Cindy Bardes Galvin uses wallpaper to cover closet doors.

  


Tired of blank walls? Paint is the little black dress of décor, but wallpaper is the scarf that can give them any attitude and style you desire. Such versatility comes from the vast array of options that are available today. “There’s nothing that hasn’t been attached to a backing: shimmering shells, exotic wood veneers, all kinds of ground-up metals, natural fibers, grasses and reeds, sumptuously printed fabrics and even beads and ground-up pearls,” says Chicago interior designer Jessica Lagrange.

In fact, it was Chicago artist Maya Romanoff who pioneered the process of affixing glinting metals, slivers of wood, crushed stones, sparkling beads and more to backings that can be affixed to walls, making a major name for himself in the process and starting a trend that has been copied by many other firms. His influence accounts for the fact that “more wallpaper products exist than ever before, and the range is growing all the time,” notes Glenn Giacinto, VP and co-owner of Professional Decorating & Painting Inc. in Niles, and Romanoff is one of those sources handed from designer to client in the highend design world (he was recommended to us by four designers).

But such diversity comes at a price, and we’re not talking just the fiscal sort— though the cost of those sumptuous, seductive, wildly creative wallcoverings can be mind-boggling. “I’ve had jobs where the wallpaper alone cost tens of thousands of dollars, and we’re talking one room,” says Giacinto.

Equally daunting can be deciding which one to use. The endless array of textures, patterns and types can paralyze even the most decisive client, which begs the obvious question: What really counts? Ironically, it isn’t the mechanics, though wallpaper’s substance does dictate how you can use it. “Wallpaper is either paper or vinyl. The ones made of exotic materials or fabrics have paper backing, and some papers are also vinyl coated, but they’re all still basically paper. Vinyl is sturdier, moisture-resistant and scrubbable,” says Jeff Hester, vice president of Hester Painting & Decorating in Skokie and another source highly touted by designers. So, bottom line: Many papers can be fragile and unsuitable for high-traffic areas, while vinyl is a workhorse.

Wallcoverings also come in a healthy array of sizes and prices. “There’s no real standard anymore,” notes Hester. While rolls used to be 27 inches wide and five yards long, today they can range from 20.5 inches to 60 inches wide for panels, and rolls can run 60 yards or longer. Rolls can start as low as $10 for a mass-produced product, while handpainted panels can top $1,000 each.