Photo by Judy Fox Interiors, Inc.

Claire Ownby, owner of Ownby Design in Scottsdale, says she likes paper with raised, embossed-looking crystals. As the options grow, her firm is suggesting wallpaper to clients more and more.

“There are so many cool options,” she says. “Definitely from a design standpoint we have started specifying it because we’re seeing new products with great textures, just amazing colors and patterns that make us want to use wallpaper.”

Flowers and stripes continue to be popular, but the dimensions are changing. Go for big and bold floral prints, or irregular stripes of all different widths and colors on a single wall. Look for pop art designs, too, like a giant fork and spoon for the kitchen or dining room, sold at Anthropologie. There are about five wallpaper specialty stores left in Arizona, all with extensive samples to browse. And the Internet has become a great resource (visit grahambrown.com); just beware that the color on your computer screen may be different than the real thing.

Where to Wallpaper

The best place to dabble with wallpaper is in the bathroom. As the smallest room in the house and typically less lived in, it gives you the freedom to go bold. Petrenka installed paper in her own bathroom, covering the walls and even the ceiling with a map of the world. She trimmed around the continents so each panel would match up perfectly. (You don’t want the United Kingdom sitting next to South America.)

Wallpaper is at home in the most traditional room of the house: the dining room. Don’t be afraid to pick a classic pattern – one that you’ll like next decade as much as you do now – and decorate the whole room. Or for a more subtle effect, wallpaper the dining room from the midway point up. Designers agree you’ll get a more classy effect with wallpaper than with paint.

“Wallpaper brings in that elegance to the home,” Riccobono says.

Try adding a border to the kitchen, too.

Wallpaper accent walls are really gaining momentum, especially in the bedroom. Adorn the wall behind your headboard to update the painted accent walls made popular by speedy home makeover shows several years ago. Gwyneth Paltrow’s bedroom wall is a soothing lavender and metallic print. (She also used a grey and white print around her entire spiral staircase.)

How to Wallpaper

Anyone who has taken down wallpaper is reluctant to do it again. But a new generation of products promises each strip will go up and come down in one piece.

Sparks recommends Paper Illusions torn paper by Village. All you have to do is tear it and dip it in water. Other brands come with a backing, so you just peel the paper off and stick it on.

There are as many theories about wallpaper installation as there are presidential candidates. Sparks vote is to do it yourself. She stresses that you must get the first panel exactly right. But after that, the job is easy.

Other designers recommend hiring professionals. Ownby says there’s just one company in town she absolutely trusts – Reeves Paperhanging, if you’re curious.

Either way, you’ll enjoy one marked advantage. Wallpaper, by nature, is perfectly symmetrical. You know exactly what you are going to get, which is something you can’t say about painted-on shapes, stripes or splatters.

“People are sick of looking at that. It’s too busy in an unorganized way, while wallpaper is symmetrical,” Phoenix decorator Riccobono says.

Maybe someday, designers will wrinkle up their noses and say, “paint?”

Photo by Judy Fox Interiors, Inc.	Photo by Judy Fox Interiors, Inc.