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Art Highlight: Wallcovering

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The beginning of a new month can be the perfect time to refresh your interiors and find new trends to try.  And as we kick off this new decade, we can’t help but want to go big! Wallcovering and wallpaper will continue to be a growing design trend this year and one that we love!  From soft, subtle scenes to bold and expressive patterns, wallcovering can add style and personality to any room.  It’s a great way to bring color and texture into your space in unique and unexpected ways. This popular trend works great in residential and commercial design, so we wanted to share a few ways to include different wallcovering prints and textures in your space.

featuring “Sound & Color” by Kippi Leonard

One of our favorite things about wallcovering is that there are various ways to decorate your walls with it. You can cover all of your walls, use it to make a statement accent wall, or (particularly if you have an oddly shaped wall) you can easily wallpaper half or parts of a wall. And for drama and detail in an unexpected place, you can try covering your ceiling!

Murals

Why not blow up that landscape to full wall size? Murals and serene scenes are great for accent walls and infusing your space with natural inspiration. A global-inspired scene can add some wanderlust while silhouette prints can add a twist on a classic look. Visually rich wallcovering that resembles different materials, such as marble, wood, or terrazzo, will add a luxe and modern style to your space. And wallcovering can be an easy way to introduce metallics into your wall décor to make a memorable moment in your room. Mural wallcovering can turn your design into one-of-a-kind!

Patterns

Patterns are a common wallcovering trend, but there are many different ways to infuse it with your own style. Geometric patterns are popular in design, especially with Art Deco design having a resurgence, and the symmetrical nature allows for bold, playful colors. Simple tonal stripes and small-scale prints, such as dots, can help make a room feel larger. Large solid and color-blocked prints in wallcovering can create a timeless design, especially in a dramatic black and white color scheme or crisp, classic blue hues.   For a light and minimal space, try oversized prints in botanical, fruit, and bird imagery!

Florals & Painterly Prints

A floral print might initially come to mind when you think of wallpaper or wallcovering. Florals are a traditional décor staple that is getting an updated look, helping to create modern spaces with bold colors and large-scale, abstracted patterns. Painterly florals and imagery can be unique and easy on the eye, while lively abstracts are energizing and great for an eclectic look.

featuring “River’s Run” by Jeff Iorillo

At Third & Wall, we not only have many different images to choose from for your wallcovering, but also several different styles and textures to add extra detail to your walls. Textured wallcovering is great for a monochrome look, as it adds dimension and character while keeping it simple. A suede wallcovering has a similar texture to, you guessed it, suede fabric. This light texture works well to reduce glare from direct light, while adding warmth to the print. With a flat, smooth, and low-gloss finish, we recommend a matte wallcovering for crisp, sharp-edged prints such as photography or detailed designs. A canvas wallcovering will give your wall an elegant and painterly effect, as it mimics the texture of a painter’s canvas. Lastly, Terralon wallcovering is a PVC-free alternative wallcovering material made from 31% post-consumer recycled materials, with various LEED credits. It is smooth and breathable for a sleek finish!

wallcovering samples

However you decide to decorate with this trend, we want to help you find the best image and wallcovering option!  Some areas of our website are password-protected. If you are a member of the trade but don’t have full access to our website, www.thirdandwall.com, please contact us at customerservice@thirdandwall.com.

Color Trends: Deep Blue Hues

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featured artwork is “Endless Muse” by K. Nari

As a new year begins, we always look forward to the predictions of new décor and design trends.  In forecasted color trends, Pantone announced their Color of the Year 2020: Classic Blue, and we are excited for this “timeless and enduring blue hue”! Blues are known to be calming and comforting, and the deep shade that Pantone has chosen for this new year reflects just that.  Sherwin Williams also selected a moodier navy blue, Naval, as their color for 2020.  Looks like having the blues isn’t such a bad thing after all!

Changing out your artwork is an easy way to refresh your space and try out these new colors and interior trends.  Because of their versatility, rich dark blues are taking on the role of a neutral this coming year, so don’t be afraid to decorate with them in bolder ways.  These striking navy hues have relaxing and tranquil qualities, and they easily pair with any materials or colors you might already have in your space.  From a luxe look to a cozy interior, these trending shades of blue can transform any design style!

The images featured here are available in our Print-On-Demand collection.  Some areas of our website are password-protected. If you are a member of the trade but don’t have full access to our website, www.thirdandwall.com, please contact us at customerservice@thirdandwall.com.

Color Trends: Going Green

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featuring “Easy Street” by BethAnn Lawson

Are you looking for a way to freshen up your space? Incorporating shades of green can do just that and add a natural element to your interior.  Bringing the outdoors in has become a popular design trend, and adding some green is one of the easiest ways to infuse vitality into your room.  Cool green tones can be relaxing and nourishing, while warm tones can add personality and energy to a space, and they don’t always have to come in botanical form.  Having green hues in your furniture, accent pieces, and on your walls can be resting or energizing, and with such a wide range of green tones to use, it is easy to find the perfect one for your space.  Since there are endless possibilities, we are highlighting different ways to incorporate this versatile color trend into your decor and design to help you go green!

Greens as Neutrals

Cool, muted greens that take on more of a gray or brown tone, such as sage, are great for acting like neutrals in a space.  Paler greens that verge on the point of gray are a great way to keep a space light and serene, but they can pair easily with sharp, bright colors.  Khaki, mossy, and olivey greens can give a design an earthy feel, especially when paired with warm tones and natural textures. It’s easy to switch out your wall décor in these soothing, neutral green tones because of their versatility and ability to work with what you already have!

Rich & Saturated

Bold, saturated green tones, such as jade and emerald green, add a rich and regal element to any interior. Whether paired with other dark accents to create a moody space or offset with neutrals and metallic accents, deep green tones can add personality and elegance. These dark, nature-inspired colors are great in furniture, accent pieces, or on your walls!

Light & Bright

Light and bright green tones help to soothe and enliven rooms. Soft, pale greens colors with blue undertones, such as mint and sea-glass green, can brighten up a space in a calming way. Yellow-greens are fresh and inviting and more reminiscent of botanical hues. Using more lively and vibrant green colors, such as a shade of lime green, is great for social spaces because they can energize a room. If you go bold with bright green on your wall, balancing it out with neutral tones and light accents can keep it from feeling overwhelming. Decorating with light & bright greens in décor accessories and upholstery is a great way to add some calming and natural elements in smaller doses.

With a wide variety of shades and undertones, green hues can seamlessly complement other colors and unique textures, and find a home in any design style. From traditional styles to modern elements, green tones freshen up a space and bring the natural healing of the outdoors in. Whether it’s the focal point of a room or an accent color, pops of this nature-inspired color can create a chic and relaxing space!

The images featured here are available in our Print-On-Demand collection.  Some areas of our website are password-protected. If you are a member of the trade but don’t have full access to our website, www.thirdandwall.com, please contact us at customerservice@thirdandwall.com.

From The Studio of Kippi Leonard

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Meet our artist, Kippi LeonardKippi’s vibrant aqueous surfaces are the results of pouring inks that have been custom mixed onto canvas, panel, and linen.  The pouring process is her way of largely abandoning compositional control and remaining open to spontaneous occurrences with her work.  Through color, luminosity and light reflection, her work provokes calm and, simultaneously, deep introspection.  Inversely, her mixed media work is structural and largely black and white with expressive mark making and an occasional allusion of color.  Both methods of creating reflect her veracious essence.  After an extensive career in interior design, Kippi continues the exploration of materials through her experimental and abstract work in oil, encaustic, collage and watercolor.

A Pacific Northwest native, she now resides in Palm Desert, California a place that nurtures her comprehensive approach to creating art.

What do you first do when you get to the studio in the morning? 

The first thing I do when I arrive at my studio each day is to turn on music, something that will influence the tone, composition, and mood of my current series of paintings.

How many paintings do you work on at a time?

I typically work on 2-4 paintings at a time, with several in ink and a large acrylic mixed media.

Do you have a dream project that you would like to work on?

Solitude Storm

My current dream project has been opening my own studio/gallery/workshop space in Palm Desert where I live.  There is a street revitalization program currently in construction where my studio is located which is being built to provide the community with an art scene, community events, music festivals, dining, and gathering.  Its going to be amazing and I’d like to be involved in its vision and implementation.

If you could paint with anyone, who would it be?

I would have to go back in time.  I just read the book “Ninth Street Women” by author Mary Gabriel.  I could see myself painting for a day with Joan Mitchel or Grace Hartigan.  Mostly, I’d like to be a part of their unapologetic gusty innovation in the post-war modern art world.  Truly inspiring!

What’s your favorite way of generating ideas and inspiration?

When my creative tank is nearing empty, a good adventure clears my mind and, being an amateur photographer, I always return with photo inspiration.  Travel, hiking, visiting new out-of-the-way places of interest feeds my soul.  Museum, gallery, and art shows always excite my brain and fuel me to start new pieces.  Occasionally, a color I see somewhere in a crowd takes hold and a new idea begins to form.

How has your art evolved over time?

I experimented in so many mediums when I first started to learn about art and its creation.  I found my voice in my ink work and in my mixed media work, and I’ve realized I cannot do everything but I can challenge myself within a few favorites.  I am always trailblazing ways to use the inks.  For me, it’s always being willing to risk.  I love overcoming impossibility within my work.

“Untitled”

What do you like most about your work?

I like how it evokes emotion in the viewers.  I’m often being told stories of what a person sees within my work.  A mother holding a child, a sunrise in the mountains, a female silhouette; that it resonates in their heart and mind; that they don’t want to look away.  My story becomes part of their story when they bring my art into their home.  I want to connect with people and this is the way I do that.

What is one word that best describes your style?

Modern-Neutral

“Digging In”

Is there an idea you would like to explore?

I have lots of ideas to explore.  My current idea is blending contemporary elements with historical figures using my inks, collage, and acrylic in an abstract way.

What is your favorite time of day to paint?

It depends on what I’m painting.  I work with inks early in the morning when I’m energized, as they require complete attention with music that is upbeat and I can dance in place a bit while waiting for the inks to dry.  I work on my abstract mixed media pieces in the late afternoon and evenings, usually with soft jazz music playing.

Do you ever get “stuck” on a piece?  If so, what do you do?

I do get stuck and with those pieces I either push too far or they go in my “closet of unloved art” until a fresh idea hits me.  Then I begin again and they evolve into some of my most favorite pieces.  Occasionally, I have my husband look at a piece and give me his “feel”.  It re-inspires me to go in a new direction or validates I’m on the right track and I just needed to push through.

What is up next on your easel? 

Currently a 48 x 72″ ink piece for a commission is on the table and a new collage mixed media is on the easel waiting for the first brush stroke.

“Moody Desert”

The images featured here are available in our Print-On-Demand collection.  Some areas of our website are password-protected. If you are a member of the trade but don’t have full access to our website, www.thirdandwall.com, please contact us at customerservice@thirdandwall.com.

Decor Trend: Urban Photography

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featured photograph by Aaron Matheson

As fine art photography continues to grow in wall decor, images of city life are decorating walls!  From cityscapes to urban abstract photography, city scenes are finding a home in interior design.  Because of its rise in popularity, we wanted to highlight a few ways to include street photography in your space!

Cityscapes

Cityscapes are great for adding contemporary accents to your design.  They also pair well with other pieces of art and can help complete a gallery-styled wall.  Whether it is a photograph of a city that is special to you or an image that inspires you, different cityscapes can bring some new and exciting energy to your wall!

Abstract Photography

Abstract artwork is a major wall decor trend, so it is only fitting that abstract photography would be popular!  We love how urban abstract photographs provide unique patterns and perspectives of everyday subjects.  And for a more classic take on this trend, try hanging an abstract photograph in black & white (always a timeless color combination).  Abstract imagery of urban scenes can add a modern touch to your space, no matter your design style!

Urban Details

Fine art photographs of urban details capture a one-of-a-kind perspective of daily life that might otherwise be easily missed and turn it into a work of art.  Whether it’s a unique door, cool street art, or intricate architectural details,  street photography is a great way to add a contemporary design element to your interiors!

The images featured above are available in our Print-On-Demand collection.  Some areas of our website are password-protected. If you are a member of the trade but don’t have full access to our website, www.thirdandwall.com, please contact us at customerservice@thirdandwall.com.