Cool Stuff: Madison & Grow Eco Wallpaper

I'm smitten with this eco-friendly wallpaper from Los Angeles's Madison & Grow, launched last year by Connecticut transplants Teresa Grow and Erin Yasgar. Each design is hand-drawn and hand-printed with water-based inks, and the recyclable paper is harvested from sustainable forests. Above: Eleanor

Maggie

Eloise

Michelle

Margot

Erin

Elizabeth

Madison & Grow wallpaper is available through these retailers. See the entire collection right here.

Cool Stuff: Graham & Brown Peony Wallpaper

I really like this Peony Wallpaper from Graham & Brown's new eco-friendly collection.

It's $60 a roll right here.

Cool Stuff: Marimekko Wallpaper

Brand-new from legendary Finnish design house Marimekko: Wallpaper! (Pardon me while my head explodes ... ) Above: Lumimarja Silver/White Wallpaper

Pienet Kivet Grey Wallpaper

Unikko Red Wallpaper

Unikko Beige Wallpaper

Joonas Black/White Wallpaper

Biloba Red/Green Wallpaper

Biloba Black/Grey Wallpaper

Stilla Grey/White Wallpaper

The paper, available in the U.S. exclusively through AlwaysMod, is $89 per roll. See the entire collection right here.

(Via loving. living. small.)

Cool Stuff: Wallpaper by the Yard

If wallpapering an entire room or even a whole wall is too much of a commitment (or investment), take heart: Julia Rothman's incredible wallpaper designs are now available by the yard. Use them for framing, accenting furniture, and other fun household projects.

My faves: Daydream in Blue and Treet in White.

The paper is $20 per yard at Hygge & West.

Cool Stuff: MissPrint Lampshades

Colorful, covet-worthy lampshades from London's MissPrint (aka designers Yvonne and Rebecca Drury). Clockwise from top left: Berry Lime, Catkin White, Exotique Orange, Panache Pebble, Box Bush Slate, Fleur Lime, Pennyroyal Slate and Sunflower, Nectar Cherry, Saplings Slate and Sunflower, and Trailing Flower Pistachio.

The handprinted duppion silk shades are £59 to £140 apiece (about $89 to $212), and each pattern is available in several sizes and colorways.

See them all right here -- and while you're there, be sure to check out MissPrint's equally awesome cushions and wallpapers. (I'm seriously lusting after Saplings, above, in Sunflower Yellow or Turquoise and Gold, about $83 per roll.)

Design Dilemma: What Should I Do With My Boring Powder Room?

More Ways to Waste Time reader Harriet writes, "I'm hoping you can help me with my boring powder room. I'm looking for ways to add spunk, character, and style without spending much money.

The room lacks architectural details: There is no window. It's a five-by-five-foot square. And it's painted a pale green. There is a nice new sink and toilet, but I'm not attached to anything else in the room.

I'd definitely like to paint. Two people recommended pumpkin or terracotta, which I like, but I'm wondering if they would clash with the orange-y wood of the bathroom door. I love deep peacock blue-green, but have been warned against a cold color in a windowless room. I'd also like to change the light fixture, hopefully without moving the light box. Finally, I'm on the lookout for a small table or cabinet with more character than the white cabinet that's in there now. To me, a table wants a plant on it, but with no natural light, I haven't figured out what to put there instead. Any ideas?"

Photo from Point Click Home

I have one word for you, Harriet: Wallpaper. It's a great way to add color, dimension, and interest to a lackluster space. And it doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive, especially when you're papering a small room. You could even paper just the sink wall, and paint the other three walls a complimentary hue. Cole & Son's Woods wallpaper, shown above and below, is one of my favorites.

Photo from House to Home

Photo from House to Home

If it's in your budget, installing a wood or tile wainscot will add instant architecture to a space with none. For the look of wainscoting without the expense, you could even install a simple chair rail, then wallpaper above it and paint below.

Photo from Walnut Wallpaper

If matching the wood of the door is a stumbling point, be sure to test paint or wallpaper swatches against it to make sure they don't clash. Or consider simply painting the door. I don't have a strong opinion about warm vs. cool colors for your space. I think that as long as the lighting isn't cold (i.e., glaring fluorescents), it doesn't really matter.

Besides, it's just a powder room -- a space to go to the bathroom and wash your hands. Nobody's going to be spending a ton of time in there or doing anything other than maybe reapplying lipstick, so I don't think it's a big deal if the color palette is on the cool side. (But readers, feel free to say so if you think I'm wrong on this.)

Photo from House to Home

Design by Benjamin Dhong, photo by moi

Now about your mirror. It's OK, but you could add a huge dose of style and drama by upgrading. Again, you don't have to spend a lot of money. Keep an eye out on craigslist, in thrift stores, and at flea markets for a vintage mirror with an interesting shape or intricate frame. If you don't like the frame's color or wood finish, you can simply spray paint it.

Photo from Domino

Photo from Walnut Wallpaper

Photo via Desire to Inspire

For lighting, you could go vintage (or vintage-inspired), classic, or modern, depending on your preferences and the other elements in the room. Circa Lighting and Rejuvenation are great places to find a vintage or reproduction over-mirror fixture that will add a lot a character to the room. For more budget finds, don't overlook eBay or your local architectural salvage yard. A great old piece can often be rewired for very little expense.

A vintage side table or cabinet topped with fresh flowers, a shade-tolerating plant like a peace lily, a collection of small treasures, a basket full of rolled hand towels, or an interesting objet will complete the look.

The most important thing, I think, is to have some fun. Because a powder room is a space that's only experienced for a few minutes at a time, there's no better excuse to just go for it.

Readers: Any other ideas for jazzing up Harriet's lackluster powder room? If so, please leave a comment and share them!

Object of Lust: Dandelion Clocks Wallpaper

I am sick with lust (sick, I tell you!) for this Dandelion Clocks Wallpaper from the venerable British company Sanderson.

Psst -- the cheerful pattern is also available in fabric. (And by "available," I mean available for purchase in England, Wales, and Scotland.)

Any U.K. readers out there willing to swing by John Lewis to pick up a roll or two for me? ;-)

(Via Design Undercover.)

Cool Stuff: Moveable Wallpaper

Developed by a team of New York City set decorators, Tempaper is temporary, self-adhesive wallpaper.

The vinyl-coated paper is printed using traditional copper-plate engraving, but although its makers claim the paper is just as durable as regular wallpaper, it has one key difference: Tempaper can easily be removed, minutes or years after application, with no visible damage to the surface it was applied to or to the paper itself. Think of it like a giant Post-It note, which can be removed and repositioned at whim.

I have no personal experience with Tempaper -- but if it really is as easy-to-use as it sounds, this product is genius.

Tempaper, currently available in six patterns and 15 colorways, is $75 to $85 per 33-foot roll right here.

Object of Lust: Kuboaa Wistaria Wallpaper

How freakin' gorgeous is this Wistaria wallpaper (spotted on emmas designblogg) from UK design company Kuboaa?

It's £55 (about $98) per roll. I'm still trying to figure out how I can get ahold of it Stateside, because I have just the spot for it.

eBay Find of the Day: Barbara Hulanicki Wallpaper

I interviewed Barbara Hulanicki awhile ago for an article I wrote on the resurgence of Lucite in home furnishings, and I'm embarrassed to admit that at the time I had only a vague sense of her place in the world of fashion and design. In fact, her stature as a style icon and visionary only truly hit me later, when I visited an exhibition featuring items from her legendary Kensington boho shop, Biba, at London's Victoria & Albert Museum.

Hulanicki has long since left swinging London behind in favor of an interior design business in Miami. But her signature style still carries quite a bit of cache in the UK, where she's created a line of glam-nouveau wallpapers and textiles for British high street chain Habitat, above, and wallcoverings company Graham & Brown.

Sadly, the Habitat papers aren't available in the U.S., but you can purchase the Graham & Brown designs for $60 a roll from the G&B website -- or for only about $36 each with Buy It Now on eBay. Top: Viva in Turquoise and Gold

Diva in Oyster

Hula in Charcoal and Gold

(And -- oooh -- while you're browsing the seller's eBay store, check out this pretty paper from another UK design star: Changing Rooms alumnus Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.)

Cool Stuff: New SUM Wallpapers

I've blogged SUM Design before, and am excited to see founder Susie Mendive rolling out some new wallpaper, new colorways, and new silhouettes:

Animalia (great for a nursery or kid's room)

Left: Floral Femme Fatale (available in three new silhouettes, shown at top) in brown and warm silver; right: Vespertine in twilight

Underwater Bamboo in silver, plum, and pink

Peruse the entire SUM collection right here.

eBay Find of the Day: Ferm Living Wallpaper

Not ready to commit to wallpaper in a big way? Just think of all the fun projects you could do with a single roll of modern, graphic wallpaper: You could paper the back of a bookcase, affix the paper to drawer fronts, layer it under a piece of glass cut to fit a dresser-top or a coffee table, wrap it around plain lampshades, make a faux headboard, paper the inside of a paneled door, paper just the wall behind the vanity in a small powder room ...

Danish design company Ferm Living makes some of the most beautiful wallpaper patterns around -- whether you're papering an entire room or experimenting with wallpaper in smaller doses. Each 21-inch by 32-foot roll normally retails for $85 -- but it never hurts to check eBay to see if you can get a better deal because someone is selling off the extra roll they wound up not needing or chickened out on using.

Right now, eBay seller danclarkatlanta has seven single rolls of seven different Ferm paper patterns (including Orchid, top, Berry Black, middle, and Silhouette, above, among others) listed with Buy It Now prices of $55 per roll. (So grab 'em before they're gone.)

What sort of projects would you use one of these for?