What's hot this year!

As life starts to return to something resembling normal, we’re finally able to venture outdoors and breathe a little more freely. If you’ve been feeling confined by the same four walls over lockdown, now’s the perfect time to redecorate and inject new life into your home. And what better way to start than with those exact same walls?

While jungle, floral, botanical and animal themes are as popular as ever, 2022 still has plenty of originality and creativity in store for us when it comes to wallpaper designs. Take a look at the trends that are taking 2022 by storm, and start planning your own home makeover right now.

1. Scenic landscapes

Looking for a little more calm and contentment in your life? The easiest way to create a soothing indoor space is through the power of nature – fill your home with trees, flowers, rolling hills or exotic faraway lands and create a sense of pure well-being.

While these motifs can be seen on standard wallpapers, what we’re seeing this year is an increased interest in murals. These large-scale wall treatments allow you to decorate your home with character and personality, assisted by their grand scale and proportions. Whether you choose a single feature wall for your mural, or extend it across all the walls in your space, the effect is one of breathtaking impact, and that’s the trend that’s here to stay in 2022.

What this trend could look like in your home:

There’s nothing like a wall mural for instantly transforming a space, so start with a room that needs a refresh, and go from there. If you have a garden and need to rejuvenate your living room, you may want to consider a scenic landscape that incorporates structures as well, like a trellis, a greenhouse or a folly. This way you’ll be able to extend your garden and bring it into your living space, creating a seamless flow of nature inside and out.

Alternatively you might want to create a sense of escapism with a panoramic mural in either your bedroom or bathroom. The evocative nature of such murals and the sense of stillness and calm that they can bring, will turn your walls into works of art, creating a space as stylish as it is restorative.

2. Vintage tropical

We know tropical is not a new trend, but this year it’s an elevated one, with an added element of sophistication and a vintage touch too. If you want to take a walk on the wild side and give your home a bold, untamed feel, it doesn’t have to be loud and brash. There’s nothing like the unrestrained joy of jungle motifs, tropical patterns and oversized leaves to add a touch of the exotic to your living space, but pair this with an elegant more muted colour palette, and you suddenly achieve a wonderfully spirited but sophisticated look.

The leading wallpaper brand Eijffinger, recently launched a delightful new collection called Oasis which perfectly fits this vintage tropical trend. The collection is all about light and shadow filtering through palm leaves, silhouetted fronds, fan-shaped Ginkgo leaves, a charming 'Toile de Jouy' pattern with leopards and tigers and a flock of cranes which will happily fly across your wall. A striking moody mural features an exotic jungle and another a lush lagoon with swaying palms – a small piece of paradise you can experience in your own home. Warm sun-kissed tones of peach melba, guava and sunset are in perfect harmony with the soothing cool palette of soft sage greens, watery aquas and moody blues.

What this trend could look like in your home:

One may think that this vintage tropical look will best suit an eclectic home with well-loved old furniture pieces, quirky artwork and collectables. This is in fact true, but the style is versatile enough to also look wonderful in a cleaner more contemporary style home. It will add some softness, comfort and character without being too busy.

If you want to add some fun to your interior, look for vintage objet, light fittings and beautiful fabrics, and add these elements to create a very personal space, with a sense of whimsy. 

3. Sculptural neutrals

We live life in 3D so why not add an extra dimension of design to your walls as well? Thanks to new and innovative printing techniques, wallpaper is now more versatile than ever, with added texture in a variety of styles, patterns and materials.

Inspired by sculpture, carved clay relief patterns, artisanal ceramics, the gentle textures and curves of Zen raked gardens, all celebrating the craftsmanship and authenticity of artist’s and artisan’s work. A neutral earthy colour palette allows the textures and patterns to subtly ‘shine’, while creating a soothing sanctuary of an indoor space.

What this trend could look like in your home:

Wallpaper for living rooms are all about comfort, choose an area you’re likely to spend plenty of time in, like a living room or bedroom. Decide on whether you’ll be using your textured and very tactile wallpaper across one or all four walls – do you want a feature wall or do you want to feel as if you are wrapped in a homely cocoon? Select a neutral tone and then add other warm earthy tones on your furniture, rugs or artwork, being careful to pull together textures and subtle patterns than sit comfortably together.  

Neutral tones pair perfectly with earth tones like ochre, rust, umber and burnt sienna, and if you want to glam up this look a little, use brass or bronze accessories to add the perfect finishing touch. You’ll have a home that’s warm and welcoming, and appeals to all your senses at the same time.

4. Eco-Style

Sustainability is always important, and with every year that goes by, we’re becoming more invested in reducing our carbon footprint and creating environmentally friendly solutions for everyday living.

That’s not so easy with wallpaper, especially if you were looking for a quality that would be tough enough for use in your home or your corporate office or a public space. But thanks to the innovative and forward-thinking approach of the Italian wallpaper company Jannelli & Volpi, they have created a ground-breaking quality which uses only natural and bio-degradable materials, which at the end of their lifecycle, can be returned to nature.

What this trend could look like in your home or office:

Looking for a wallpaper that’s durable, washable, eco-friendly and gorgeous to look at? We love the new JV Tierra collection, and we’re sure you will too. Created from 100% regenerated corn, Tierra is completely sustainable and recyclable, and its commitment to nature is reflected in its designs as well. 

Choose from lush botanicals in greens and earth tones, to charming cactus motifs, to graphic prints, grassy textures and some novelty animal prints too, and you won’t just be getting back to nature – you’ll be giving back to nature with responsible design for a brighter future.

5. Wallpaper 3 ways

Wallpaper is making such a comeback now that we are always looking for new and exciting ways to use it in our homes. So, let’s look at some different ways to work with wallpaper. Wall panelling is ever so popular at the moment – so why not combine the two into an artistic architectural element? That’s the trend we’re seeing more of in 2022, due in no small part to the visual impact wallpaper inserts can create. 

Rather than using large expanses of wallpaper, why not use wallpaper below a picture rail, or above a dado rail or why not use on the ceiling for dramatic effect. Thanks to the framing aspect that panelling naturally provides, you’ll be able to turn your chosen wallpaper design into a floor-to-ceiling work of art!

What this trend could look like in your home:

Panelling inserts are all about adding more of your personality to your home, while creating warmth and interest at the same time. To create this effect in your home, always choose your wallpaper first, as you’ll find it easier to match paint to paper, rather than the other way around. A bold paint colour will help give the illusion of a frame to your chosen wallpaper design, creating a seamless flow between paint and paper and making your walls stand out instantly. 

If you want a more subtle sophisticated look, choose a paint colour more similar to your wallpaper colour, which could also be more about texture than pattern, thus creating a more mono-tone harmonious effect.

6. Maximalism

You’ve heard of minimalism – clean lines, neutral tones, and an uncluttered living space. Well, as the name suggests, maximalism is the complete opposite, and it’s making a name for itself in 2022 in a big way. Forget the quiet calm of minimalism – maximalism is all about bold colours, patterns and prints with lively graphics and impactful designs. 

If you’ve always wanted to explore your love of animal print, for example, maximalism is the way to go about it – and it’s the same for other motifs such as botanicals, bold graphic patterns, novelty animals prints and more. At the same time, maximalism isn’t about ‘more’ just for the sake of it – it’s about adding personality and character in way that’s eye-catching and audacious, yet tasteful at the same time.

What this trend could look like in your home:

Maximalism isn’t just about wallpaper – it’s about the effect that wall treatments, furnishings and accessories can create when combined in new and ingenious ways. 

It's not an easy look to pull together and needs to be carefully curated to look really good. Perhaps enlist the help of a decorator or interior designer to make your Maximalism dream interior come true, in style. Be sure to share your passions, favourite styles, colours and dreams with the design professional so that they can capture your spirit and personality and infuse that character into the space.

7. Archival prints

It’s a trend that’s not just happening in wallpaper design – we’re seeing it in fashion and accessories too. It’s the trend of archival prints – looking back to the past in order to reinvent the future, and there’s a significant amount of nostalgia that goes along with it. 

It’s for this reason that we’re seeing granny florals, damask wallpaper and tapestry make a reappearance, with the familiar prints of old providing a level of comfort and certainty in these changing times. This look back at vintage and traditional designs is being seen in fashion as well, with designer labels like Gucci, Prada and Ralph Lauren reinventing some of their most famous looks from the past, and highlighting their heritage and history. 

What this trend could look like in your home:

Celebrating the past with an archival print means reimagining it in a modern context and combining the old with the new. If you’ve always been partial to damask, why not choose a wallpaper design, but use it on your ceiling, rather than your walls. Choose gorgeous vintage florals but pair them with colour blocked elements for a bold and daring effect. Add metallic finishes and accessories to a room with a pretty botanical wallpaper design, or mix and match different design periods like 50s, 70s, and Art Deco in one. Pair the old with the new and you’ll be combining the best of the past with the hopefulness and positivity of the future.

Want to start exploring these trends in your own living space? Then let Dreamweaver Studios help you bring them to life in your home. From advice on choosing wallpaper via our online Consultancy Packages to easy shopping our wide selection of luxury wallpapers, we’ll be able to help you create a home that’s on trend and in style.