B4 • Friday, July 28, 2023
thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Help a room tell a story Kim Cook ASSOCIATED PRESS In the Emmy-nominated opening credits of HBO’s “White Lotus,” wallpaper-like images told a story: The tropical prints started off innocuously enough, but then turned ominous. Fruit started rotting, fish got tangled in seaweed, and a sense of foreboding set the whole premise of an exotic paradise on its edge. The artist, Lezio Lopes, has said he was trying to evoke the design and themes of the show’s resort suites. It’s a surreal example of a current trend in decor — wallpapers that combine art and narrative qualities to set the mood of a room. Some take us to wild places in nature, others to wild worlds born in artists’ imaginations. They go way beyond your nice stripe or simple floral. They tell a story. Wallpaper in general is back in a big way, decor experts say, and often makes a statement through images or texture (many papers incorporate fabric or fibers). Chicago-based design writer Elaine Markoutsas, who attended two of the year’s biggest design expositions, Maison et Objet and Deco Off, in Paris, said new wallcoverings were among the most exciting things she saw. She cited intriguing patterns, and digital and 3D
EMMA HAYES VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
This photo provided by New Zealand designer Emma Hayes shows the designer’s Willow wallpaper in chocolate pattern. printing techniques. One theme stuck out. “We heard the term ‘revenge travel,’ referring to a post-pandemic urge to get away for real, or virtually,” she says. “Travel often triggers designers, who mine details from architecture, landscape and destination culture.” Some of the new papers feature contemplative renditions of forests and seascapes. Others reference places, people or creatures as fun, imaginative, maximalist marvels. For a mashup of both, there’s the baroque “Novaf-
Average long-term mortgage rate inches back to 6.81 percent ASSOCIATED PRESS The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate ticked back up this week, remaining a barrier for Americans trying to upgrade or buy their first home. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 6.81 percent this week from 6.78 percent last week, which was the lowest level in a month, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 5.3 percent. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans. High inflation has driven the Federal Reserve to jack up interest rates since early last year. Beginning with its first hike in March 2022, the central bank has lifted its benchmark interest rate to between 5.1 percent and 5.3 percent, its highest level in 22 years. Inflation has retreated since last summer, which has many on Wall Street hoping that the Federal Reserve’s quarter-point interest rate hike on Wednesday will the the last of this cycle. Mortgage rates don’t necessarily mirror the Fed’s rate increases, but tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Fed does with interest rates can influence rates on home loans. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage remains more than double what it was two years ago, when ultra-low rates spurred a wave of home sales and refinancing.
rica Sunset” created by Christian Lacroix’s creative director, Sacha Walchoff. He’s envisioned a kind of fever dream jungle with a tangerine sky, foliage clouds, glimpses of fauna, hyper-colored blooms and silk-ribbon-wrapped tree trunks. Put this on your walls and let the conversation begin. At Pierre Frey, artist Veronique Villaret cut out simple paper sprigs of Pacific Island vegetation to create a joyful, colorful pattern she calls “Rangiroa.” It’s available as a wallpaper or fabric.
Dutch studio Moooi’s “Memento Moooi Medley “ wallcovering collection was inspired by the accounts of early explorers and the creatures they encountered. The “Golden Tiger” roams among cubs and other jungle animals on a wood veneer background. “Mimic Moths,” now extinct, take on the coloring of their favorite plants. Other moths, moon orchids and lilies-of-dusk tumble across an embossed, suede-like wallcovering. Partnering with textile giant Romo, Alice Temperley’s eponymous London-based fashion and design house
Nature, history and imagination infuse new wallpapers
drew inspiration from their archive of richly detailed gowns. They came up with a wallcovering collection full of leopard prints, swirling sea agate patterns, and golden Victorian keys and dressmaking scissors. Stories for Walls has a cheeky one called “Safari Gangsta,” featuring fierce and funny wild animals dressed in hip-hop gear; there’ll be some cool kids who’ll want it in their bedrooms, and probably some adults too. Katie Deedy has found a way to artfully mix her intellectual curiosity and love of history. Her Brooklyn-based Grow House Grow studio produces some of the most imaginative wallpapers and tile. One pattern, “Ode to the Unhasty,” includes pictures of sloths, snails, manatees and slow-growing bristlecone pines. “The pattern’s narrative inspiration is more of a gentle lesson,” she laughs. Between running her business and parenting, Deedy says she began to feel like life was going too fast. “So I created this wallpaper as a visual ode to taking it easy. When I look at this collection of our Earth’s slowest moving flora and fauna, it’s a reminder to mosey more and sprint less.” Another of her patterns, “Mary Ward,” honors a forgotten female entomologist. In the mid-1800s, Ward spent her days with a magnifying glass, collecting and
drawing insects. “As a woman, she couldn’t be formally trained at university,” says Deedy. “Yet, over the course of her young life, she became a renowned expert in microscopy, writing the go-to texts used in the same schools that wouldn’t admit her.” The wallpaper playfully intermingles late-Georgianstyle silhouettes of Ward and her beloved oversize insects. At this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, Emma Hayes showed a couple of ethereal and dreamy wallcoverings based on her New Zealand home. “Willow” depicts willow wisps caught by a breeze, against a midnight background. “Sediment” shows a gently rolling shoreline of tonal watery hues. Alexis Audette of New York-based studio Mazy Path showed nature-inspired papers in the styles of Arts & Crafts textiles, Delft tiles and 16th century French wallpapers. Audette sees a commonality between plants and people. “Just as family heirlooms remind us of our history and identity, heirloom plants do too,” she says. She developed wallpapers that tell stories about plants. One collection, “Heirloom,” features patterns depicting wild ramps, Virginia strawberries and winter wheat — all part of America’s food history.
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