Once upon a time not so very long ago, there was a cheery kingdom where royalty and serfs alike brought endless bouquets of colorful flowers into their homes and cast them in every direction — all over the walls, the upholstery, the fabrics — even the ceilings! These brave design folk were not put off by minimalists’ opprobrium. And in fact, it was these pattern-mongers — not the less-is-morers — who were lauded far and wide for decking their halls in the latest fashion. “Don’t forget the sixth wall,” the decorating wizards and sages declared. And so it was. Wallpaper everywhere! Thanks to reader Bob, who was the first with this time capsule tip.
UPDATE SEPT 21: Trixi tipped us to the estate sale coming up this weekend, more photos o’ the stuff inside here >> Estate sale.
Whilst today this 1960s/70s (?) wallpaper explosion may not be everyone’s cuppa tea — although you know we LUV it — you gotta give the designers credit for their derring do!
And there are a number of things to learn from this beautifully-maintained 1960, single-owner time capsule house –>> for sale in Golden Valley, Minnesota, listed by Josh Sprague of Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty.
Lessons such as: using color harmony when you’re going bold… the lift of lacquer… and heck to the yeah: Why not wallpaper the ceiling or — better yet — canopy it in chintz ala the sunroom in the first photo above!
I do not know my interior design history enough to know who to credit for this layered look. I am reminded of these very famous rooms, which were done in 1957 by Billy Baldwin. Sister Parrish loved her chintz pinch pleats with matchy matchy upholstery nearby, too, as I recall. This whole idea goes way back.
From the property listing:
- Price: $674,900
- Square footage: 3,827
- Bedrooms: 4
- Bathrooms: 4
- Year built: 1960
400 Westwood Dr S in Golden Valley, MN 55416 is a sprawling mid-century split level home with an open floor plan and original elements of this home that make it stand apart from the crowd! The home sits perched atop a dramatic half-acre lot, within walking distance to North Tyrol Park, and the spectacular woods and trails of Wirth Park. Lovely three-season porch and entertainment area open up to the private backyard with small water feature/babbling pond. Huge kitchen, informal dining room, formal dining room, and two family rooms with fireplaces deliver wonderful main floor spaces. Private Master Suite with bath, and two additional bedrooms and baths above grade. Lower level features an additional family room with fireplace, bedroom, bath, and laundry room, plus additional lower level den and office.
- Read more about this house’s history in this story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune published today (alas, link now gone). Thanks to reader Erik for pointing this story out! Glad to see the home is getting good exposure — we hope it helps connect with an appreciative buyer!
When going bold: Narrow your use of colors:
Kate counted at least 11 rooms in this home that have unapologetically bold wallpaper that sets scene for each room’s design.
But go through these photos carefully and you will see that the wallpapers (and room colors in general) were chosen to be within a narrow range. The colors used in this house are mostly similar shades of blues, greens and yellows, all settled with bright white. This creates a harmony throughout the house that is much less jarring than if many colors had been used.
- In choosing the 18 vintage wallpaper patterns for my office walls patchwork, I also worked to keep the colors within a controlled range.
Above: The fun starts in the entryway with a crisp green wallpaper pattern and matching curtain on the door…
Above: The kitchen and dining room use the same wallpaper pattern for continuity in the space. We love the pops of bright green on the dining chairs and rug, too.
Above: The key to making this room feel less overpowering despite its dark wallpaper ceiling: lots of light and lots of white.
Cheery yellow wallpaper with coordinating upholstery and accessories look fantastic with the warm wood wall paneling in the den…
The living room has a lighter yellow wallpaper and bright green furniture. Check out the fabulous roman brick fireplace in the corner!
Even the laundry room gets the royal wallpaper treatment.
Only one of the bedrooms opted for a plain white ceiling, but there’s still plenty of matching fabric to be found on the chair and ottoman, bedspread and dressing table apron.
Above: A midcentury blue and white bathroom with Impressionistic wallpaper, shower curtains and ginormous mirror reflecting it all.
This jungle green leafy wallpaper pattern is one of our favorites. It’s balanced with lots of white on the wainscoting, carpet and bedspread.
Again, while this wallpaper pattern is dark, the room has plenty of white to balance it out, and the two windows and pair of table lamps help make the space feel bright and inviting. Lacquering antique furniture was a “thing” during this period, as well.
If not for the dark periwinkle blue canopy, we’re not sure you’d be able to find the bed in this bedroom. Fantastic!
Above: Another favorite. We love the combination of the all-over-fresh feeling floral wallpaper and the bright yellow vanity and other yellow decor. It just feels so clean — perfect for a bathroom. Again — doesn’t this house seem amazingly well maintained?! What a happy house!
Link love:
- Mega thanks / credit to Josh Sprague.
- See all listing information for this delicious home here.
Jonny says
I like it. Not that it’s my taste, but I love how bold it is. Subtlety is for the weak, that’s why we have so much boring beige HGTV today.
I don’t want a house that taps you on the shoulder and asks you to look at it. I want one that punches you in the face and demands your attention! This one fits.
Carolyn says
I have a design book that showed that all-over wallpaper was a Victorian thing, not just one pattern in a room but several (and I mean several) complementary/contrasting patterns.
I can handle the entry, den, LR, and bathrooms but geez, everywhere? it’s a bit over the top. There’s nowhere for your eyes to light, they’re too busy looking. HAHAHA! there’s hardly any nail holes!
Would the darker hues make tall people feel as if their heads were brushing the ceiling?
All in all, it was tastefully and well done. Do you think we’ve become so trained to look at white and beige that saturated color everywhere does not compute? Is it that pictures don’t do it justice?
pam kueber says
Actually there are other rooms in the house sans wallpaper, so it’s not everywhere.
Yes, Victorians well known for layering wallpaper. That’s why my headline says “modern moment”!
ineffablespace says
Thibaut ($$) and Quadrille/China Seas ($$$$) are the only two firms that I am aware of that make Many of their patterns in companion wallpaper and fabric
pam kueber says
Waverly, perhaps?
ineffablespace says
They do, but I don’t find their collection very large at all. And not too inspiring, personally.
Rick S says
You may also check out Clarke & Clarke, Ralph Lauren, Scalamandre, and Schumacher (parent company of Waverly).
The dining room in my home has was wallpapered by previous owners with matching fabric table and sideboard runners. Kitchen has fabric valances to match one of three patterns used on walls. (lower wall , upper wall and border used as chair rail )
Our papering was done in the late 80s and mid 90s.
rick
Kristen says
You can order wallpaper, gift wrap, or fabric (about 30 different kinds of fabric!) from Spoonflower using your own design or a design in their marketplace. I’ve been eyeing some wallpaper for my kitchen but also considering designing my own. That way I could have matching kitchen curtains and maybe a tablecloth. It’s print on demand so you can order as little as a quarter yard of fabric!
Allison says
Have you any idea of the quality of their wall paper? I’ve never ordered, but have thought about it because there is a design on a piece of vintage fabric I’d love to match one day.
matthew says
osborne and little
scalamandre
to name 2 there are hundreds
Trudi says
Not sure if my husband would join me but I could move in tomorrow and not change one single thing!
tammyCA says
Remarkable..it doesn’t look like any wear & tear in this house & it looks like it could’ve been featured in a house magazine back then. Some of that wallpaper, like the laundry room & entry, I’d choose today. I remember back then some people papered their ceilings too in the bathrooms but not the other room ceilings..must’ve been a real bear, even painting a ceiling is arduous.
Kate says
I know TammyCA — I can not imagine how difficult it is to property wallpaper a large ceiling like that!
Jay says
WHEW! When I enlarged each room’s picture, some gave off a psychedelic effect. Prone to headaches, not sure I could handle the ceilings but the patterns are great especially when transferred to fabric. The entry, quite chaste, gives no clue to what lies within. Not your typical split level. Very interesting!
anne says
I LOVE THIS HOUSE SO MUCH
ineffablespace says
I grew up in a house with wallpaper in every room except my bedroom and the living room, which had a flat paneled effect. Bathrooms had the ceilings done. My parents bedroom had 40 year old grasscloth when the house was sold.
pam kueber says
I am also impressed by this house in that all the wallpaper looks like it has stayed impeccably adhered all these years. In my bathrooms, I can’t get that to happen. After about 10 years, the edges are peeling up. I don’t know what I am doing wrong.
Eric says
Maybe what the paste was made out of at the time. I remember my grandmother putting up wallpaper in late 70’s and specifically saying she did not want any of that “strippable” junk, as paste was labeled in a way to state if strippable or not. She meant it to never be removed..
pam kueber says
hmmmm
Jay says
10 years? Give yourself some credit, bathrooms do generate a lot of moisture.
paula webb says
Its a problem with pre-pasted wall paper. My mom always used paste in addition to what came on the paper and hers has stayed up since 82.
pam kueber says
I use wheat paste… will need to do more research on this topic. Timely, because I need to re-wallpaper my husband’s bathroom. It’s the next project on the list!
ineffablespace says
Does your fan do a good job of removing steam?
Was the paper made for use in a bathroom?
The master bath paper was perfect after almost thirty years, but the hall bath started curling at the edges. But not everybody would put the fan on, and this door was always closed, whereas my parents could closed the bedroom door but would leave the bathroom door open.
But the guy who paints for me says they always put up liner paper first, and the seams aren’t lined up, so it’s two layers with no seam over plaster or old paint, and he says the seems don’t budge. It’s twice the labor and twice the expense, but it’s probably worth it.
I know they recommend hanging very expensive paper like Zuber and DeGournay this way (sometimes three layers, liner, muslin and paper) and this way it can be removed intact –it’s often resold since it can be removed.
matthew says
you can install a blank lining paper first. Then apply the wallpaper on top. paper should stay stuck down for 25 – 30 years. most pre-pasted papers need additional adhesive added.
i am a professional paperhanger 30 years
midmichigan says
Some if it was cool but this era of wallpaper mania became jaded. So much so that it eventually ushered in the advent of the highly lauded, wallpaper steamer, patented in 1987. I have spent many hours at the controls of this fantastic device.
pam kueber says
I think this one is a PERFECT example of how interior design that is highly personalized can suit the original owner to a tee, but not so much subsequent owners. Wallpaper in particular — with its pattern and color — is something that lots of folks want to select on their own, because certain patterns and colors “sing” to you.
All that said, I think these interiors are FANTASTIC for their boldness! Obviously the homeowners loved the look and feel all these many years and kept the wallpaper up! I don’t know that I agree with “jaded” — I think the issue likely was more of the marketing pendulum swinging, as it always does. Wallpaper is in… then wallpaper is out… Gray paint is in… then gray paint is out… etc.
I have very high tolerance for patterns and colors and layers and would have no trouble at all living in rooms with wallpaper ceilings — so ‘enveloping’ — comforting like a cave. And hey, we come from cave people! Caves make us feel safe.
anne says
If I could afford to, I would buy this house and all of the furnishings and live in it as is. The only thing I would replace is the carpet in the laundry room. I adore, adore, adore this home.
Jackie Klump says
I’m with you!!! I don’t think I could get hubby on the wallpaper train, but I’m loving this!!!
Geronimom says
Wow – Feel sorry for any potential new owner who may not happen to care for the “all-over” wallpaper look – imagine trying to scrape ALL of that off ????! And for that matter…I’m wondering if whoever put it up originally had to a scaffold while reclining on his back – a’ la Michealangelo & the Sistine chapel? Hopefully this home will eventually find a owner whose tastes match its “unique” decor!
pam kueber says
The “scaffolding” issue is what is currently holding me back from painting the ceilings in my 11′ high living room! I’m gonna do it one of these days, though!