Orientals

Follow these steps to make this pretty floral-trail paper work perfectly in any room.

• Oriental print wallpapers have traditionally been used in bedrooms and are considered quite feminine, but they won’t be overpoweringly so if you choose designs that are in more masculine colours. Look out for wallpaper in darker blues, red, black and neutrals.

• If you’re using an oriental wallpaper in a bedroom, you can put it on all four walls. If, however, you’re decorating downstairs, take a more restrained approach and limit it to a feature wall or at most two walls.

• The busier, more intricate wallpapers featuring birds, figures and lots of foliage tend to look at their best in rooms that aren’t crammed full of accessories.

• You don’t have to go all out for an oriental theme and team an opulent print wallpaper with Eastern-inspired furniture and furnishings. However, a few accessories with an oriental feel – such as a ginger jar lamp base, a bone mirror or a dark-wood bowl – can help tie the room scheme together.

• A blossom print looks as good teamed with French-style furniture as Eastern pieces – picking out a colour from the wallpaper creates a sense of harmony.

Chosen by House to home

From the publishers of