Choosing abstract wallpaper

Where it works

Abstracts go where a picture would be too much and a plain wall too little: an entry, a dining room, a home office, the wall behind a sofa. The earth murals, Molten Seam with its gold-leaf veins and Canyon Wash in terracotta and ochre, have no orientation and no focal point, so they hang on any wall without planning and forgive doors and windows. Half Moons, charcoal on pale grey, is gentle enough for a bedroom. Woven Blocks and Stacked Blocks, cream and rust against near-black, suit a living room with wood and leather.

Picking between the designs

Painted, woven or drawn. Painted: Molten Seam, Canyon Wash, Clay Wash, textured strokes in earth colours, all murals for one wall. Woven: Woven Blocks and Stacked Blocks, where the linen weave shows through. Drawn: Half Moons, Teal Stars, Soft Corners, Thistle Puff, Dandelion Seedhead, flat shapes on plain grounds that repeat and will cover a room. The painted group is warm and horizontal; the drawn group is cooler and cleaner. Eames Parlour and Little Pots sit at the edge, mid-century furniture and plants drawn in outline, abstract in spirit if not in subject.

Related

Hard edges live on the geometric wallpaper page, the 1950s ones in retro wallpaper, the terracottas in terracotta and orange wallpaper. For hanging a textured mural without seams showing, read How to hang wallpaper.