Make Your Walls A Garden Party With Stunning Floral Paper
Large-scale, over-the-top florals to welcome spring.
Left: A home office/playroom by Paulina Cervantes of Dual Concept Design is enlivened by an abstract and colorful print by Romo behind the bookshelves, and a wildly colorful floral by Pierre Frey on the ceiling. Center: In a home designed by Kelsey Haywood, the painterly Bloom, by Phillip Jeffries adds abstract appeal to an oddly-shaped home office. PHOTOGRAPH BY MARGARET RAJIC Right: Designer Nicole Forina chose Valldemossa—named for a village in Mallorca—from Osborne & Little, to liven up this small powder room. The bright orange faucet accents the wild palette.
Mention floral patterns and it’s a good bet that many people will recall dusty, formal rooms with old-fashioned prints and overstuffed furniture. But today’s floral patterns are a far cry from the florals of yesteryear, and they work in informal, modern settings as well as fancier, more traditional rooms. And new digital printing technology allows for hyper-realism when it comes to reproducing blooms as art for walls, floors, and furniture.
Left: Haiku, by Phillip Jeffries, is inspired by traditional Japanese Sumi-E painting. Shown here in Emerald Refresh, the pattern comes in 12 colorways. Right: Edward Fields’ Riviera collection celebrates the intoxicating joie de vivre of life on the Cote d’Azur in the 1920’s. Flora Del Mar evokes the lavish villa gardens in rich and luxurious scale.
While you may be tempted to rely on smaller scale, especially in smaller spaces, those precious patterns can have a claustrophobic effect. On the other hand, in the case of florals, sometimes the larger the bloom the better. Larger scale patterns can trick the mind into a more expansive state, and the right floral can transform an unusually shaped or mundane space into an arresting work of art. In general, designers agree that when choosing a path, the denizens of the garden lead to full-blown joy. Whether abstract or realistic, these are definitely not your grandmother’s florals.
Left: Artistic Tile’s Walden is inspired by the meditative qualities of Thoreau’s Walden Pond. This mosaic traces the shape of peaceful lily pads floating atop still water, and comes in polished Bianco Onyx and honed Lilac (shown here). Right, clockwise from top: Pimpernel is a classic Morris & Co. pattern, reissued in the new Simply Morris collection, and offered in bright new colors like Leaf Green. Through Zoffany. Designers Guild Jardin Botanique is a large-scale panel that evokes delicate porcelain patterns. Through Osborne & Little. Sanderson’s Very Rose and Peony is an archival pattern that has been digitally enlarged and comes in three vibrant colors, like Kingfisher/Rowan Berry, shown here. Through Zoffany.
Left: Veronica Ferro of VF Interiors chose the hyper-realistic Yulan Magnolia wallpaper from Designer’s Guild, through Osborne & Little, for the entryway in her own home. PHOTOGRAPH BY HEACOX CREATIVE CO. Right: Stylized, silvery chrysanthemum blooms by Schumacher march across the walls in this bedroom by Leo Designs.
The Dupre Chest by Baker Furniture, comes in a matte plaster finish. The floral relief brings a tulip garden indoors.