Choosing dark botanical wallpaper
Where it works
Dark botanicals are quieter than dark florals because there is less colour in them, which makes them the easier dark to live with all day. Dusk Meadow and Wild Daisy, painted on distressed teal plaster, work in a living room or a bedroom with white woodwork. White Vine, thin white line on solid black, is the pick for a small cloakroom or a corridor, since from a distance it reads as a plain black wall with a sheen. Cacao Pods and Teal Protea, both on deep navy, are dining room and study designs, for lamplight.
Picking between the designs
Three grounds to choose from. Black: White Vine, White Anemone, Ink Peony, Pomegranate Perch, the Morris Fruit Dark with lemons and pomegranates on charcoal. Navy: Cacao Pods, Teal Protea, Navy Acorns. Teal plaster: Dusk Meadow, Wild Daisy, Wildflower Meadow, where the mottled ground changes tone across the wall, so nothing reads flat. Then how much sits on the ground: White Vine and Copper Foliage are sparse, Brown Leaves and Fruit Dark are packed. Dusk Meadow is the only one drawn with a bottom, stems rising from the base and thinning as they climb, so it wants a full-height wall rather than a half-wall above a dado.
Related
The flower-heavy darks are in moody floral wallpaper, the plain black grounds in black wallpaper, and the navy ones in navy wallpaper. The style has a name now, and What is whimsigoth explains it.