Wallpaper for boys

Plans for the new nursery are taking shape. But, in terms of execution, we’ve yet to so much as dampen a paintbrush. I’m stalling because I want to wallpaper one wall but, as ever, I’m lingering over the choice of wallpaper.

We’re going for pale blue, not because I’m a traditionalist, but because the walls are already the most gorgeous shade of summer sky blue (bizarrely, the shade is actually called Polar Sky). It’s the color our first son had and I can’t bring myself to get rid of it yet even though he’s graduated to more grown-up tones (which will be revealed soon, I promise).

But I still want to switch things up a bit with the addition of wallpaper on a single wall. The goal is to keep the look simple and sweet, but to get away from the bland and traditional. Basically, I want a cross between the purity of this scheme:

(Photo by Chris Everard via Sarah Kaye Represents)

And the quirky vibe of this room (minus the skull of course):

(Via Houzz)

Yes, I know, hard to imagine. But trust me, it’s going to work (I hope).

So, back to the wallpapers. The perfect choice has to be right for a child’s room but also for a grown-up space as we might turn the nursery back into a guest room one day. So no trucks, trains, planes, dinosaurs, ducks etc. It has to work for a boy, not just a baby, which means erring on the masculine side. It has to be fun, but not hectic. And it has to be blue! I started with this: Cloud Bay by Rapture and Wright, in powder.

Problem is, when I got the sample it just looked, well, dull. Plus, the blue was too green. It’s also very tricky to source this in the US – there’s one distributor and it costs a fortune to have it shipped all the way from the UK. So then I considered this: Daydream in China blue and orange, by Wallpaper Collective.

I still love this one and might come back to it. But it might be just a little too childish for our needs. I can imagine getting cheesed off with the birds in a few years. Then I hit on the idea of a more geometric design. I have loved Vivienne Westwood’s Squiggle pattern for ages and now it’s available in wallpaper from Cole and Son. But unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be available in the US and UK suppliers won’t ship it here.

So, finally, I’ve arrived at what is hopefully the perfect solution: Hick’s Hexagon in blue by Cole and Son.

I’m excited about this one and hope that the sample lives up to expectations when it arrives. What do you think? Any other options I’ve missed?

With any luck, we’ll have the decision made and will be flexing our paintbrushes very soon, so watch this space…