Textured walls: New season wallcoverings are going 3D |

(Image credit: Future)

last updated 28 January 2021

3D, textured walls were everywhere in 2021 – and it looks like the interior design trend is here to stay for the remainder of this year. The latest wallcoverings are giving walls seductive touch-me texture, or textured effects.

Textured walls and wallpaper are also one of this year's biggest wallpaper trends.

Some people are even hanging rugs on their walls to give them texture and to make a room feel softer and cosier.

Here are a few new season wallpapers we're excited about...

1. WOOD WALLS

Turns out, you’re only ever a hand-carved, engineered Italian walnut wood 3D tile away from a room with bountiful texture and touchability.

These beauties are by Fameed Khalique, but see also Aldo Cibic’s birch line for Inkiostro Bianco.

WICKER WALLS

While we’ve rarely encountered any wicker that we didn’t like, its latest incarnation as wall cladding is stirring new levels of lust. Drop-dead-divine Parisian showroom Atelier Vime is, as ever, leading the charge with superb floor-to-ceiling panels, while a new wallpaper line from NLXL and Studio Roderick Vos features a covetable cane-webbing effect...

2. PLAYFUL SCANDI

The new school of Nordic decorator is proving that Scandi interiors aren’t all whitewashed walls and pale woods. All hail Pernille Lind, the brains behind Couverture & The Garbstore’s tile-tastic shop.

3. PORTUGUESE WALLS

These walls may look tiled, but it's actually a clever new wallpaper design by Pierre Frey. The design brings a taste of Portugal’s tin-glazed walls home via spectacular scenic wallpapers.

4. THREE DIMENSIONAL

There’ll be no eyebrows raised if you’re caught stroking walls this season, for surfaces are going soft and three-dimensional. Work it with Arte’s Velveteen collection, where relief patterns meet tactile velvet.

5. PAPER PULP

A new line from wallpaper specialist Phillip Jeffries is, at first glance, all pared-back simplicity and monastic whites, yet when you reach out for a feel there’s more at play. Textured surfaces, hard to the touch and each made in the look and feel of weathered concrete, they are handmade from pulp generated from the abaca plant using a technique similar to papermaking. Interesting, yes, but also just very nice to look at.

6. BEADED WALLPAPERS

Anthology's latest wallpaper collection features striking patterns are inspired by Brutalist architecture, foxed mirrors and rippling water, while the textures include beaded surfaces and printed cork.

The Beaded Brutalist Stripe might look plain at first glance, but up close you’ll notice that the surface is intricately embellished with beads, giving it a pick hammered appearance. The design was inspired by polished concrete and the multitude of stones that lie within. Edged by a fine highlight stripe when hung, this Anthology wallpaper creates a distinctive panelled effect.

7. PRINTED CORK

Two of Anthology's patterns are printed onto cork, an exciting new material for wall coverings not only for the material’s beautiful aesthetic, but also for its environmental and acoustic benefits. Named after M.C. Escher, the striking ‘ESCHERESQUE’ wallpaper features a labyrinth of tessellations that are digitally printed on natural cork.

This is Anthology’s Escheresque

See More Of Anthology's Textural Wallcoverings

8. GEOMETRIC

Meanwhile, at the Surface Design Show, King Kong Design showcased 3D geometric wall tiles that are manufactured from natural cement powder.

Concrete Wall Tiles, Price starting from £350 per 1m2, https://www.kingkongdesign.com

The studio also creates folded geometric wall panels using high quality Canson paper. This handmade origami wall art makes a striking decorative application for walls.

moduuli Paper White Cloud, £495 (150 x 55cm)

9. WOOD FOR YOUR WALLS

Also at the Surface Design Show, Lignosi showcased its acoustic slat wall panels, that bring a calming, quiet, Scandinavian feel while also helping acoustics.

Called Eco-Sound Panels, £189.99 each

Lotte is the Digital Editor for Livingetc, and has been with the website since its launch. She has a background in online journalism and writing for SEO, with previous editor roles at Good Living, Good Housekeeping, Country & Townhouse, and BBC Good Food among others, as well as her own successful interiors blog. When she's not busy writing or tracking analytics, she's doing up houses, two of which have features in interior design magazines. She's just finished doing up her house in Wimbledon, and is eyeing up Bath for her next project.