New Products - Wallcoverings

A woman rancher, an English naval officer, and a notorious occultist have little in common with each other, but, nevertheless, they lend their names, and histories, to three patterns in Grow House Grow's Parlour Room collection, from designer Katie Deedy. Old West figure Ellen Liddy Watson loans her nickname to Cattle Kate, which pays homage to the frontierswoman with feminine ribbon-like swirls that morph into lassos, in colorways Hay, Sterling, and Teton. The tragic captain of the Titanic, Edward John Smith, inspired Captain Smith, a pattern rife with sea fauna, including octopi and jellyfish—all potential visitors to the ship's wreckage at the bottom of the sea. Its blue- and green-hued palettes also suggest the ocean, in names like Promenade, Epoque, and Silhouette. Aleister Crowley, dubbed the "wickedest man in the world" and best known as a figure of hedonism and the occult, lends his name to a pattern that evokes mystery, with encircled pairs of hands engaged perhaps in black-magic debauchery. The pattern is available in Feit Leaf, Veil, and Primrose. All are hand silkscreened onto vinyl-coated paper. 770-883-2709; growhousegrow.com. circle 444

Houses and apartments by Adrienne Neff Design Services exude a calming eclecticism. That attitude goes globally graphic in Uzu, the inaugural wallpaper series from the firm. Bowing to Japan, the spiral repeat of Renjyu is adapted from ancient pottery, and Yamanoma gives a nod to 16th-century screens. The animated Acoma references Pueblo ceramics. Open Onion's stylized layers and Jagged Agate's abstract rock formations speak for themselves.

Available in 27-inch-wide rolls, the seven patterns are hand-printed according to 18th-century techniques, using water-based ink and recycled paper. Consider custom colors in addition to such standard offerings as ink blue, aubergine, and granite gray. 646-613-8460; adrienneneff.com. circle 405

Most devotees of Maya Romanoff know it simply as the go-to source for exceptional wall coverings. But as the company's big 4-0 looms, it's time to toast the man behind the myth and retrace his aesthetic odyssey.

With typical 1960's karma, the company shares its anniversary year with the Woodstock music festival, the tie-dyed denizens of which sparked Romanoff's interest in the interplay between textiles and pigment. The dashiki-clad designer was soon testing out various resist-dyed vehicles: leathers, couture fashions, whole-room environments. But it was Weathered Walls, the hand-painted wall coverings launched in 1979, that became the house specialty—and won a Roscoe Award from this magazine. Other honors followed, along with showcases at museums.

Romanoff's penchant for experimentation has never waned, whether he's draping canvas banners over a building in Chicago or creating a geisha girl in beaded wall covering for a sushi restaurant in New York. Indeed, invention remains of the essence not only for Romanoff himself—who continues to work despite an ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease—but also for his wife, Joyce, the company's president, and niece, Laura, vice president.

One upcoming release isn't technically new. Designer Amy Lau has freshly reinterpreted archival tie-dyed wall coverings as the Anniversary collection, intended for a generation that's less LP, more MP3. 773-465-6909; mayaromanoff.com. circle 403

With the look, hang, and performance of traditional vinyl wall coverings, the Recore Recycled Wall Technology collection is an effortless way to go green. The line, which includes Bolta, Essex, Genon, and Tower, can contribute up to six LEED credits. The wall coverings are stain resistant, washable, scrubbable, and—thanks to Omnova's Wallcovering Reclamation Program—recyclable. 330-836-4200; omnova.com. circle 727

The undulating vertical wave pattern of Ulf78724, from the Ulf Moritz Charisma collection, gets its texture from a coating of fine silica sand. Ebullient lacquered blossoms peek out from among the waves in a massive repeat. The lavish collection also includes glass-beaded applications, silky Japanese fleece, and crushed textures. 866-862-4316; sourceonewallcovering.com. circle 431

The seven patterns in the new, hand-printed Organic Organization collection were inspired by nature and life at the cellular level. Kelly Porter, the artist behind the new line, leaves its precise subject matter open to interpretation, suggesting that her abstract nuclear shapes might portray microscopic cells, an exotic animal hide, clouds, or even hand-torn paper. 816-786-7087; porterteleo.com. circle 438

The designer's collaboration with Stark Furnishings includes carpets, fabrics, and the new Natural Glam line of wall coverings, offered in grasscloth or paper in a dozen colorways. Bradfield's glamorous, globetrotting friends are his muses and the namesakes for patterns such as Princess Najwa, an interwoven lattice that forms an endlessly romantic love knot. 212-758-1773; geoffreybradfield.com. circle 426

The desert inspired LonElements Sahara. Its textural pattern echoes tracks in the sand while its colors are an ode to the hues of one of the earth's most desolate landscapes. Its soft luster suggests a distant mirage. This 35-percent recycled vinyl is GreenMedic JIS Z 2801-certified and Greenguard-listed for microbial resistance. 800-832-7111; lonseal.com. circle 435

The company's dedication to eco-friendly wall coverings continues with the abstract organic Rex and five other new patterns, extensions of the Surface IQ collection. The subtly textured styles incorporate bolder, darker color ranges, and are all built on Thermoplastic Olefin Technology to support ecology and performance. 800-727-6770; carnegiefabrics.com. circle 428

Rosato is a large, quatrefoil-shaped damask with an intense "wow" factor, offered in seven colorways including a high-contrast flocked version. It is part of the Design Works Plaza Collection, which includes 16 patterns and coordinating textures, some featuring glass beads, sand, or flocked fibers on 20-ounce, Type II non-woven vinyl substrate. 800-455-9913; yorkcontract.com. circle 427

Hand-woven texture takes on a fashionable shimmer in the Glam Grass collection. From a subtle sparkle achieved by weaving metal filaments into hemp, to an incandescent glow created by laminating the woven hemp onto a metallic backing, this collection's 22 choices allow you to select the perfect degree of luminosity. 800-576-5455; phillipjeffries.com. circle 425

Infused with sculptural appeal, Origami is a paper-backed silk wall covering that is painted and embroidered by hand. This elegant made-to-order design combines subtle repeats of delicate trompe l'oeil origami "folds" with artfully stitched silk-on-silk texture in five colorways, including Kozo. 44-208-960-8899; fromental.co.uk. circle 424

Great gardens are designed based on the sun's changing position throughout the day. Fern & Allium Silhouette illustrates the subtle interplay of light and shadow, using dark and light to imply movement and dimension. It is one of 12 designs in eight colorways in the Shadow Play collection. 800-238-9152; seabrookwallpaper.com. circle 432

European craftsmanship creates the look of finely woven metal from a blend of rayon and polyester in the company's Textile Wallcovering collection. Monaco features embossed vertical ridges; Monte Carlo is a damask; and St. Tropez gives the illusion of finely woven metals. All come in four hues. 800-227-8053; innovationsusa.com. circle 436

Corrugated cardboard and metal seem unlikely sources of inspiration, but those are exactly the cues used to create the deeply textured Corrugae. Made with Second-Look Recycled Technology, Corrugae comes in 21 colors and is made of 20-ounce, Type II vinyl with water-based inks and adhesives. It measures 52 to 54 inches wide. Through Second-Look, it contributes to LEED certification and can be reclaimed and recycled. 502-458-1502; versawallcovering.com. circle 719

Lori Weitzner is prone to pondering nature as it relates to the passage of time. Like a time-lapse Discovery Channel documentary, Eclipse, from her Moon Shadow woven wall covering collection, ruminates in ten colors on lunar cycles, wind-blown dunes, ice floes, cresting ocean waves, and sinuous canyons carved over millennia by wind and water. 212-414-1089; weitznerlimited.com. circle 433

As its name suggests, Stucco resembles molding sculpted on a plaster wall, but it is actually a cleverly designed, three-dimensional wall panel adorned with cut leather pieces. The resulting composition of abstracted leaves and flowers comes just in time for spring. While custom colors and sizes are available, it comes standard in a 30 1/3-inch-by-39 1/3-inch panel. 44-7970-972325; genevievebennett.com. circle 434

Art Nouveau-inspired tulips are rendered subtly via low-contrast color treatment in Nouveau Medallion. Seven elegant, tone-on-tone shades include Cornsilk, Lacquer Red, Caviar, and White Shadow. The 20-ounce, Type II vinyl wall covering with Osnaburg fabric backing measures 52 to 54 inches wide. 502-458-1502; cirqawallcovering.com. circle 430

A lotus flower design drawn from a 19th-century French archive brings drama to a new block-printed wallpaper collection. Lotus Papers offers surprising versatility in two pattern sizes—20½ inches or 10 1/8 inches—each in 30 colorways from subtle neutrals to chic urban grays to contemporary acidic shades. 888-511-1121; farrow-ball.com. circle 437

Pacify or provoke? Maharam customers favoring the second option will welcome the debut of Maharam Digital Projects, which translates the work of visual artists and graphic designers into wall coverings—and turns any space into an installation. This textiles specialist collaborated with the limited-edition wall-covering manufacturer Wallpaper Lab to kick off the series with two 10-by-36-foot designs. Douglas Gordon's Two Minutes: Playing Dead is a grid composed of tiny film frames depicting an elephant learning to. . .play dead. Karel Martens contributed Dutch Clouds, in which thousands of multicolored graphic icons form a pointillist sky-scape. In the fabrication process, digital images are printed with water-based ink on a nonwoven cellulose-latex blend and given a matte or glossy finish. Both patterns can be custom-scaled to fit; they can also be rendered on other substrates for window coverings or upholstery. 800-645-3943; maharam.com. circle 409