Move Over, Wallpaper! The Upholstered Wall Is Here

Wallpaper has been in its heyday for a few years now (some might argue, a few decades … even a century!). I’m not getting tired of it anytime soon. There are so many creative ways to totally change the look of a room just by adding patterned or textured wall coverings.

But there’s a key word there — wall coverings. It’s not just paper that’s finding a place on the walls. The annual Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse in New York is always a harbinger of trends, and this year a guest bedroom in the Greenwich Village townhouse stretched the definition of how to drench walls in print. Designer Peter Dunham of Peter Dunham & Associates, whose textile and design business spans both coasts, could have simply wallpapered his room in a bold pattern. But instead, he chose something softer for the space.

Dunham used his Jacob’s Stripe fabric in gold and sage to upholster the entirety of the walls in his guest-bedroom-meets-studio-apartment setup. As soon as you walk in, you’re enveloped in an earthy yet colorful stripe. It completely surrounds you in a touchable pattern (but maybe resist the urge to touch, as it’s fabric). And what’s even more interesting about the decision is that the stripe does come in a grasscloth wallpaper, but he still opted for linen fabric instead.

Why fabric over wallpaper? In a bedroom this swap creates a sense of being enveloped in the space. The upholstery on the walls adds subtle movement, with the padded nature of the fabric protruding ever so slightly from the walls. That’s a tactile touch that wallpaper can’t totally replicate. You want to reach out and feel the walls — particularly because of the organic appearance of a linen weave.

Wallpaper might be punctuated with details like trim and molding, but at Kips Bay, Dunham added a different element to the upholstered walls that gives them the same level of attention. You see it, and you know there’s been a careful eye to how it’s finished, but you’re not quite sure what it is. But along the edges of the room, there’s a double self welt. It’s an upholstery detail you wouldn’t expect to see on a wall, but it adds the most gorgeous finishing touch. 

Throughout the room, pieces like an iron chair and black art frames contrast the softness of the fabric. The walls have an almost whimsical, circus tent-like effect, thanks to the illusion of the drape, and I’m here for it. Wallpaper may be lovely, but you just won’t get the play between case goods and upholstery that fabric has when on the walls in a space. So while I’m not counting wallpaper out (yet, or ever!), don’t be surprised if you catch me strolling the aisles of a fabric store before I take on my next room renovation. Maybe you’ll think about it, too!