HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

A lover of history, Lauren Stein (shown on opening page with her cat, Willow) was thrilled when she and her husband discovered vintage wallpaper behind a wall in an upstairs bathroom. “We were renovating the space and found remnants of this great floral wallpaper with tiny flowers,” Stein says. The couple has been refurbishing their circa-1860 Birmingham home for the past few years. That find solidified her decision to go with a floral-patterned Anthropologie wallpaper called “Watercolor Peony” for a downstairs space (shown on opening page, painting in lower photo by Stein’s mother, Patty Eisenbraun, Bloomfield Township). “I wanted to give a nod to the history of this house with something soft and vintage, yet  with an edge to it — a little more current,” she says. The dusty rose, green, and pink-patterned “Peony” paper, replete with pretty butterflies, adorns a hallway, kitchen, and eating area of the historic jewel where Stein and her husband continue to polish interior spaces and exterior landscaping. As for the historic paper upstairs, “It’s still there,” Stein says. “I try to leave everything, so it’s now behind our wall.”

“Wallpaper is so expressive and fun.
I remember as a teen going into someone’s house and seeing great Thibaut wallpaper books. The patterns were incredible, so colorful.” — Lauren Stein

EXPRESS YOURSELF

When it came to wallpaper for teenager Cate Goldman’s bedroom, interior designer Jennifer Asmar says her young client wanted soft blues to complement the rest of the room. “And she liked geometrics in the way of circles,” adds Asmar, who also designed several of the other spaces in the Goldman family’s Bloomfield Township home. “The metallic pattern I selected was exactly what Cate had in mind. The entire space exudes sophistication, but is young and fresh.”

Asmar, a 14-year design professional who owns Asmar Interiors in Troy, chose a Schumacher wallcovering in the “Byzantium” family, in which exquisite and decorative geometrics echo the patterned mosaics discovered in the grand palaces
of Marrakesh and other exotic locales.

“The quiet shade of blue works well in this space,” says Asmar. With three energetic, younger siblings, the busy teen finds her space and its inviting wallpaper a true retreat. “It really is the perfect bedroom for me,” Goldman says. “I love the space.”

“Wallpaper is an added layer in a room’s design and gives a space depth; it enlivens it.” — Jennifer Asmar

PETITE PRESENCE

“I’m a pattern person,” says Amanda Wolfe, owner of Amanda Wolfe Designs. In fact, her penchant for patterns inspired her to select a Cole & Son wallpaper for one of the smallest spaces — a charming vestibule — in her own 1920s Colonial-style Huntington Woods home. The European print with whimsical, cream-colored blossoms welcomes all who enter. “The blue background  brings the outside in,” she says.

Wolfe, a 16-year interior design professional, wanted to use wallpaper just about everywhere when she first moved into her home four years ago. “The papers that I happen to love are so expensive, so I took the smallest area of the home and made
the most impact,” she says.

“I steer clients toward taking a risk and not being afraid of a wallpaper’s pattern or boldness. Once it’s up, they always fall in love with it and can’t believe they’ve never had wallpaper before.” — Amanda Wolfe