Wallpaper For Kids That’s Not Exactly Just For Kids

zos-bdrm2STEFAN BOUBLIL, co-director of The Apartment, the New York interior / graphic design company, doesn’t believe in saccharine, non-challenging visual habitats for children. Take his usage of Timorous Beasties’ Euro Damask paper on the walls of his five-year-old son Zoel’s New York City loft bedroom.

It couldn’t get any more challenging and adult than the edgy Scottish design duo who mix natural and Gothic influences to produce end results like Devil Damask - a traditional lace with a Devil’s face hidden in the weave - or the infamous Glasgow Toile - a print that resembles historic French toile, but hides low-life city scenes instead. And yet, explains Boublil, “In a society in which more and more is done to ‘protect’ children to a fault, they are growing up unable to view the so-called dirty side of life.”

His solution? “I thought that Rorschach [the ink blot guy] had a great way of getting around the would-be thought dictators of our time: the power of imagination. What better gift to give a child than the ability for him or her to fire off a million different thoughts every morning and night, be they scary, soothing or, why not, erotic in nature. The idea of independence can be nurtured from birth and it made all the sense in the world to start with a non-verbal method to communicate it.”

Anyway, word is his son likes it too.

* Timorous Beasties Euro Damask wallpaper, £75 a roll www.timorousbeasties.com; The Apartment, www.theapt.com

HERE ARE our other favourite not-so-kiddy, kiddy wallpapers. They may not be as edgy as a ‘Beastie Boys’ choice, but they’re just as likely to be coveted for your living/dressing room as for your 7-year-old’s bedroom.

town121. Do You Live in a Town? by Mini Moderns, designed by AbsoluteZeroDegrees, £38 a roll. A paper so hip, it’s often used by adults including the design duo behind People Will Always Need Plates.

wallpaper2-122. Vintage from Hausen, from €30. Fanja Ralison, designer behind Le Train Fantome’s vintage-look soft toys, chose a retro floral vintage paper for her son Leon’s bedroom in Hertfordshire, UK, sourced from German online shop, Hausen.

 

 

 



ecowallpaper3. Graham & Brown’s Eco Highway by Amélie Labarthe, £30 a roll from the Eco Collection at www.grahambrown.com. A quirky, super-cool paper of futuristic cars powered by milk and not petrol – educating kids on eco issues whilst looking great too.

 

 

 



carriewallpaperfor-web4. Carrie, by Olli & Lime, £55 a roll, at www.olliandlime.com. Okay, so shopping habit references aside, we’re rather partial to the shoe-crazy Carrie paper – new from Olli & Lime. Says creative director Karen Ronneback: “I don’t see any reason why kids designs shouldn’t follow high-end design trends.”

 

 

 



celia-birtwell-lifestyle25. Beasties by Celia Birtwell, £55 a roll, www.celiabirtwell.com. The 60s/70s print pattern legend is making a fashionable comeback with an interiors collection that’s as strong as her iconic fashion textile designs. A slightly cuter take on modern.