IDEAS IN WALLPAPERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 370, 2 June 1928, Page 23

IDEAS IN WALLPAPERS

DECORATIVE EFFECT Writing in the “Australian Home Beautiful,” G. Adam tells of the newest ideas in wallpapers. There has been quite a flush of new ideas in recent months in the decorating world. The ordinary panelling is still holding its own, and consists of either decorative, plain or tapestried. The usual plan is to cover the walls with the groundwork—either plain or decorative —and then impose the border that constitutes the panels, and is generally 10£ or 7 inches wide, according to the size and the proportions of the room. The top of the panel, of course, runs up to the picture rail, and the bottom abuts the skirting board. The character of the panel ground work is a matter for individual choice, and most of the firms that deal in wallpapers have a trained staff whose advice is quite sound. Where the house owner is a lover of good pictures, he or she is, of .‘•ourse, largely guided in the 'choice of wallpapers by the character and number of pictures that will be hung in any one room- But there lias been a noticeable tendency in recent years to reduce the number of pictures hung on the walls, and many people now rely on the wallpaper alone for decorative effect. Many modern bedrooms are quite bare of pictures. Naturally, where there are many pictures in a room, the best paper is either quite plain or an embossed one with a matte effect rather than a figured or tapestry design. Perhaps the most radical innovation of recent month* has been the development of what are known as the “growth designs.' 1 These had their origin in the cutout borders which have been in vogue for some years, and they have now grown to such proportions that not merely flowers and branches, but trees and actual landscape scenes are cut out and applied. In the less ambitious but sometimes very beautifuul schemes of panelling there are what are known as “downward growths” and “upward growths,” which consist of a cut-out border that is placed round the room, and from which the pendants are attached, or shrubs “planted,” as the case may be. These can be had in many colourings, and both machine and hand painted. Among the new motifs we note “The Whitehall”—a charming form of panelling decoration, consisting of two motifs intended to be used in conjunction with styling border —and “The Prospect,” a fine effect in six colours.

In England the use of landscape papers has been carried forward to a remarkable degree. wall paper designers having taken advantage of the love of open air expressed in the increase of motoring. We read that the latest form of wall decoration is a paper which shows a panorama of distant hills, with lakes embedded in them and trees in the foreground, all tinted in soft atmospheric blues and greens that make the picture recede, so that, despite the boldness of the design, the effect is to increase the apparent size of a room. When the sunshine falling through a window lights in patches on this lovely countryside the impression of realism is enhanced, and those whose diningroom is hung with this paper might imagine themselves having all their meals out of without the accompanying discomfort. The paper is also, however, used for ballroon\s, drawingrooms and halls. The tall foreground trees are “cutouts” quite separate from the panoramic background, and can be moved to different positions in the landscape with artistic freedom. Another new Avallpaper on the same lines shows a familiar scene in Kew Gardens with an interesting variety of trees. Chinese wallpapers have, of course, been designed to harmonise with the vogue of the Oriental rug, and these may be obtained in a fair range of patterns at moderate prices. Papers, however, painted in the traditional Chinese manner by a Chinese artist are increasingly used, though they are too costly to become general. They are done in panels, and about £250 is paid for a set of 19. The artist follows his fancy, painting the design in a bold freehand manner, so that no two panels are exactly alike, though all show the tree of life spreading its rose-flowered branches, amid which flutter exotic birds.

Japanese grass paper is another costly and beautiful form of wall-cov-ering which is continuously imported to this country. It is entirely handmade by peasants of the bark peeled off the Japanese honeysuckle, the cost of the material alone for covering the walls of an average-sized room amounting to £BO. apart from the labour.