom. And this season, colour is rich and vibrant – think mustard, tangerine, crimson, and spring green. Single shade wallpaper is a great way to introduce colour with a neat finish, especially if walls (or plaster) are less than perfect. For smaller spaces and low ceilings, use bold colour sparingly, on a wall or two.

Metallic papers can add tone and colour, but also bring light. We love the gentle shine of Osborne & Little’s Adara range. It’s the perfect backdrop to living space, adding an understated glow to simple walls.

Pattern & texture
Pattern is also a huge trend and the choice is huge. Modern florals, retro colours and patterns from the ‘60s and ‘70s, or even reproduced William Morris prints work well in both modern and more traditional spaces. Choose something big and bold for a one-wall feature; you can wallpaper almost anywhere. Wildlife – animals and insects of all sorts – are still scuttling, hopping and fluttering across our walls, but they’re joined now by period botanical prints, trees, ferns, dandelions and even mushrooms. For a really eye-catching look (for the very brave!) combine different patterned and coloured papers in one room.

Folk tales & street scenes
Folk art and simple, pared-down colour and pattern is a nice break from all that big, bold colour. Small, whimsical prints inspired by the countryside, folk-art or tradition in pale, simple colours, add a subtle edge to walls. Simpler patterns are much easier to work across more than one or two walls, and should blend well with other décor. Street scenes – period or contemporary – are another popular wall-covering, with Harlequin’s ‘Brighton’ paper a top seller in big department stores, bringing a little bit of the outside into our homes.