Texture a Touching Experience 

Most homeowners aspire to create interiors that are not just stylised, but homely. A home that feels inhabited, warm and expressed with materials and objects that reflect individuality and personal preference. Interior decorators have long used textured wallpaper as a ‘go to’ solution for achieving intimate cosy zones with soul.

Of course, much can be written and said of the flamboyant feature wall product, however, the unsung wallpaper hero that brings a more subdued sophistication is texture.

Venturing beyond flat 2D colour on the walls, textured wallpaper adds another dimension, an extra sensory experience that encourages touch and connectivity – all the while, lifting interiors with depth and a sense of simple, everyday luxury.

Often the missing key

A well designed room with the perfect colour scheme, furniture and accent pieces can sometimes look a little flat because it’s lacking texture as an important design element.

Texture is all about touching and experiencing. It also bears some visual weight drawing attention. Providing a textural focus can create balance and allows the eye to rest and process a certain design – especially when things are a bit ‘same-same’ (non-technical term) in a room using a monochromatic colour scheme.

Don’t underestimate the power texture has in evoking a sense of ‘feel’ just from the visual shown.

Texture can sometimes be confused and used interchangeably with pattern – however, they differ in that texture as pointed out, refers to how something ‘feels’ whereas, pattern focuses on the ‘surface print’.

Oh the variety!

A wide variety of textured wallpapers populate the market that include grass cloth, sisal, silk, foil, linen, tweed and metallic (to name a few). The Anaglypta collection (shown below) and the new Paintablescollection, offer embossed wallpaper patterns with a raised textural profile.

Practical benefits

Textured wallpaper extends beyond it’s ‘feel’ factor.

If you have uneven and imperfect walls ladened with small holes, lumps and bumps – textured wallpaper has been effectively used by decorating and design professionals to hide and disguise such imperfections.

Most textured wallpapers are easy-care and washable (without leaving shiny streaks like when wiping a painted wall). Wallpaper is also scrubbable and wears well in high traffic zones. Wallpapering is also a ‘one coat’ process – no fumes and no need for a second coat! Save time and move back into your newly decorated room on the same day.

We would always recommend before cleaning, reading instructions from the manufacturer – as textured wallpapers differ in property. For example, adding a cleaning solvent to a fibrous wallpaper such as grasscloth, may cause discolouration.

When you’re looking to colour your walls, then there’s paint. However, if you’re looking to dress your walls with something that offers more, then definitely look to use wallpaper (it’s a lot easier to install these days).

We’ll just let the side-by-side pictures featured in this blog do all the talking…