You all know I am a huge fan of using millwork to add character to home.  I am not going to say I feel as strongly about wallpaper, but I have been feeling really good about it recently.

I’m not talking about floral patterns or modern geometrics that date easily.  I am talking about grasscloth wallpaper being used to add texture to a room or hall.  We had grasscloth wallpaper in our family room when I was growing up and it is still in style today.

Here are a few examples where I have used grasscloth wallpaper to add texture and character to room…

This walk in pantry was made more special with a light paper that used woven material in white, a subtle silver, and some natural brown threads.

I think I would be motivated to keep this pantry looking great!

In this study, dark navy grasscloth makes this room a cozy, intimate space, despite the high ceilings.

Bathrooms can be a challenge to accessorize, but using wallpaper allows you the freedom not to feel like you have to hang art or décor on every wall in the room.  In this room, I used a subtle, soft green to tie into the floor and shower tile.

I also recently used grasscloth wallpaper in my own home.  I had a dark little back hall going to the guest bedrooms that was so drab.

Unfortunately, this is the only ‘before’ picture I have in my files.  Guess there wasn’t too much worth taking a picture of!  I had a piece of wall art on the opposite wall, so it seemed awkward to me to have art on the other side, just 4 feet away.

With the texture from the wallpaper, now the wall looks perfectly good with no additional adornment (I removed the painting from the opposite side).

Just a couple of things to think of before embarking on installing wallpaper:

1) Avoid anything too trendy- you don’t want to list your house and have people screaming about dated wallpaper having to be removed.

2) Your walls will need to be prepared before the paper is applied, especially if your walls have a texture on them (‘orange peel’).  Many people are game to hang paper themselves.  Not me, I think if you are doing it, it needs to look professional, so I would not skimp on the installation technique.

3) You will see vertical seams where each roll of wallpaper touches.  It doesn’t bother me, but it may surprise you when you first see them if you aren’t expecting it.  You can see this here:

I think the benefits far outweigh any other concerns.  There are a lot of great photos on Pinterest if you want to see some more examples of grasscloth wallpaper in beautiful homes.

I’ve pinned a few to my board “Favorite Places & Spaces”- you can access it here:

Pinterest: Favorite Places & Spaces

Let me know what you think about using grasscloth wallpaper in various rooms through out the house!