Paper over decor crimes of yesteryear

Why are some people scared of wallpaper? Maybe it’s a hangover from the times, between 1950 and 1970, when many ghastly and frequently geometric crimes were perpetrated in the name of covering over the cracks. Now wallpaper is coming out of the closet, where it had quite literally been languishing, frequently as the only part of a papered room not painted over. So where to start?

Milan-based Irish artist and designer Nuala Goodman has been turning her hand to the challenge of coming up with a repeatable pattern that works writ large, and that sits somewhere between art and design. Describing it as a "painterly" process, and "a great medium for an artist to work in," her new designs are for sale at Minima at about 60 per square metre – see minimahome.com. Lace is moody, like shadowy wafting net curtains, Affresco reminds me of the kind of distressed plasterwork you might imagine in an ageing palazzo (so would be great for your dreams of fading grandeur), while Drops is a gorgeous dream of feathery fronds in lush turquoise-aqua blues.

For the DIY approach, and if you have a photograph format sufficiently large, SignScript will turn it into a wallcovering, which means you can create something truly wonderful, meaningful or accidentally alarming for yourself: from €75 for a 2.6 x 1m roll – see signscript.ie.

Over at Skinner Wallpaper, David Skinner has been researching historic wallpapers from Ireland's great houses, and will screen print them for you to order. So if you have a romantic attachment to, or soft spot for Fota, Lyrath, Lissadell or even Henrietta Street, check these and more out. They are priced at about €120 per 10m roll. See skinnerwallpaper.com.

And how do you make it work at home? Very large rooms can handle a full-on papering, but if it’s just of medium size, pick a single wall to cover. Paradoxically, very small spaces, such as the downstairs loo, can be fab if you let yourself go mad – and your experiments are less expensive too.

PS: After two years of considering the how-tos of all things interiors, House Rules is hanging up its keyboard, and sloping off to a world where mismatched crockery is a sign of breakages rather than a statement of style. Thanks for reading!