Wallpaper, such as this House of Hackney print called “Zeus,” can transform a room. Turn the page for tips and inspiration from local designers. Photograph by Stacy Zarin Goldberg.   There was a time, a few decades ago, when wallpaper reigned. Think floral prints, maybe a damask pattern. “You couldn’t walk into a little girl’s room in the late ’90s and not see a Laura Ashley ribbon wallpaper,” recalls McLean interior designer Tracy Morris. At some point, however, wallpaper lost its sway. It never disappeared, exactly: You could still find it in a powder room or private nook. But it was more afterthought than avant-garde. No longer. Wallpaper’s back and, with its bold patterns, rich textures, and vibrant scenes, can play a leading role in a room’s design. “It’s such a valuable tool when trying to create a feeling in a house. You can add texture, a different depth of color, in addition to bringing in a pattern,” says Maria Crosby Pollard of Alexandria’s Crosby Designs. “It’s an instant upgrade of a space.” Why the resurgence? Theories abound. Maybe homeowners who stared at their greige walls during the pandemic were inspired to give spaces a vibrant refresh. Perhaps the abundance of wallpaper designs that have pinged around Instagram convinced newbies to take the plunge. Maybe technological advances helped generate better options. “Digital printing has really improved the quality” of the imagery, says Pollard. A Schumacher wallpaper called “Queen Fruit” lines the dining room in designer Annie Elliott’s DC house. Photograph by Rebecca McAlpin. Wallpaper by Carlton V, called “Puff,” enlivens this Chevy Chase powder room designed by Zoë Feldman. Photograph by Stacy Zarin Goldberg. At its pinnacle, wallpaper can be an art form. Hand-painted papers, customizable by color or design, can take the place of a pricey art collection. In some cases, Pollard will hire a decorative painter to add elements or colors to a hand-painted scene, a landscape of trees or mountains creating a near-immersive experience. Or, in the case of a forgettable fireplace mantle, a Schumacher wall covering made from real peacock feathers might refocus the gaze, as DC interior designer Annie Elliott recently concluded. (For Elliott, a self-professed “wallpaper pusher,” wallpaper never went out of style.) A velvet wall covering by Arte, “Velveteen Tetra,” adds texture to a bedroom in Tracy Morris’s McLean house. Photograph by Greg Powers. The choice need not feature bold colors or scenes to be transformative. Morris often uses papers with texture: jutes or grass cloths, maybe, or quilted velvet, such as the peacock-blue paper she used in a bedroom in her own house. You can run your fingers over it, feel the pattern. “When you’ve gone from having this flat paint on your walls to all of a sudden, boom, this incredible texture,” Morris says, “it just seems like a different house.” Sometimes wallpaper’s use as a focal point can be a matter of kismet. During an initial consultation, a client working with Lisa Shaffer of the DC interior design firm Lisa & Leroy stumbled across a Schumacher wallpaper called Little Tuscany while flipping through samples. The client hadn’t considered using wallpaper in their Cleveland Park home, but they were so smitten with the Tuscan-inspired landscape that they designed their dining room around it. “It’s just so fabulous,” says Shaffer of wallpaper’s possibilities. “It’s just as amazing as putting a painting on a wall.”   How to Transform Your Walls The Zoë Feldman–designed interiors in this Spring Valley house feature a striped Farrow & Ball wallpaper in the dining room and a Morris & Co. “Pimpernel” paper in the stairwell. Photograph by Stacy Zarin Goldberg. Hire a Professional Do-it-yourselfers might be tempted to go it alone. But as DC interior designer Zoë Feldman notes, “improper installation can lead to issues like bubbling and peeling”—a costly outcome when using a pricey paper. Virginia interior designers Tracy Morris and Maria Crosby Pollard recommend going to a Benjamin Moore or Monarch Paint store and asking for recommendations of skilled installers. Also make sure that person has experience with the kind of paper you’ve selected. First Things First Some homeowners buy wallpaper and then hire an installer. But that’s a mistake, says DC interior designer Annie Elliott. After choosing a paper, have your installer tour the space. They can give a more accurate estimate than an online calculator of how many rolls you need, which can also depend on the style and pattern of paper. Go Big . . . Neophytes might be tempted to choose something safe and subdued, fearful of making a room-size mistake. But going too subtle can itself lead to a miss. “Start out with something fabulous,” says Elliott. “There’s a much better chance of not getting tired of it than something greige.” To elevate the sunroom in this Old Town house, designer Maria Crosby Pollard chose a paper by Colefax and Fowler. Photograph by Nick Johnson. . . . But Not Too Big “Choosing patterns that overpower the space or using designs that don’t align with the room’s overall color scheme” can also be a missstep, says Feldman. She’ll balance scenic and bold papers with neutral furniture or simple accessories. And remember to factor in the flow of your house. “You can’t be too overpowering in every room,” says Pollard. “You need to think about a variety of scales and textures and colors and how they all relate.” Where to Use It In areas lacking in visual interest or detail, wallpaper can be an effective solution—for example, a “builder-grade” bedroom with no architectural detailing, where “the only exciting thing is the outlet,” says Lisa Shaffer of DC’s Lisa & Leroy. Wallpaper, even if it isn’t a bold statement, can generate visual interest. Dining rooms, with their hard-edged furniture—chairs, table, credenza—are also good candidates. Go Custom We live in a golden age of wallpaper, with an excess of options. But in some cases, a homeowner will want something more personal. Maybe an artist friend has designed a cool motif or the family has a print or pattern they discovered during their travels. An interior designer can help turn that inspiration into a custom paper that might imbue a space with an added layer of meaning. On a Budget? Peel-and-stick wallpapers can be a temporary or easy-to-remove option. And vinyl versions are not only kid-friendly and easy to clean but can keep costs down. (Some may not even look like vinyl.) Another cost-cutting tip: To minimize waste, Pollard suggests choosing a paper that comes in larger 11-yard rolls.   Top Wallpaper Picks Finding the perfect wallpaper can be daunting, exponentially more difficult than selecting a paint color. To help narrow the options, the local interior designers we spoke with recommended some of their favorite manufacturers. A Timorous Beasties paper, “Totem Damask,” draws the eye away from the TV in this Cleveland Park project by Annie Elliott. “Deconstructed Stripe,” a Schumacher paper, is on the left. Photograph by Stacy Zarin Goldberg. Reliable starting points: Schumacher, Pierre Frey, Phillip Jeffries (pictured) Leather, suede, and other textured coverings: Arte Historical patterns searchable by period: Adelphi For a Mid-Atlantic manufacturer: J.P. Horton Hand-painted luxury: de Gournay (pictured), Gracie An elevated British feel: House of Hackney Wide selection of options and price: Harlequin (pictured), Thibaut Other favorites: Katie Ridder, Zak + Fox, Flavor Paper, Little Greene (pictured), Aesthetics Wallcoverings, Carlisle & Co. RelatedThis Adams Morgan Apartment Proves You Can Use Wallpaper Just About Anywhere This article appears in the October 2024 issue of Washingtonian.  The post Wallpaper Is Back. Here’s How to Transform Your Home. first appeared on Washingtonian.