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You are here: Home / Decor / Pattern Behind the Shelves

Pattern Behind the Shelves

June 22, 2012 by Jane F 6 Comments

pattern - taupe and white Chinoiserie wallpaper behind living room glass bookcase shelves - O Hara Interiors via AtticmagBold pattern behind shelves is a detail we’ve been seeing since wallpaper swept back into style.

I like pattern behind shelves in principle but feel it should be approached very carefully since it’s not for every room. At best, it’s a great way to “fill” shelves without adding clutter. At worst, it can pull attention away from a primary focal point to one that should be secondary.

It’s hard to tell from the cutaway photo [top] just how the Chinese lattice pattern relates to the rest of this transitional room. The key here, for me, is the smart use of glass shelving. That transparency lets the muscular whites in the design create continuity with the walls and really offsets fairly boring accessories on the shelves. Not everyone has fabulous “stuff” (as an antiques dealer friend of mine refers to collectibles) so an arrangement like this really does show the power of pattern.

pattern - hand painted black and white zig-zag pattern behind bookshelves in a room by Christina Murphy - House Beautiful via AtticmagOne side of a pair of apartment living room built-ins features a hand-painted herringbone pattern in back. A Lee Industries love seat sits between the units, which have drawers and cabinets below the shelves on each side. While the pattern really jazzes up the shelving it also dwarfs the furniture – the entire set up, by designer Christina Murphy, can be seen in the May 2012 House Beautiful. While the accessories on the shelves are fairly interesting, I feel they get lost visually. Solid shelves in a tight grid don’t help. I’d lose all the shelves and just hang super-bold pieces of art in the niches. More bang for the buck I think.

pattern - taupe and white damask pattern wallpaper in the back of a glass-front upper kitchen cabinet - pinterest via atticmagThe damask pattern behind the shelves in this kitchen cabinet looks like paper. The same effect could well be achieved with tile that’s a continuation of a handsome backsplash behind upper cabinets.  This reminds me of our Damask Tile Kitchen, which has even more.

pattern - brown and white stylized wishbone pattern wallpaper behind closet shelves - my blue canoe via atticmagWallpaper originated in closets and this stylized interlocking wishbone pattern shows why it’s been used since the 18th century. I adore pattern inside closets. That strokes my retail therapy gene by putting clothes and shoes against a store-like background. That way, I get to  go shopping in my closet almost every time I get dressed.

(Source:  oharainteriors,  pinterest, mybluecanoe)

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Filed Under: Decor Tagged With: Atticmag, creating bold focal points, embellishing closets with pattern, House Beautiful, My Blue Canoe, O'Hara Interiors, pattern behind shelves, pattern inside kitchen cabinets, wallpaper behind shelves, wallpaper in closets

Comments

  1. mbwife says

    June 22, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    You just kind of threw that in there – “wallpaper originated in closets”. Tell MORE!

    Reply
  2. RHome410 says

    June 23, 2012 at 2:26 am

    It’s a little busy for me in the shelves with colorful and textured contents, but I love the pattern behind the white dishes, and it’s a lot of fun in the closet!

    Reply
  3. Jane F @ Atticmag says

    June 25, 2012 at 9:13 am

    I like pattern inside a closet. Wallpaper started up in the 18th century. Believed they did hand block printing and it was called domino — probably because of domino pattern or that the sheets of paper were small and fit together. Then allover pattern moved into rooms. They would do a pattern on walls and same fabric on furniture. You see it from time to time now. The looks would change with seasons. What we know as interior decorating actually began in the 18c in France and England. I’d love to do wallpaper inside my closets. Or stencil — which may be a good place to practice that LOL since I have glass doors.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Wallpapered Kitchen Ceiling says:
    October 13, 2014 at 6:55 pm

    […] Murphy used tons of bright color and bold pattern — including black and white zigzag Pattern Behind the Shelves in the living room. But things went quiet in the kitchen. There, the pattern moved to tone-on-tone […]

    Reply
  2. 棚の背面に柄をつける says:
    December 22, 2014 at 11:58 pm

    […] attic mag […]

    Reply
  3. Interior Cabinet Color says:
    January 12, 2015 at 10:50 am

    […] to all-white kitchens. Now, the idea of high contrast interior cabinet color can be done with pattern behind the shelves, too. All this color inside cabinets is doubtless the result of the vintage furniture painting […]

    Reply

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