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Wallflowers
story and photos
by Steve Breckbill
It's the beauty — and the beast — of the Victorian house. I often hear a note of surprise and dismay from owners of Victorian homes when they describe their struggles to remove multiple layers of wallpaper. But in the 1800s, wallpaper was a high-fashion luxury that almost anyone could afford, and we see their imaginative expressions today. 
Victorians used wallpaper on every plastered surface from the attic to the basement, often with wild colors and patterns and decorative borders. Innovations in printing, the widening availability of paper, and the rise of a prosperous middle class all came together in the 19th century to produce this phenomenon.
Walls were mostly covered with wood paneling in the era before wallpaper. In finer houses, tapestries were hung to relieve the dark, shadowy wood. The gradual spread of printing paper for walls started in the 1500s, but it wasn't until printing became commonplace in the early 1800s that even the poorest house could put a printed picture on the wall. The popularity of these pictures led to the development of long strips of paper that could be used to cover a whole wall with pictures or a pattern. As printing techniques advanced, patterns and colors became more beautiful and desirable.
Plastering of walls was becoming more popular at the same time. Wood paneling was not a good surface for wallpaper and was expensive and time-consuming to install. Plaster was cheap and easier to work with, but cracking was a problem. That problem was solved with wallpaper. Wallpaper held the surface together, and the patterns helped disguise any imperfections in the plaster.
 These developments reached a zenith of perfection in the Victorian era. The period between 1850 and 1900 saw rapid industrialization and a housing boom in urban areas. After newly built houses were plastered, the paperhanger followed to cover the plaster with a protective layer. In an effort to erase a reputation for mediocre design in earlier years, wallpaper makers began employing designers. Because of them, 1800s-era wallpaper reflects the art influences of the period.
In the 1870s it became fashionable to split the wall into three sections. At the bottom was the dado, which might cover a fourth of the wall; the fill covered the middle; and a frieze (border) adorned the top. The dado and the frieze were often sophisticated works of art, while generally the fill would be a small overall pattern. The ceiling would have an unobtrusive pattern but might have an intricate border decoration. The Victorians enthusiastically embraced color, so the overall effect could be dazzling. The low cost and easy availability of beautiful patterns and colors led the Victorians to outdo each other with elaborate combinations, some modern examples of which are shown in the photos.
The peak of popularity and beauty that wallpaper reached in the Victorian era has never been equaled.But wallpaper remains a key element of interior design today, and several companies still produce reproduction Victorian wallpaper.
Steve Breckbill is the owner of Takoma Paperhangers.
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