Trompe L'oeil

The genesis of this amazing technique (French for "deceive the eye") started in the Baroque Period but was perfected in the Renaissance with special credit to Italian painters and their murals.

Andea Palladio mural

In the present time, we are seeing a huge resurgence of this style in corky, fun and fascinating wallpapers.

Basically, the desired effect is to achieve a sense of perspective or 3D on a flat wall.

Mineheart Wallpaper

The new trend is to mimic different textures so that the occupants of the room walk up to the wall and touch it.

Chesterfield wallpaper - Mineheart

Wall Panelling - Mineheart

My fave:

Wrought Iron - Mineheart

The current trends nowadays is to appeal to materials making brick, wood planks and concrete very popular:

NLXL Wallpaper

Tom Haga Wallpaper

Finally, the "trompe L'oeil" effect trend is also moving downwards to under our feet. Companies are now manufacturing rugs and carpets with the same visual effect. However, there is a VERY fine line between "cool" and "tacky":

Urban Outfitters rug

Lastly, in the digital era that we live in, we are seeing photographs digitally applied on wallpaper as well as digitally created images.

One company here in Toronto, Rollout, does exactly that! You bring your high resolution picture and next thing you know, it's on your headboard or accent wall :-)

Rollout custom wallpaper

Theo Flamenbaum

- Style + Function + Love + You -

cover me pretty

Oh hiiiii :-)
Yesterday, one of my fave design blogs (cocozy.com) had an entry showing 2 images of  a kitchen/breakfast nook covered in my favorite collection of wall-coverings: Phillip Jeffries.

• This Grass-cloth wall covering adds drama without drowning the rooms. It has textures and adds dimension and dynamic to the kitchen.

                                                                 

• I love how the wrapped the grass-cloth into the window sills and bulkheads.

For a few years now, P. J wall coverings has this collection with moroccan-style prints and others.

They will most definitely add glamour and focus to a room:

                                                                                     

Because the rolls run in the the 200 dollar mark,  I would suggest using this as:

• An Accent wall
• In a powder room
• Hallways/foyers
• Headboard wall

And finally, these are only available through trades, like me :-)

Theo Flamenbaum

- Style + Function + Love + You -