Schumacher, one of the most venerable decorating houses out there, has a marvelous site with great inspirational uses of its wallpaper:

I just love how the shapes of the leaves and the gold vases pick up the pattern of this Zimba pattern in Soft Chartreuse.

Same thing here with the Fireworks pattern in Glacier. The twigs, the texture of the chair cushions and rug, and the billowy shapes of the vase and light all reinforce the wallpaper’s look.

Here, from the sconce to the flowers to the pulls on the drawers of the chest, the Valais Stripe pattern pulls it all together.

Osborne & Little also provides a cool gallery of room settings to get you thinking about how to use wallpaper.

This is the greatest idea: Cover a panel in wallpaper, such as this Stanza pattern in Lovelace, and place it against the wall, so it’s easy to replace. Also, by using pillows and accessories to echo the wallpaper, replacing the room’s look becomes much easier than, say, buying a new sofa.

See caption above. Same concept, using this fabulous Nina Campbell wallcovering (owned by Osborne & Little) in the Perroquet collection.

Here, a lesson in miniatures. If you have a small nook somewhere – a dressing room, maybe? – don’t be afraid to go bold, as they did here with the Folia pattern in Clarendon.

Next Zoffany has to great line of papers from understated to big and bold. There seems to be something for everyone here. What caught my eye was this modest little pattern called Starflower. Rather than setting a room’s theme, it can fade into the background, but give even plain pieces of furniture some punch.

As a parting shot, here’s something totally fun, but not exactly for everyone – the Serious Bokay in orange from the Nama Rococo Wallpaper Studio. This paper, combined with the aqua chair, yellow table, lilac lamp stand, and green pears just puts you in a good mood.

The Living Room:
Johnston got the frames for a pair of antique chairs from Mueller, who then painted them. Then Johnston splurged on Scalamandre fabric to upholster the chairs. “I just wanted them to be this perfect fabric,” she says. “This [blue] dictated the color scheme throughout my house.] If you look closely, there’s a hint of this shade of blue in every room, but it is so subtle that all a visitor notices is how cohesive it all looks. Her use of zebra print, furthermore, in an otherwise restrained room gives the space a delicious flourish.

Family Room:
Johnston almost didn’t buy the house because of this now-gorgeous room. To make it all work, she had built-in cabinets installed, which she painted and glazed herself to match the kitchen cabinets. Then, she purchased an extra-deep Manor Sofa from Z Gallerie, so she and her fiancé can lie side by side to watch television. She also had molding applied on the wall to frame the art. Her layering of drapery panels over fabric-backed woven shades gives the room added texture.

Dining Room:
Johnston loved the look of wallpaper she put up in the powder room of her previous home, so she went for it here in the dining room, with a Thibaut pattern that “looks real tea-stained or kind of warm and old,” she says. Then she hung a contemporary painting to juxtapose with the room’s antique look. The sea shells on the table and the plantation shutters add a crispness to the space as well.

Bedroom:
She carried the blue accents upstairs and into her bedroom. Those colors, along with more plantation shutters, lighten up the dark woods in the room to make a delightful retreat.

Boontje’s work recalls UK artist Susan Bradley’s Outdoor Wallpaper:

Bradley’s Botanica collection is equally inspiring:

Alessi’s Mediterraneo series also takes up the charge:

And if you want to take a bike ride through nature, nothing beats this basket:

Finally, Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola calls her T-Table (T stands for transgenic) a technological fossil, according to Dwell magazine. Along with Boontje’s Garland Shade Light, her table was also honored by Real Simple magazine as another one of the 10 accessories that will become a future collectible.

You can get it here: