Damask Wallpaper

Ten damasks, mirrored the way a damask should be: Morris's Snakeshead, paired fritillaries lifting out of sage leafwork, claret roses in a diamond drop on white, feathered acanthus scrolling around an artichoke crown on dusty pink, cream leaf medallions on deep navy. Symmetry you are meant to notice.

Choosing damask wallpaper

Where it works

A damask is a formal repeat and it suits formal rooms: a dining room, a front sitting room, a bedroom with a real headboard, a hallway with a dado. Claret Damask, claret roses on bright white, and Rose Medallion, pink roses alternating with navy and red medallions linked by gold scrollwork, are the traditional pair for a dining room. Leafy Damask and Rose Fan, dusky rose and ivory, are gentle enough for a bedroom. Damask Bloom, cream leaf medallions on deep navy, is the dark one for a study or a cloakroom.

Picking between the designs

Decide how much the symmetry should show. In Claret Damask, Rose Fan and Damask Bloom the motifs sit in a plain diamond grid and the repeat is the whole point. In the Morris Snakeshead, green or blue, the mirrored fritillaries are half hidden inside dense leafwork, so the symmetry reveals itself slowly. Leafy Damask sits between, cream acanthus scrolling outward from a central artichoke. Then the ground: white and ivory keep the room light; dusty pink and navy commit it. Patchwork Tile and Indigo Medallion are the block-printed cousins, hand-blocked diamonds and rough-edged medallions rather than engraved scrolls, where the structure is wanted without the polish.

Related

The mirrored Victorian bouquets are in Victorian wallpaper, the Morris Snakesheads on the William Morris wallpaper page, the indigo tiles in block print wallpaper. For what the word means and where the pattern came from, read What is damask.