How to Design in Black & White Wallpaper

Look through magazines and gather a wide range of pictures of rooms, furniture and decorative details in the style you have chosen. Lay them all out, and select the ones you like the best. These pictures will guide you when you shop for decor items.

Purchase wallpaper that matches your favorite pattern or style from the pictures. The wallpaper will cover the largest territory in the room, so it will define the space. Find your wallpaper before you shop for anything else.

Use the furniture, textiles and accessories in the room to balance the wallpaper. For example, if you papered your living room with a complex, detailed print, upholster your sofa in simple white. Then bring the texture of the wallpaper into the rest of the room by adding patterned accent pillows or lampshades in a similar style.

Add small splashes of color in your accessories. For example, brighten up a black-and-white kitchen by putting a bowl of oranges on a counter; add red hand towels to an art deco bathroom; put a vase of pink flowers on a shelf in an elegant rococo living room.