Wallpaper is back and it’s gone bespoke and upmarket – tastemakers like Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow, and hip hotels and clubs have gone gaga for hand-painted scenes

Whether it’s a handcrafted leather credenza from BDDW or contemporary chaise longue from B&B Italia, the items you choose to have in your home speak volumes about your style – perhaps even more than what you wear. Today, the way to really show your colours in the world of interiors is statement-making wallpaper. Versatile, personal and powerful.

“Generating scenery within a space is so impactful and wallpaper is an easy way to achieve this. You can craft any environment or change the atmosphere instantly because its super immersive, even if you have a tiny room or small budget,” says renowned interior designer Joyce Wang, whose client list includes Mandarin Oriental, The Berkeley in London and The Magistracy restaurant in Hong Kong.

Wallpaper has fallen in and out of vogue over the years, but it’s been experiencing a renaissance as of late. Most high-profile design projects, from hip hotels to bars and restaurants, include an Instagram-worthy wall that highlights the transformative powers of beautiful wallpaper. Case in point: London’s members-only club Annabel’s, which is as known for its hand-painted De Gournay wallpapers almost as much as it is for its celebrity clientele. Tastemakers like Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow have also taken the cue and used bespoke wallpapers to create statement rooms in their own homes.

The market is heating up as brands outside the design world have jumped on the bandwagon including Gucci and fashion label La Double J, which debuted an eye-catching collection during this year’s Salone del Mobile furniture fair. The latter label went viral after decorating bathrooms all over Milan in its newest prints. Interior designer-led brands and collaborations from the likes of Kelly Wearstler and Katharine Pooley have also made wallpaper covetable among the masses.

“Twenty-five per cent of what we do is printed, but our hybrid styles are also popular because they start with hand-painting – which we capture digitally and then print – before returning to the hand-painted process,” says Tim Butcher, founder of UK-based Fromental, which produces hand-painted, embroidered and printed wallpapers.

“The evolution of production processes and growing accessibility have made wallpaper more visible in the marketplace. When we started out the only way you could make a bold pictorial scene was by hand painting it but the emergence of digital has meant anything became possible. Now you have names such as Designers Guild offering more choices,” he says.

Butcher started out as a textile weaver and previously worked at De Gournay hand painting fabrics for couturiers before founding Fromental with his wife Lizzie in 2005. Armed with a passion for the decorative arts and Chinese wallpapers dating back to the 18th century, their vision is to create wallpapers that push the envelope by honouring the tradition of hand craftsmanship while adding a fashionable mindset to the creative process. Today their products are crafted in studios in Wuxi, China and in the UK.