Articles

In-depth guides and practical articles on designer wallcoverings.

• Toile de Jouy, from Oberkampf's pastorals to a Harlem scene The monochrome pastoral pattern that started at Jouy-en-Josas in 1760, and the modern designers who kept the format and swapped the story.
• Damask at the wrong scale is the whole joke A pattern born in the silk looms of Damascus reads as pure formality until you blow it up, flatten it, or recolor it. Scale and color do the subversion.
• Singerie: the monkey business inside chinoiserie The eighteenth-century fashion for painting monkeys aping human life gave a formal genre its comic streak. Christophe Huet's Chantilly rooms are the template.
• Decorating with a wink: the one-gesture rule for playful classics A whimsical traditional pattern works when the rest of the room stays disciplined. Anchor it, limit it to one move, and keep the palette honest.