Off-the-Wall Papers
Are Now All the Rage

Where have all the flowers gone? They sure aren't on the wallpaper in Ann and Doug Hickman's Annapolis, Md., powder room. Instead, Mrs. Hickman and her interior designer picked an expensive crinkled paper that she says resembles a "brown paper sack."

At least that's better than the stuff that the couple's condominium association recently put on the walls of the elevator: woven sisal. Mrs. Hickman says her husband "complained that it looked like a prisoner-of-war camp."

After more than a decade spent in the shadow of faux painted surfaces, wallpaper is back in fashion. But the billowy cabbage roses and tiny country prints that prevailed a decade ago aren't what's selling now. Instead, in keeping with the current high-status stripped-down look, wildly expensive patterns that mimic humble materials like brown-paper bags, cork and even concrete blocks are the rage.

"People want the wallpapers that others don't have," says Annapolis, Md., interior designer Susan Weitzel. "They want friends to come into their homes and say 'Where did you get that?'"

Most of these off-the-wall papers, which can cost as much as $250 for 25 square feet, have gritty texture and neutral hues taken from earthy materials like stone, wood or metal. They include handmade papers embedded with leaves and twigs, embossed papers that look like old-fashioned tin ceilings, and nubby fabrics such as mohair and linen backed with paper. There's even rice paper covered with beads and ribbons. "You have to clean it with a feather duster," says Cecile Bradbury, who owns a furnishings showroom in West Hollywood, Calif.

Adding Interest

Some interior designers say the new wall coverings can help make a room look bigger or more interesting, especially when used in limited areas such as on a ceiling or above a wainscot. New York interior designer Roderick Shade, for example, recently papered the wall of a bathroom with a silver-and-taupe pattern threaded with fiberglass.

Boston interior designer Charles Spadak, however, says the new styles are gimmicky. Parchment papers covered with beads, feathers or bows, he says, are "more suitable for wrapping gifts," while the sheer fabrics hung with seashells and fake flowers are "better for ballgowns."

Janice Langrall, marketing director at wallcoverings maker Schumacher & Co., New York, acknowledges that some expensive papers can be fragile, but says most buyers are apt to replace them long before they've become tattered. "Because people have more money than ever before, they're looking to keep up with fashion cycles -- even makeup colors," she says.

Travel agent Eileen Jamal considers the temporary nature of her wallpaper a plus. The pattern that she chose for the bathroom of her New York apartment resembles an urban beach at low tide: greenish sea glass interspersed with broken ceramics. Though it sells for $105 a roll, installing it was a lot cheaper and less messy than having a worker plaster shards on her wall. "When I get tired of it, I can change it without breaking down my wall," she says.

An Aristocratic Pedigree

Whether subtle or bold, wallpaper has long been flaunted by the elite. During the 16th century, English aristocrats covered their walls with scenes from mythology, hunting, gardening or with the family's coat of arms. A century later, hand-painted Chinese landscapes were popular. Wallpaper remained out of reach for the middle class until well into the 19th century, when improvements in manufacturing finally made mass-marketing feasible.

These days, wallpaper is selling faster than it has in years. Schumacher, for instance, has seen annual unit sales increase 16%, to 1.5 million single rolls, since 1995. Though wallpaper now can be had in any home-improvement store for as little as $2 for a single roll, the fastest-growing segment of the industry is the upper end, where rolls sell for $100 or more, according to Tina Gonsalves, marketing director for the Wallcovering Association, Chicago. Handmade papers fashioned by small boutique firms are selling so well that some mass-market manufacturers are beginning to make custom papers, too.

The demand for unique papers has meant a bonanza for handmade-wallpaper makers such as Willem van Es, of Jersey City, N.J. Formerly a muralist for the hotel industry, Mr. van Es opened his wallpaper studio only a year-and-a-half ago, but the response from interior designers was so "tremendous" he plans to expand his business, he says.

His designs cost as much as $18 a square foot and imitate exotic materials like reptile skin, mango leaves, leather and oil-slick puddles. He achieves these special effects using techniques most budding artists learn in grade school, such as stamping on gold paint with sliced potatoes, or gluing bits of string onto the paper's surface. His latest trick: "Sometimes I even sprinkle on a little powdered eye shadow."

But exotica doesn't appeal to Rebecca Watson, a Jackson, Miss., homemaker who spent a year looking for the perfect wallpaper for her teenage sons' bathroom. Her two sons spurned most designs as too childish, too feminine or too stereotyped -- even stripes were dismissed as "boring." Finally, she found an earth-colored pattern that provides just the ambiance the boys wanted. "It kind of looks like a basement rec room," she says.

The New Wallcoverings -- A Primer

Today's trendy wallcoverings can be decidedly high-maintenance. So consider this before trying them at home:

Wallpaper: Standard vinyl wallpaper used to last 10 years and require just the occasional sponging. But today's new versions, made with everything from fiberglass to beads to dead leaves, require a more delicate approach. Try a feather duster or even Q-tips. Definitely avoid vacuum-cleaning and vigorous rubbing.

Some high-end, handmade wallpapers are coated with layers of shellac or varnish to improve their durability and allow them to be cleaned with mild soap and water. Stains on one popular wallpaper, grasscloth, can actually be removed with a pencil eraser.

While standard wallpaper can cost as little as $2 for a standard roll (which covers roughly 25 square feet), the artsy new papers sell for as much as $250 a roll.

Plaster veneer: This new wallcovering gives you that ancient-Greek-fresco or ruined-Tuscan-villa look without requiring centuries of fading. (Actually, it's just a thin layer of plaster with metallic pigment.) Plus, you can clean it with mild detergent and water.

But be careful: According to Baltimore decorative plasterer Mark Mordhorst, the veneer can crack just like solid plaster, and when gouged may require complete refinishing to keep the tints even. Total costs: About $5 to $11 a square foot.

Fabric: Interior designers say upholstered walls are making a comeback, if only because they're thick enough to keep more sounds out than other coverings. A half-inch of batting makes them popular everywhere from entertainment rooms to powder rooms.

Camarillo, Calif., interior designer Holly Higbee-Jansen says she prefers upholstered walls because wallpaper is "too repetitious." Depending on the material, installed costs typically run between $50 and $75 a yard. Most fabric walls can take vacuuming; some also may be cleaned with soap and water or a commercial spot remover.

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