The most overlooked surface in any room is the one above your head. Papering a ceiling, the so-called fifth wall, is one of decorating's great underused pleasures: a soft cloud design over a bed, a rich pattern in a dining room, a jewel colour in a cloakroom. It draws the eye up, adds a layer of unexpected luxury, and turns an ordinary room into one that makes people look twice.
Low ceilings in particular can feel higher when the pattern carries up and over rather than stopping abruptly at the cornice. We spend a surprising amount of time looking up, in bed, in the bath, at the dinner table. It is a shame to give all that space to plain white.
"The ceiling is the most overlooked surface in the house, and one of the most rewarding to paper."
Look Up: the Fifth Wall
It can be played two ways. Gardenia Breeze, from Heirloom by Superfresco Easy, sets a soft floral into the coffers of a ceiling above checked walls, so the ceiling becomes the thing you notice. Cumulus in Blue, from Magnifique by Eijffinger, goes the whole way and paints a sky overhead, clouds drifting around the ceiling rose. There is a whole post on the fifth wall here, if it takes hold.
Gardenia, Breeze by Superfresco Easy
Cumulus, Blue by Eijffinger
"The loveliest wallpaper is sometimes the kind only you know about."
Look Inside: the Joy of a Lined Interior
Some of the loveliest wallpaper is the kind only you know about. Line the inside of a glazed dresser and the china seems to glow, which is exactly what Reverie in Crème Brûlée, from Solstice by Graham & Brown, is doing behind those shelves. The same thinking works on any recess: Manzu in Caper, from Otillo by Romo, papers the alcove behind a freestanding bath and turns a plain wet wall into the reason the room works.
Paper the back of a bookcase and every object on it is framed and lifted. Line the interior of a wardrobe, or a set of drawers, and a mundane daily task becomes a small private pleasure. These hidden flourishes cost very little, since the spaces are small, and they carry a real sense of care.
Reverie, Crème Brûlée by Graham & Brown
Manzu, Caper by Romo
The Small Surprises
Once you start looking, the opportunities multiply. A beautiful length, framed or stretched onto a canvas, becomes a piece of art, which is how Rotherby, from Kensington Walk by Zoffany, hangs here as two mounted panels. Darcy, from The Muse by Zoffany, is papered onto a tall brass-framed panel standing free on the floor, which is pattern you can pick up and move. A single panel behind a bed makes an instant headboard with no upholstery required, as Sillage in Paille, from Senah by Arte, does inside its timber framing. And Painterly Flora in Pink, from Woven Reverie by Graham & Brown, papers only the wall that steps forward into the room, with the recess either side painted to match. It is the chimney-breast trick, and it costs a roll or two rather than a room's worth.
Rotherby, Indienne by Zoffany
Darcy, Silver by Zoffany
Sillage, Paille by Arte
Painterly Flora, Pink by Graham & Brown
The risers of a staircase, papered in a pattern or even a run of different ones, turn a functional climb into a moment of delight. A length wrapped around a plain lampshade lifts a corner of a room for almost nothing. And the downstairs cloakroom, that small, low-stakes, windowless box, is the one place in the house where you can be as bold as you dare, and really ought to be.
The lesson in all of it is the same, and rather freeing: wallpaper is not confined to walls, and pattern belongs anywhere you would enjoy finding it. Order a sample, look around your home with fresh eyes, and you will start spotting perfect little canvases everywhere.
Where to Go Next
Many of these ideas are also the cheapest in the book, so read on for wallpaper on a budget, or look up properly with the fifth wall. Or start at the beginning with where to start with wallpaper.
