12 kitchen wallpaper ideas from charming country homes
A kitchen is not the most common spot for wallpaper owing to the unavoidable splashes and spillages that can discolour most of its other surfaces. It is generally assumed too that wallpaper will peel and bubble when exposed to the heat and moisture of cooking. While there is some truth in both, a good quality one is more resilient than you might think.
Provided that water and stain-resistant materials are used in those areas most likely to be splashed – around the hob and sink – there is really no reason to deprive a kitchen of the rich colours, dense pattern and tactile surface of wallpaper. If you are still dubious of its hardiness, interior designer Sophie Robinson has a clever DIY solution below.
According to the famed designer, Matthew Williamson wallpaper "provides something of a list of colour ingredients you can apply to the rest of your space. Pluck colours from the repeat and use these to choose your soft furnishings and accessories."
How helpful it is to pick a wallpaper that you love and receive along with it a ready-made colour palette for the rest of the room.
Below, we look at 12 kitchen wallpaper ideas including a word on choosing stripes, how to paper adjacent rooms for continuity and our love for matching wallpaper to upholstery.
William Morris florals
Nothing beats flowers for putting the ‘country’ into kitchens. An abundance of dainty florals has a lovely enveloping effect, creating the signature cosiness of a country kitchen and softening an otherwise functional space.
Pictured: Daisy Willow Wallpaper, Morris & Co and Country Living Artisan Tiles, Homebase
Matchy matchy
Matching your wallpaper to your upholstery is a very charming country cottage design device and something that the Country Living team unanimously adore.
Here, it is embraced to full effect – with the wallpaper and sink skirt feeling light and fresh despite a heavy use of pattern. Have a look at Colefax and Fowler, Sanderson and Molly Mahon for matching wallpaper and fabric options.
Pictured: Ashmead by Colefax and Fowler
Experimenting with placement
Look around your kitchen for innovative wallpapering opportunities beyond your four walls – open dressers or little pantry nooks are perfect for this kind of experimenting.
"In smaller areas, textured or patterned wallpapers present an opportunity to enrich the space without overwhelming it," says Michael Rolland, colour expert and MD of The Paint Shed.
You don't necessarily have to use a design or colour that matches your choice of accessories and, in fact, the the contrast is usually a nice one.
Read more: 20 ways to create an organised kitchen
A word on stripes
A whole wall of fine pinstripes can be overwhelming to the eye, whilst an abundance of big and bold stripes is a little too reminiscent of a fairground carousel.
A mix of the two – this wallpaper is designed with stripes of varying weights and shades – makes for a happier medium.
Pictured: Gustav Red Wallpaper at Sandberg
The insta-famous design
The wallpaper that launched a thousand Instagram posts. Hedera is popular for its sinewy depictions of trailing ivy, dappled green tones and the happy balance between its pattern and creamy base which makes it impactful, but stops short of looking overwhelming.
Pictured: Hedera Green Wallpaper at Sanderson
Illusion wallpaper
We are really quite taken with this wallpapered utility room (spot the wallpapered ceiling too) that mixes the functional with the frivolous.
This Dado Atelier design gives the illusion of tiles from afar, transforming into a bountiful trellis upon closer inspection.
Pictured: Dado Atelier Ivy Trellis Wallpaper at The Roost
The maximalist's take
Interior designer Sophie Robinson has wrapped her entire kitchen in a bucolic, woodland-inspired wallpaper and, ever the maximalist, finishes with matching roller blinds tied with striped yellow ribbons.
If you are tentative about using wallpaper in the kitchen, Sophie recommends some modest DIY: "you can apply a coat of decorator’s matt varnish to protect it and make it wipeable."
Pictured: Woodland Floral wallpaper, blind in Woodland Floral, and Ribbon Stripe, all Harlequin x Sophie Robinson
Don't forget to tour the rest of Sophie's home, too.
Modest murals
A modest approach to kitchen wallpaper, but impactful nevertheless. This design from Sandberg features delicate trails of ivy, hanging or climbing depending on how you choose to position it it.
Pictured: Aralia Moss Green Wallpaper at Sandberg
Papering adjacent rooms
This wallpaper idea considers the transition between rooms, not just each room in isolation. If you have a view of an adjacent utility or boot room, continue your wallpaper into both – these two carry the same design but have a modest difference in colour.
Pictured: Spring Flowers Wallpaper at Little Greene
Pale and interesting
This smart, small-scale stamp motif has the appearance of a block printed wallpaper. The illusion of iridescence makes a nice complement to the tiled splash back below.
Pictured: Florrie Wedgwood Wallpaper by Sanderson
Single walls
"The fashion for feature walls has waned, but using paper to cover just one wall is still a good option, provided you choose a design that is less strident, perhaps a design based on nature or in a softer colouring," says Country Living's Houses and Gardens director, Ben Kendrick.
Pictured: Pomegranate Bazaar Wallpaper at Little Greene
Using your colour ingredients
As designer Matthew Williams says, wallpaper provides "a list of colour ingredients" to pepper around the rest of your room. It is particularly impactful if you use your matching paint colour on your doorways, radiators and trims.
Pictured: Forest of Dean Wallpaper at Sanderson
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