Silk wallpaper

Silk wallpaper turns a flat painted wall into a surface that keeps changing. The woven fibers catch light unevenly, so the color reads lighter beside a window and deeper in the corners. On the smooth drywall of most American houses that shift is easy to see.

Rooms in an American house that suit silk wallpaper

A powder room is the obvious place to start: small, mostly seen after dark under lamplight, and the sheen has nowhere to hide. An entryway or stair landing works for the same reason. On an open plan floor, silk on the wall behind the dining table marks out that zone without a partition. Check ceiling height first: a drop of 9 to 10 ft (2.75 to 3.05 m) shows the full length of every panel. Damp rooms are the exception, so for a kitchen wall or family bathroom take a tougher design from our vinyl wallpaper.

Woven silk or a silk-look finish

Two products share the name silk wallpaper. Real woven silk is mounted by hand on a backing of paper or non-woven, with the panel seams usually left visible as part of the craft. Silk-look designs in vinyl or non-woven copy the luster but take wear and cleaning far better. If the woven surface appeals more than the shine, textile wallcovering and textured wallpaper cover similar ground with a matte face, while metallic wallpaper pushes the reflection the other way.

Picking a color for these designs

Sheen exaggerates whatever color sits under it, so a shade that looked safe on a chip can read strong across a whole wall. Pale gold and oyster bounce daylight around a north-facing room; deep green, ink blue and burgundy close a dining room in for the evening. A damask wallpaper in silk shows its figure only when light strikes it at an angle. Ground the shine with wood and linen, keep the other walls in plain wallpaper, and echo the tone in a curtain fabric rather than a second reflective surface.

European roll widths and hanging the panels

Rolls from European brands run 20.9 in (53 cm) wide, narrower than the widths many US installers are used to, so a wall needs more drops and the seams land closer together. Paste on the face leaves a mark that will not come out, the wall underneath has to be sound and smooth, and the panels must hang taut so the seams meet without a shadow line. Book an installer who has handled delicate goods before, and order a sample first, because sheen never survives a screen.

Ordering the collection from Europe

We ship from the Netherlands with import duties and taxes settled up front, so nothing extra is collected at your door, and shipping is free above a set order value. Samples travel the same route, the sensible first step with a material this dependent on light. Unsure between real silk and a silk-look finish? Our team answers by email.