Upon entering this Manhattan apartment, decorated by Timothy Whealon, guests are greeted by a theatrical mural of flowering vines.

Boy would they have a lot to say!  Florence de Dampierre’s aptly named new book, “Walls” takes the reader on a pictorial tour of some of the most exquisite walls throughout history that you have ever seen.  If you think walls are merely for framing artwork, hanging mirrors or supporting light fixtures, think again.  These walls certainly defy the laws of conventional decor!  Although walls are often the most underrated elements of a space (how many times have you pondered for days over that vase or rug and hastily picked a paint color out of a stack of paint chips?), this fascinating read makes abundantly clear that walls can be just as important a statement piece as any other feature of the room, if you give them the opportunity to speak up 🙂

Text and images courtesy of Architectural Digest.

{Florence de Dampierre’s “Walls”)

For this bedroom design, decorator Jean-Louis Deniot selected a warm toile de Jouy wallpaper to frame twin blue-and-white-striped beds draped with orange-trimmed canopies.

The faux pilasters and hazy landscape painted on the wood entrance walls of the 17th-century Sandemar Manor in Sweden recall the lapsed beauty of an abandoned folly.

Catherine Grenier chose a striped Osborne and Little wallpaper to enliven a room she designed in Cadiz, Spain.

France’s Château de Chantilly boasts a marvelous example of painted singerie, a fanciful style of 18th- and 19th-century French decor that incorporates playful monkey imagery.

Hydrangea-blue faux molding adds a touch of painted serenity to a bedroom in a Christian Bérard–inspired Manhattan townhouse, designed by John Barman.

The living room of Paris-based designer Jacques Garcia’s home in the Château du Champ de Bataille glows with luxurious paneling and gold-framed portraiture.

Neoclassical motifs border lavender faux marble walls at the Pavlovsk Palace, a former country residence of the Russian Imperial family.

A vibrant kaleidoscope pattern brightens a wall of Mexico’s Hacienda San Diego de Jaral de Berrio.

The Hall of Mirrors in Amalienburg, a hunting lodge in Munich, Germany’s Nymphenburg Park, is an exquisite example of the highly ornate boiserie popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.