finishing touches

Treating your walls to a touch of drama can define a room's personality and certainly reflect yours. Enjoying renewed popularity, wallpaper is today's designer choice for adding impact to a space and there are endless ways to use it for maximum effect.

Covering every wall in a room is a traditional option. The right pattern used throughout, bold and bright, or soft and muted, will dictate all other decorating decisions in the space. Or a single wall might be dressed to highlight just part of a room. Wallpaper murals are often used this way. Rather like adding an enormous work of art, a mural can change a dull space like a hallway or a stairwell into a lively one in no time at all. Similarly, small designs can be cut from a roll of wallpaper and treated as mini murals. Frame them in faux versions of handsomely carved museum pieces for instant wall art.

Add a spark to a laundry room with a couple rolls of brightly patterned paper. We chose a contemporary version of that jewel-toned velvet flock that once graced grandma's parlour. But this one in bright fuchsia has a raised and rubberized finish that is much more practical today.

The latest wallpaper books will likely reveal a host of fresh ideas to consider when redecorating your home. Whatever your style, you'll find papers reminiscent of the past, timeless favourites, chic designer moderns and novelty patterns. You can create the mood you want quickly and easily.