Striking and practical

Wallpaper is making a comeback and I think we've finally seen the demise of stark minimalism. Wallpapers create a warm, intimate atmosphere with their colours and texture. Wallpaper is also a good buffer for sound ricocheting on wooden floors.

Contrasting change

Two contrasting papers can look good in a room, especially in modern buildings. In particular it adds dimension to small apartments and houses where the stairs are open plan within the living room. People often paint the area under the stairs the same colour as the rest of the room but this makes it look a bit like a cubby hole. It is better to use a contrasting wallpaper under the stairs to open up the space.

Tactile design

Nowadays patterned wallpapers are not just big flowery bunches of roses - there is a whole array of contemporary patterns with stripes, blocks and elegant motifs using modern colours such as metallic gold and silver. These papers are very popular at the moment, especially if you like a clean minimalist look. If you use rich tactile fabrics with these metallics, such as aubergine or gold velvet, you will transform the room into something modern yet inviting. You could have one wallpaper on the window wall and another type on the other three walls.

Look up

If you wallpaper the ceiling it gives a room immediate character. Try a paper that has a story or a scene such as trompe l'oeil. It will transform the room and give it a wonderful depth and create an almost tented effect.

Gold leaf motif

Plain papers with occasional motifs, such as gold or silver leaves, are perfect for hallways, as are papers with muted tones such as taupe or grey which are huge now. Because halls are narrow you shouldn't have a pattern that is too busy.

Candystripe it

If you want to add height to a small room choose wallpaper with vertical stripes. A subtle way of doing this is to have two-tone stripes. Stripes also look good horizontally, say in a tall narrow room or bathroom.

Colour with confidence

You can use colours to enhance a room. Try yellow in a sunny south-facing room. Don't use a watery shade as it can look very insipid and the colour gets lost in the strong sunshine. Go for a strong positive shade and the natural sunlight will enhance the colour. Warm, rich colours, in north-facing rooms, will compensate for the lack of warmth. Try to be brave when choosing these colours as they really do look wonderful, especially at night if the room is lit with soft standard and table lamps. Warm red can look good but you need to choose a deep shade and not opt for the actual primary colour of red itself. Deep greens have a calming effect in a room. Use duller shades of these in period houses. such as sage and olive. Pick up the wall colour elsewhere in the room, by way of throw cushions, a small footstool or a floor rug.

Scale up for height

In big old houses you can afford to use the bigger patterns because of the extra height in the walls. Toile de jouy designs are very popular for period houses and are usually combined with an exact matching curtain fabric to complete the French interior look.

Follow nature

Look to nature when deciding how to combine colours. Observe what flowers naturally combine with each other as the mix is always right. Bear in mind that nature often uses green as a backdrop for more vibrant colours.

Touch and feel

There is a huge range of textured paper available, from raffia, dried grasses, hessian and even leather. Men, in particular, love these textures and often request a look to give them a "womb" effect so that they can switch off from the real world in their own cocoon for a while. So let your imagination go wild if you like that touchy feely look. But do be practical and use a vinyl paper for busy areas, such as the hallway or kitchen, as they can usually be washed or sponged.

Make the front page

If you want to do something really different, why not paste up all your favourite newspaper articles on the bathroom wall and give it a coat of clear stain/varnish? This will ensure plenty of reading material while you soak in the bath.

Get a professional

If you are going to hang wallpaper yourself, use a lining paper if the quality of the walls is not good. Heavy papers are easier to hang than lightweight ones. Do not hang the paper immediately after you paste it as the paper expands (which takes around five minutes) so wait for that time and then hang it. You can prepare other strips while you are waiting. Where possible, though, do employ a professional.

Serena Kitt is a member of the Interior Decorators and Designers of Ireland and runs Kitt Interiors in Dublin. Tel: 01 4783922.