A home should say who you are, where you have been, and where you would like to go. What better way to do so than with the wallpaper trend that’s making a serious comeback? At High Point Market this past spring, more interior design showrooms than ever were covered in whimsical and inspiring papers. These aren’t the serious and sad papers of our mother’s youth, but crazy, courageous and bold prints that make your jaw drop.

I know, I know. It’s easy to say, “But I’m so afraid, it’s so permanent!” Well, not anymore. More and more retailers are offering a DIY paper that can be removed without any serious damage to walls. For high-end projects, I lean to my favorite chic designers like Schumacher, Osborne & Little, Timorous Beasties, and Christian LaCroix for that creme de la creme paper, but even Target is now offering really chic prints of the peel-and-stick variety in their awesome Opalhouse line, which just launched this spring. I’m still drooling over their Panther pattern in Bluff Green!

Not sure where to start when choosing a wallpaper? Here are a few tips to help…

First and foremost, ask yourself: “What do I want people to feel when they walk into my home?” Prints and patterns invoke emotion in everyone. It is how people are wired. So, choose a paper that says something about you, your personality and your home.

Secondly, mixing patterns can be a little tricky. For example, note how Schumacher’s Iconic Leopard wallpaper pairs well with the large scale of the flowers on the Cynthia Rowley for Hooker Fleur de Glee Writing Desk. Notice the tight, larger stripes of the zebra rug are a completely different scale than the spots of the leopard paper. You want to balance the scale of the prints so your room jives well. I always tell clients, “It’s like you are putting together an outfit. You would never put a large scale plaid blazer with a large-scale plaid pair of pants. Mix patterns, but be smart about it and make sure they ‘feel’ right.”

My design team and I love, love, love designing kids’ spaces. Nothing takes a kid’s room over the top into designer world than adding a wallcovering. We loved adding the accent wall in two kids’ rooms we recently decorated in a beautiful home in The Canyons.

Attention all Glam-ma’s: What a great gift to give your first grandchild – a designer nursery!

Finally, your paper may have special meaning to you that no one else is privy to and that, my friends, makes it extra special. Who’s to say the swallows in this Philomela Textiles Bird byBird paper don’t remind you of an old friend? That is your secret to keep.

Your home should make you happy and tell a story. After all, it is the biggest way to express who you are.

By Carla Royder

Carla Royder is the Owner and Interior Designer for CARLA ROYDER DESIGNS & CO., ASID.