Remember wallpaper? No, not the screens on your phone or laptop, but the elaborate papers that used to cover nearly every square inch of the walls in homes and offices. Since the early ‘90s, wallpaper has taken a backseat to painted walls and a more minimalist interior design, but it’s been making its way back. This is true for commercial wallcoverings as well! Commercial wallpaper can be a great way to transform a mundane space into a stimulating creative zone, add pops of color or infuse more personality into a wide range of commercial projects from offices to cafes, stores, and more.
Though it has a reputation for being difficult to put up and remove, today’s wallpaper is easy to use. Whether you’re looking to rejuvenate a space with more color or texture or add the perfect finishing touch to a blank wall, you can find an array of patterns and designs to suit your taste or project. Plus, many are made using highly durable and low-maintenance materials, making them a prudent choice for busy commercial spaces with lots of pedestrian traffic. They are also environmentally friendly, with thousands of styles receiving a sustainability certification from the Wallcoverings Association, the industry’s trade organization.
Here are a few of our favorite styles — and how you can use them:
Textured
Want to make a workspace look bigger or wow customers who visit your showroom or conference room? You can create the illusion of a larger space or an immersive atmosphere that clients will remember. Textured wallpaper is perfect for adding depth, dimension, and visual interest to walls. From fabrics and metallics to sculpted surfaces that mimic riveted metals, faux exposed brick, or marble, textured wallpapers like these options from Knoll and Designtex are rich in color, detail, and imagination and bring vibrancy to spaces.
Nature-inspired
Instead of installing a living wall in your business, try a nature mural! Like plants, nature-inspired wallpapers bring a sense of abundance, calm, and peace to an environment. They are a great choice for a lobby, hallway, or in an office where such biophilic images can help employees feel more relaxed, happy, and productive. Digital wallcoverings make it easy to create large-scale landscapes with vivid color and crisp detail that can be scaled up or down to fit any wall or even be printed in mural form. From bold florals to oversized leaf patterns to abstract forest imagery (like this pattern by Area Environments), use this versatile wall art to bring the outdoors in!
Graphic
Whether you prefer geometric and damask patterns or more abstract designs, graphic wallcoverings can be as conservative or free-flowing as you’d like. Mural styles like this Area Environments Paris pattern are bright and colorful and add an artistic, liberating edge to any space. You can even go the graffiti route—an unexpected yet striking design that fits well in an office cafe or brainstorming room.
Vintage
Want to give your business a nostalgic ambiance or transport those who step inside to another time and place? Consider vintage commercial wallcoverings! These include reproductions of original wallpapers and retro-inspired designs with a modern touch and contemporary colors. Just because these looks are from the past doesn’t mean they can’t be warm and colorful, as this mid-century-inspired wallpaper illustrates.
We specialize in making commercial spaces innovative, inspirational, and highly productive. To see how we can renovate your business, contact us today.
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