Bedroom wall paper design and themes

One of the first things that came to mind when I was contemplating my design for Bruce and Paulita’s bedroom was wallpaper. Wallpaper gives a room a very “finished” look and, depending on the pattern you choose, can add instant elegance. Sure, there are some scary wallpapers out there (I have had nightmares about being trapped between four walls of cloying cabbage roses), but there are also some great, very modern patterns available. The wallpaper I ended up using in the Lewises’ room is floral, but not overly sweet, and its light metallic sheen makes it look modern and, not incidentally, gives the room an incandescent glow.
In some ways, wallpaper can limit your options when it comes to furnishings and bedding-you don’t want to bring too many other patterns into the mix or you’ll wind up with sensory overload. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bring in any other patterns at all. In the Lewises’ room, a headboard with an interlocking cutout design abuts the wallpaper, but the combination works because the wood is neutral Sadie turned over a new leaf. Here, I hand-painted a literal interpretation of her transformation.
I found this bonsai tree wallpaper for Sadie’s room, and then serendipitously found fabric in a very similar pattern. Extra wallpaper was used to cover books. With the paper waterfall on the headboard wall, there was a lot going on in this room so the trick was to keep the cumulative effect from becoming overwhelming.
The solution was to confine the patterns I added to the room to strips. For instance, instead of blanketing the wall with wallpaper, I hung it in wide panels. Likewise, the patterned fabric on the bedding is confined to a horizontal strip with a few smaller strips on the throw pillows, and the pattern isn’t too ornate. I also brought in one more patterns-the beaded embroidery on the bedding-though only as an accent. Had the whole bed been covered in the pattern, it would have been a little too much. Another thing to keep in mind about wallpaper is that there’s no rule that says you have to cover an entire wall.