WALL FLOWERS

It’s official—wallpaper is back and better than ever.

- RINA RAPUANO

PERHAPS YOU ASSOCIATE wallpaper with a historic Victorian home you once toured, or even Andy Warhol’s vividly outlandish rows of pink cows on a yellow background from the ’60s. But more likely than not, when someone says “wallpaper,” your mind goes straight to your parents’ home.

“My parents always thought all homes should have wallpaper,” says Catonsvillebased interior designer Laura Hodges, who moved from England to Gaithersburg in 1984. In their case, it was nothing fancy— they mostly employed a neutral-toned grasscloth that added texture, says Hodges, who now runs Laura Hodges Studio. “It didn’t matter if you were rich or poor or refined or not, it was just the thing to do.”

The popularity of wallpaper seemed to wane in the latter decades of the 20th century, thanks in part to a trend toward minimalism, not to mention the cost and difficulty associated with getting the paper on and off the walls. “We went through this whole minimalist, a Scandinavian aesthetic that leaned more toward white walls and less wallpaper,” Hodges says.

But there are definite advantages to going with wallpaper. For one thing, it helps create the illusion of a larger space. It can also add an undeniable stamp of personality to an otherwise unremarkable room. For those and other reasons, some designers say it never went out of style for a certain tier of clients who had the money to pay for installation—and, of course, a designer with an eye to pull it all together. Still, the average homeowner began to veer away from fussy wall treatments.