How to Choose Wallpaper That Suits Your Furniture

The basic rule for choosing wallpaper to suit your furniture is balance: if the furniture is patterned and busy the wall should be calm, and if the furniture is plain the wall can carry a pattern. The colour is taken not from the main colour of the furniture but from one of its secondary shades.

Colour: pick up the second shade in the furniture

If your sofa is grey and the cushions mustard, a pale mustard on the wall, or a pattern that contains it, pulls the room together. The 60-30-10 ratio used by interior designers is a good start: 60 per cent main colour (walls), 30 per cent second colour (furniture), 10 per cent accent (accessories).

Walls for each wood tone

• Walnut and dark wood: cream, sand and light green walls bring the furniture forward.
• Oak and light wood: works with grey-blue, sage green and warm white.
• White and lacquered furniture: easily carries a patterned, colourful wall.

Matching the style

Classic, carved furniture sits well with damask, striped and fabric-effect papers; clean-lined modern furniture with geometric, concrete and linen-look surfaces. If you combine two styles, keep the colour in common.

Before you decide

Should curtains and wallpaper have the same pattern?

No. If both are patterned the room looks crowded. With a patterned wall choose plain curtains, with a plain wall patterned ones; a shared colour ties the two together.

Put the sample next to the sofa and the curtains and look at it in daylight and in the evening; colours on a screen are not reliable. Bring a photo of your furniture or a piece of fabric to our Erdeco showroom in Esenkent and we can compare the catalogues together; the address and opening hours are on our contact page.