Oct 1, 202114 min read

Boudoir en Suité - le papier peint

K I N D L Y N O T E:

I haven’t received any incentives or deliverables for sharing this review, all the opinions expressed here are personal and I am not doing a paid promotion.

I had shortlisted three combinations in wallpapers:

I was designing under the name SOBO for a month, my theme & tagline was ‘Luxurious Hotel Atelier’ You’ll find those designs here lilacnights.com/blog in other posts

I wanted that “Boutique Hotel Charm” - for reference please visit instagram.com/_thechalet_

Option no.1:

I chose a Bird wallpaper for the back elemental wall, it has small light blue robins & other slightly bigger black birds with fruit flowers… on a light Waterlily Green background, I’ve matched it with a light yellow Damask wallpaper which would go on all the other walls including my mini passage

Vintage element: Birds

Pros: Beautiful shades, exudes luxury

Cons: All the wallpapers are metallic and the colours are not too cosy for a bedroom but rather light…

Also Birds & damask both are a bit matured. Maximum birds (the bigger ones) are black, I initially thought they were dark blue but no, they are Charcoal black and someone had asked me to avoid that colour because they said I’m a very hypersensitive person and Black attracts a lot of negative energy which can affect me relatively faster and she was right, I usually feel sick or have a streak of bad luck whenever I wear or carry anything in black.

Option no. 2:

I had initially chosen foliage which was looking like a gorgeous ivory/cream Lace wallpaper and obviously it would’ve looked perfect for my bedroom, because lace is always very sensual and beautiful…

But it again had a lot of glitter, they had actually used a metallic golden thread to weave it and it was looking very shiny, almost flashy... the brands that I’d chosen here (Marshall’s, D’Decor) none of them are aren’t tacky or cheap, they are all renowned and they stock imported European wallpapers, in fact the latter is from India itself and I love their Style - but they don’t have any stripes or vintage looking wall coverings, maximum of them are very urban and modern.

The lace wallpaper would’ve looked nice but it was hard to match it with other textures, so it would’ve simply been lace all over… on every each wall.

I was looking for a light lilac or purple to make it more pretty but nothing was bringing out the colour. It was not looking interesting enough and I’m not that feminine.

Option no. 3:

My third pick was - Modern Geometric Lightly Padded (Embossed) wallpaper in my favourite, in fact MOST fav Ecru-Mauve shade… it’s like an ivory-cement mauve, it again has glitter but it looks more opulent because it has crystallised Swarovski kinda glitter particles which sparkle like diamonds and the wallpaper itself is multi faceted, it has prisms. Normally I don’t pick such things because they are too “Blingy” & Glamorous for my taste, I’m not a typical “Boss Lady” or a “Queen”/“Princess” although I like being empowering but I don’t like that image or how it is put across, every Hot pink is associated with a Domineering Boss Lady, every Purple is Princessy, I just find it very sexist. Anywho I chose that style because of the shade and the overall look and I combined it with beautiful satin stripes which have the same base colour, their texture looks like crushed velvet.

Cons: Although the geometric one looks more like crystallised sandpaper, the Swarovski sparkle makes up for it… collectively it reminds me of constellations.

Pros: Stripes will give it that perfect Hotel Charm, light mauve is going to look great in my ‘Boudoir’ because it’s again a very sensual colour, not too feminine like pastel pink but definitely more matured and sophisticated… no one can beat stripes, secondly geometric designs are currently very in, they are modern and luxurious especially in neutral shades like Ecru or Ivory, best part - it has a hint of mauve again…

The wall will not look flat like it does with paint and the Ivory wallpaper will look great with a small square contrasting black frame in the centre. So it is basically a combination of sparkling geometric concrete & Satin stripes. By the way there is a special surprise which I have shared in the latter half of my post…

I am talking about D’Decor here

Not deploring but here’s my guide:

The bird printed wallpaper was from there and although it’s cute, there are hardly any options in stripes, the ones that they have are all ornamental and rustic… more like shabby chic, the Damask ones had faux painted Damask, no actual embossing nor were they jacquard and they were more like paisley. I should loved probably picked another Collection or catalogue from there but I wasn’t able to load their site cuz it’s very glitchy (for reference) and we were told that this is all they had. D’Decor is mostly suitable for the living area because they have Urban, Modern textures so if you are looking for something cosy, quaint or vintage or if you have certain classics in mind, like all those “cottage style” wallpapers, then you won’t find them here. The paper quality is unbeatable, comparatively it’s the best but the price range is also quite high. If you want natural imitation textures or embroidery, leather finishes, etc. then you’ve come to the right place however I didn’t like the foliage ones because they had white plaque on top (not that they were spoiled) for that rustic, rugged look… the only con however was that it was looking literally like moss.

Secondly certain colours look the same in warm lights, there is hardly any difference, all the shades look the same if kept under the lamp. Another thing which I didn’t like was this… almost every store out there, especially if they are pricey, has no problem in sending their catalogues to our house but these people don’t and these catalogues are too heavy, they don’t even have samples and it’s impossible to hold that entire 3 kg book against your wall; thirdly he gave me a wrong estimate, he said the rolls were very big and that some people require only 2 for the whole room, they have a standard size, he only said that to make us finalise everything ardently… since there was no roll calculator we had to refer to some other website and when we did that we got an exact estimate - the main back wall itself would’ve required 3 rolls. Moreover, there is NO free consultation, they need an advance for their guy to visit us and give us an exact estimate… Like most places, their prices have also gone up and they are a lot more compared to 2017, he was talking about doing some concession but the application charges are again too high, they are 1000/- per roll, everywhere else, it’s free above 10k.

Nonetheless D’Decor would be a great choice if - You have a bigger budget or if you are looking for modern contemporary designs or imitation textures & metallics, if you want to make a style statement or if you are into gorgeous embroidered Wallcoverings then you’ve come to the right place.

For all other “classic styles” like Damask, Stripes, Woven, Ditsy florals, etc. you’ll find more variety in Marshall’s and other brands.

As someone who loves fashion and everything “Vogue-ish” I know I should’ve been the first to pick D’Decor but I think it’s more ideal for your living room or home office, study, dining area, etc… it was also exceeding my budget. I was more inclined on getting stripes because they are my fav, I also wanted something which would be full of novelty and that “antique” charm because I’m more into timeless classics… A lot of factors have to be considered while picking a wallpaper such as the theme, colour, print, style, space etc. I wanted something cosy but not too dark because I didn’t want to darken out my whole room, I am also someone who gets bored very easily so I didn’t want to stick to a specific style and for that I obviously had to go in for something more - versatile. I wanted a neutral palette so that I could switch between different colours in furnishings and decor, I don’t like it when it gets restrictive and that’s one caveat when you are doing an impressive, monochromatic room, it looks great but more so in pictures and on Instagram. According to my personality I also should’ve been the first to pick IKEA’s Malsjo range (the unit literally looks like a casket) because it’s more Gothic, Ivy and Victorian but I realised something while writing my forthcoming book, when I was sharing whatever cryptic, uncanny dreams I’ve had (since childhood days) I realised that most of us, completely disregard or underestimate the power of Dark arts and the colour ‘Black’ which is also the colour of Night, Darkness, Death and Macabre… It has a lot of potent to unleash negative vibes, it has always been associated with morbidity because most people see death as eternal sleep, they wear it at Funerals because it signifies a “Dark Day” and since it has been tritely or repeatedly associated with grimness, that colour itself has imbibed a very sombre tone and when that happens, anything can easily generate similar vibes or vibrations, it has now, indeed become a bit “unlucky”. I’ve seen how the Olsen Twins were ruined because of that shade, they would wear it everyday, even Angelina Jolie wasn’t spared, I myself broke my nose and got into huge argument when I was clad in all black, it was a very bad, unlucky day for me. And that is exactly why I wanted to avoid monochrome or Black stuff. I wanted something more homely and cosy and obviously lucky so I chose what I chose…

I love the combination of blush pink & vanilla lilac bedding over here 🩰👇🏻

As a 15 year old, I had to compromise on the tacky Pink textured wall paint from Asian paints because it was the most preferred brand in my house… especially since all our other relatives had also chosen it and they had “hypoallergenic” options. To be honest, I never like their colour chart & even back then, they didn’t have any sober neutrals like Dulux or Berger but more of earthy tones & loud, garish shades; I was once approached by one of their managers on Snapchat and he was extremely filthy and lecherous, that illiterate creep was harassing me over there, I don’t know from where he got my ID, he couldn’t even speak basic English (and he wasn’t lying, he was actually their manager, he shared a video of some inauguration ceremony) I guess it explains why they are always lagging. The pink “textured” paint had costed us nearly 45000/- Luckily these wallpapers didn’t burn a hole in my pocket, the total expense was approx. 36k I chose three different ones, price includes POP & primer ie. 5200/- I eventually settled on the third option. I have come up with a unique theme which is - ‘Hotel Atelier’, who doesn’t want their room to look like a luxurious, cosy little Hotel Suite?

I love the beautiful colour palette although it’s super light but I love these neutrals, all the shades be it mauve, powder beige or écru are looking marvellous together, this particular spectrum can be easily associated with ‘beauty’ without being too feminine, the crushed velvet texture reflects a nice mauve shade on the satin stripes without being too loud, luckily they aren’t that prominent so they don’t look amateurish like jester stripes. I would be adding a black frame as decided on the back wall in contrast. The brand that I’ve chosen for these two is Marshalls.

V I N T A G E F I N D S

Now here’s a little secret:

I found a very nice wallpaper store, they are located at Lower Parel. Honestly the store is like a hidden gem, I am surprised they haven’t been featured in any interior or lifestyle magazine/online articles yet… they have a huge presence in Dubai, it’s owned by an old Muslim uncle (after years of being treated as a minority in India, that makes me feel very proud) and I’m not getting communal or bias here but I just feel they deserve this raving review…

A. They have PDF catalogues in the form of e-books on their website which makes the first step very easy, you can short list whichever collection you want

B. They provide online consultation

C. The staff is very diligent, responsive & prompt. D. You can check the stock availability on their site, most wallpapers can be delivered within 24 hours.

I had gone through their online PDFs and shortlisted three catalogues but they sent me 10! They didn’t make a single fuss like the other store, they didn’t ask us to pick them up, didn’t nag me to finish them within a day like the previous ones. They neither charged us or asked for an advance payment which most of these companies do, even for catalogues.

Coming to the price range, well if you are ready to splurge on Asian Paint wallpapers, then this is no biggie… I’m not comparing but as a blogger and consumer I think I have a right to break it down for my readers, you’ll be getting better designs at NGC. They source all their wallpapers from well known, acclaimed designers who’re based in Europe, Germany, USA and Italy.

The store is located in Lower Parel & it’s called NGC Nafees https://www.ngcnafees.co.in/wallpapers/

Price on request

Best for: Parisian Charm

You’ll go Crazy about : The Vintage Greek inspired Stone/Concrete remains of Athens in Garda Collection which has hand drawn, water-coloured designs. This entire range has a very, very vintage and charming appeal, it is full of novelty & it reminds me of Hérmes.

My Top Picks: Simplicity, Gardà, Barbara Becker & Ullswater

Price Range: ££££ Tentative, subjective & constant but worth every penny

The one that I’ve chosen is by Barbara Becker, her current collection reflects African culture because she is an African-American-German, I love it, the colour palette is palatable enough to meet European taste as well… you’re likely to find an eclectic range here. She has combined sober neutrals (English greys and beiges) with rich contrasting shades… and her entire collection is extremely unique and stylish. I am not a big fan of Paisley or Aztec prints probably because we already have a lot of that in India but her designs are exceptional… another style that stood out were the Misty Mountains which are available in two gorgeous shades - steel blue & sepia. I couldn’t get the whole Bedroom done from here because most of their (beautiful) wallpapers also require a lot of space and I hardly have any blank wall, one has a big french window, the other one is covered by a huge wardrobe plus my bathroom door, the back wall behind my bed is all I have cuz the opposite one also has a TV & Besta unit (btw just so you know I had stopped watching TV in 2015 itself, don’t ask me why, it’s a long story)

I went through a few other catalogues as well and I liked the one which had small sketched chandeliers & handwritten letters/scripture overlay, there was one more which had small bougainvilleas and fountains, yes beautiful gold fountains. The design was perfect for my bathroom, it was breathtaking, people usually put it half way like a wallpaper on the top panel with tiles on the bottom half and I though I would be following the same suit. The print has an incorporated Silver Garden Maze in the background designed in Greek style, which reflects a beautiful Golden shade when you pour light over it, I already have napkins in Soft Lime Green, Pink and Light Grey with the same (Iconic) Greek Design Elements and they would‘ve gone perfectly with that wallpaper…

But you can’t put wallpapers in the bathroom not even in the lavatory area, why? I have already covered that in www.lilacnights.com/post/savoirfaire-aesthetic-bath

This third wallpaper will add a nice, warm Nordic Essence to my room - which is again my fav. I’m gonna decorate it with a Canvas wall art which would signify my unyielding love for Antlers and Scandinavia’s old world charm… I will also add this accent piece by my bedside and I won’t change the Motifs because wasps have always symbolised Gothic Literature & Poems… and it will inspire me to finish my next book.

I have chosen this gorgeous wallpaper in a flannel plaid design…

You won’t be able to make out the exact colour but it’s a beautiful beige

I already have a gorgeous crescent frosted wall lamp in the passage and I’ll be needing only one roll to turn it into a cozy little nook/impressive entré. I am going to put a small oval black frame there with some artwork… to further amplify he whole Nordic look 🦌🦡🌲🌙 in addition to the mini oval frame, I’ll be also adding this canvas, the Caribou one cuz like I said I love antlers & I’m very fond of them, it will go well with the whole Antique, Vintage, Scandi Hotel theme…

This Faux Fur Ivory Cream Throw/Rug would complete my Norwegian Look

This organic cushion is dual sided, it has mini gingham checks at the back

Since my room has a Danish theme, I have opted for this wooden unit cuz they are known for keeping such light, minimalistic wooden storage systems in their bedrooms and they always match them with transparent glass doors & warm lights. I had to create this same unit since it was out of stock & when I did that I made a few changes, I got separate pieces to come up with the same design cuz it was exactly what I was looking for, I added one wooden shelf in the first and the last block, the sold out model came with 2 glass shelves whereas what I purchased ie. a set of two blocks + one block - came with one glass shelf each…so I added one wooden shelf to carry the weight of my heavy glass items, I don’t want any shelf in the middle cube cuz I want to keep long items there and it also the looks more interesting that way, I added 3 warm lights + legs + supporting legs and that’s it! I have a lot of beautiful glass items to store there, I was always fond of creamers so as an adult I had a chance to buy one without having to take an entire tea set and I also have other porcelain stuff which I want to keep on display.

I had a wall cabinet and a matching black lacquered TV unit which I’d been using since the past 10 years… back then I was just a kid so I was in a different phase altogether, I had chosen a grungy theme, the unit had my own DVD 📀 library because I’ve always been a movie buff, now I’ll be shifting all the DVDs to PUDDA (IKEA) because no one watches DVDs anymore, you don’t even get them now… unfortunately and Netflix is too trashy for my taste. I didn’t require a unit this time cuz I don’t have any gaming system or multimedia devices to keep there, I just wanted a glass showcase in the form of a unit as in so thing shorter and smaller because of them were quite bulky and I wanted to keep all my stuff (from the wall cabinet and the unit) there… I was not getting to use so many mugs since 2018 because they are still in bubble wrap! Due God’s Grace I was finally able to buy something as per my rea. and I am very grateful for it…

More in my tweets & the next article.

Some more Items that I have selected for my Hotelier Suite Bed & Bath: Created this Mock-up for my Suite

Reference no. my Birthdate

My Hotel’s name is supposed to be very Unique, Meta & Unconventional I have used an edited version of my wallpaper sample in the background, I have changed the colour & look; you won’t be able to make out the crushed velvety or satin texture from the pic

French Wall Lamp

This Victorian Concierge Bell 🛎

I got this mini adjustable pull switch lamp for the back wall which will have the prismatic wallpaper. I feel it looks extremely classy, just a hotel lamp…! It came with all the nuts & bolts and a DIY user manual 899/-

This Diffuser Set has the scent of Vanilla + Fresh Laundry 🧺 Set of Small Monogram Napkins ‘D’ for Darling

or this… ‘B’ for Barbie & Boudoir

On my Wishlist:

This Ceramic Bowl (you know how much I love Antlers) 1199/-

Plush Furry Bath Mat

Monogram Cushions in ‘B’ & ‘H’ which stand for Boudoir & Hotel (they were on sale)

Set of two Rattan Trays 2499/-

Vintage Duvet & Cushion Cover set 2790/- + fluffy Hotel Cushions, from another store (in bulk, four for total 1250/-)

This Persian Runner (999/-)

Set of Guest Soaps (I have chucked them for now)

Vintage Golden Faucet

I actually wanted the Bvlgari Guest Box but it was for 12000/- it has Black Tea ☕️ fragrance which would’ve been great but the last time I tried a tester with Black Tea (another brand), I remember it was nothing like I’d expected in fact it was quite repulsive. This set consisted of mini toileries & wet towels... but like I said it was too pricey so I curated another one in a budget of 1950/- I won’t require Shampoo Conditioner Miniatures