shelf / life – The Interiors Addict

‘Faux texture’ wallpaper from shelf/life

Wallpaper: it’s everywhere right now and whatever pattern you choose, covering a wall, or all your walls, makes a great statement; any kind of statement you like! If you’ve ever dreamed of an industrial chic warehouse conversion but have no such architectural features in reality, online store shelf/life have started stocking some wallpapers which could help!

“One of the more recent trends we’ve seen in interiors is that of faux texture wallpaper,” says owner Jess Ibbett. “The main reason for this is probably due to new technology allowing companies to print photorealistic images onto paper, opening up a huge amount of options when it comes to decorating your home.

“All these options can sometimes create rather scary outcomes as companies go crazy thinking of unusual things to slap onto their wallpaper. For instance, I’m not sure I could live in a house covered head to toe with giant realistic bugs. But done well, I think these digitally printed wallpapers definitely have a place in modern interiors and can easily add a point of interest to your home.”

Yesterday I visited a lovely homewares shop called shelf / life in Sydney’s Surry Hills. It’s not in a location where you’d stumble across it so I wanted to tell you all so you can make a special trip!

Owner Jess Ibbett is a former interior designer with a passion for sustainable design. “As a homewares fanatic with a healthy appetite for design blogs, I became aware that my favourite designers all crafted their wares with deliberate environmental consideration and/or employed sustainable production methods,” she says. “Thus, born from a desire to showcase a collection of my favourite designers’ offerings, and the exciting prospect of establishing a retail environment that introduced Sydneysiders to products handpicked according to our own ethical considerations, my husband and I opened shelf / life at the end of 2009.”