Editorial
Working notes from the Empire desk.
Long-form pieces on wallpaper, window treatments, paint, colour, and interiors — written by our specification team and contributing designers. Practical guidance you can specify against, not seasonal listicles.
Featured guides
Design theory · 14 min
The Psychology of Patterns
Eight pattern families — floral, geometric, damask, scenic, abstract, botanical, animal, and heritage — and how each shapes the emotional register of a room.
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Design theory · 15 min
The Psychology of Colours
Blue, green, earth tones, dark drama, blush, forest green, warm white and playful colour — the physiology behind each family and where to deploy it.
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Featured · Wallpaper
Grasscloth, properly: how to choose, light, and live with natural fiber walls
A working guide to fibre type, weave, lighting, and where natural-fibre wallcoverings shine — and where they don't.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper for bedrooms: scale, mood, and the case for a quieter pattern
Why most bedrooms benefit from a small-to-medium pattern, and the categories of wallcovering that consistently make for a more restful room.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper vs paint: a fair, working comparison for renovators
Aesthetics, prep, durability, cost, sustainability — the categories that actually decide whether wallpaper or paint is the right answer for the wall in front of you.
Trade
Specifying contract wallcoverings: performance vinyl, acoustic, and Type II vs Type III
Performance, durability, acoustics, and the ASTM-classified weight tiers that decide what belongs in hospitality, healthcare, education, and Class A office.
Installation
How to measure for wallpaper without ordering twice
The strip method, the square-footage cross-check, pattern repeat, dye-lot risk, and the small contingencies that prevent the most expensive ordering mistake in any wallpaper project.
Installation
Wall preparation, properly: the step that determines installation quality
Substrates, sealing, sizing, and what your installer wishes the trades before them had done.
Wallpaper
Grasscloth vs. performance vinyl: choosing texture you can live with
An honest comparison of natural-fibre grasscloth and engineered vinyl wallcoverings — aesthetics, durability, maintenance, cost, and where each one belongs.
Design
Choosing a wallpaper mural for a feature wall: scale, scene, and restraint
How to choose a mural that actually works at full scale — scenic, botanical, or abstract — and how to design the rest of the room so the wall can do its job.
Design
Building a room around the wallpaper: a designer-led sequence
When the wallpaper is the brief, every other decision should follow from it. A working sequence for paint, furniture, lighting, drapery, and finishing layers.
Wallpaper
Where grasscloth belongs — and where it doesn't
A working room-by-room guide to where natural-fibre grasscloth wallcoverings genuinely earn their keep, and the spaces where they shouldn't be specified.
Design
Styling grasscloth with paint and trim
Choosing the paint, trim, and ceiling treatments that let a grasscloth wall do its work — without competing with it or leaving it stranded.
Window Treatments
Cellular shades, properly: insulation, cell size, and the single decision that matters most
Single-cell vs double-cell, light filtering vs blackout, and why the right cell size depends on the climate, not the catalogue.
Window Treatments
Honeycomb shades and energy bills: what the R-value claims actually mean
How honeycomb construction reduces winter heat loss and summer heat gain, and how to spec for the climate zone you actually live in.
Window Treatments
Cellular roller shades: the case for the hybrid system
When the slim profile of a roller plus the insulation of a honeycomb is the right answer, and when it is overkill.
Window Treatments
Soft roman shades: when fabric folds belong on the window
The architectural rooms — and the bedrooms — where a soft, contoured fold reads better than a hard horizontal line.
Window Treatments
Modern roman shades: the structured fold for contemporary interiors
Where the consistent, architectural fold of a modern roman beats the softer flat roman for a clean contemporary room.
Window Treatments
Sheer window shadings: privacy without losing the daylight
How horizontal vane sheers diffuse direct sun, give true privacy, and still let the room read the weather outside.
Window Treatments
Vertical light, horizontal vanes: the geometry of a great sheer shade
Why vane size, fabric weight, and headrail position decide whether a sheer shading reads architectural or busy.
Window Treatments
Contoured fabric vanes: a softer alternative to traditional venetian blinds
How shaped fabric vanes give the privacy control of a venetian with the warmth of a roman.
Window Treatments
Sheer vertical blinds: the right answer for patio doors and wide window walls
Where wide vertical fabric vanes outperform horizontal shades on sliding doors, corner windows, and floor-to-ceiling glass.
Window Treatments
Aluminum blinds, reconsidered: where modern micro-slat finishes belong
Slat width, finish, and the rooms where a precise aluminum blind reads more design-forward than a fabric shade.
Window Treatments
Choosing wood blinds: species, finish, and the sustainability question
Real wood vs faux wood, the species that hold finish best, and the certifications that actually mean something.
Window Treatments
Plantation shutters: the long-lasting option that should outlive the renovation
Material, louver size, and frame style — how to specify shutters that read as architecture, not as window treatment.
Window Treatments
Vertical sheer panels: a softer wall of light for tall openings
Where vertical sheer panels with rotating fabric vanes outperform both drapery and horizontal shades.
Window Treatments
Motorised window treatments: when to wire it, when to leave it manual
Battery vs hardwired, smart-home integration, and the windows that genuinely need motorisation versus the ones that don't.
Window Treatments
Manual operating systems: cord, wand, cordless, and what each is best at
The four manual lift systems explained, and the rooms where each is the right specification.
Installation
Measuring for window treatments: inside-mount, outside-mount, and the spec the installer needs
The five numbers that matter for every shade, and why a 1/8 inch tolerance changes the look of the finished window.
Paint
How to clean painted walls without stripping the finish
The right cleaning approach for each paint sheen — and the tools that quietly damage even durable finishes.
Paint
Choosing interior paint colours: a process that actually narrows the choice
The four-step process that turns a fan deck of 3,000 colours into a final pick — without buyer's remorse.
Paint
Choosing an interior paint finish: where each sheen belongs
Flat to high-gloss, what each sheen does to light and durability, and the rooms that decide the answer.
Paint
How to paint interior walls: the order of operations that gives a professional finish
The sequence — prep, prime, cut, roll, second coat — that separates a clean wall from a re-do.
Paint
How to paint a ceiling: the rules that prevent streaks and roller marks
Ceiling-specific paint, the right roller nap, and the lighting setup that catches mistakes before the paint dries.
Paint
How to paint trim: the edges that decide whether the room looks finished
Brush selection, paint film control, and the order of operations that gives a clean trim line every time.
Paint
How to prepare walls for painting: the prep that determines the final result
The cleaning, repair, sanding, and priming steps that separate a one-day repaint from a five-year finish.
Design
Ceiling colour: the fifth wall finally gets the attention it deserves
Why painting the ceiling something other than white is the most under-used architectural move in residential interiors.
Design
Kitchen cabinet colour: the long-lifecycle finish that should outlast the trend
How to choose a cabinet colour you will still love in ten years — and the finish that will survive ten years of cooking.
Design
Relaxing bedroom colours: the palette that supports actual sleep
Why bedroom colour decisions should follow circadian principles — and the tones that consistently outperform the alternatives.
Design
Home office colour: the palette that supports concentration without going clinical
How to colour a working room in 2026 — when the brief is focus, video calls, and the room you'll be in eight hours a day.
Design
Small space colour: when going darker actually makes the room feel bigger
The counter-intuitive small-space rule — a deep saturated colour can dissolve the walls more effectively than a pale one.
Trade
How to hire a painting contractor: the questions that filter the bids
The five questions that separate a careful painter from a fast one — and the spec sheet that gets a comparable quote.
Wallpaper
How to choose designer wallpaper for a statement room
A working brief for picking the one wall, the one pattern, and the one finish that earns the title statement room.
Wallpaper
Pattern, plotted: floral, botanical, geometric, and scenic wallpaper
Four pattern families, four moods, four ways they behave on a wall — and how to pick the one your room actually wants.
Wallpaper
Best wallpaper collections for dining rooms and powder rooms
Two rooms made for bold wallpaper — and the specifications, scales, and finishes that make them sing.
Wallpaper
Flocked wallpaper: adding texture and drama to your walls
How flocking is built, where it earns its place, and how to specify, light, and care for a velvety raised pattern that paint cannot touch.
Wallpaper
Damask wallpaper: the epitome of elegance and sophistication
Where damask comes from, how the categories actually differ, and the rooms where this woven-pattern tradition still earns its place.
Wallpaper
Chinoiserie wallpaper: history, style, and modern applications
A working guide to one of wallpaper's most enduring decorative traditions — its origins, its categories, and the rooms where it consistently delivers.
Wallpaper
Toile wallpaper: a working guide to a timeless narrative pattern
Where toile came from, how the modern variations differ, and how to specify a pattern that is simultaneously historical and surprisingly contemporary.
Design
How to choose the right wallpaper mural for a feature wall
A working method for selecting a mural that holds a room — narrative, palette, scale, and the categories of mural that consistently work on a feature wall.
Installation
How to repair damaged wallpaper: seamless fixes for common issues
A working guide to the four most common wallpaper failures — peeling seams, bubbles, tears, and surface marks — and how to fix each cleanly.
Wallpaper
Peel-and-stick wallpaper: the good, the bad, and the reality
An honest read on where peel-and-stick actually works, where it fails, and how to decide whether the convenience is worth the trade-offs.
Installation
How to hang wallpaper: an essential guide for a flawless finish
A step-by-step working method for hanging wallpaper — preparation, plumb line, paste, and the cuts that decide whether the install reads professional or amateur.
Installation
How to remove wallpaper: a step-by-step guide for renovators
A working method for removing wallpaper without destroying the wall underneath — diagnosis, scoring, soaking, scraping, and the prep that comes after.
Installation
How to clean wallpaper: do's and don'ts for every type
A working maintenance guide that matches cleaning method to wallpaper type — from scrubbable performance vinyl to grasscloth, silk, and uncoated paper.
Room-by-room articles
30 articlesLiving Room Wallpaper
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Once a month we send a curated selection of new wallpapers, project case studies, and the colour stories that define each season.