Shiny lacquer and high-gloss wall paints are notoriously hard to work with — these paint finishes are known for showing every imperfection and brushstroke, but boy can they throw light around a smaller room to make it appear brighter and even larger. I’ve always wanted to take advantage of these kinds of paint finishes for the light and depth they can add to a room, but I’ve always heard high-gloss applications are best left to the pros — especially if you live in an older home or apartment with cracks, visible jointing, or sanding marks on the walls.
That’s why I stopped in my tracks while vacationing last October when I saw what designer Beata Heuman did in the lounge of the Hôtel de La Boétie, a just-opened 40-room hotel in Paris’ 8th arrondissement that’s part of the Touriste hotel group. I assumed she tapped pro painters to coat the walls in their liquid-look, shimmering finish, but it turns out that they’re actually wrapped in silver wallpaper. This bold, strategic move got me thinking: Shiny, metallic wall finishes might be easier to pull off with wall coverings — especially peel-and-stick ones that are endlessly able to be repositioned (and they’re removable, if you one day tire of them).
I personally hadn’t seen solid shiny wallpaper like this before, but as it turns out, Heuman had a historical reference for her choice: the work of early 20th-century American decorator Frances Elkins. Apparently known for her signature silver tea paper wallcoverings, Elkins helped pioneer this look, which made everything from dressing areas to bedrooms look ultra-modern and luxe, even by today’s standards. While Elkins often teamed her silver walls up with mirrored glass and gold, Heuman’s approach is much more down to earth.
Instead of leaning into the glam, Heuman has chosen to ground the shiny cool silver with rich warm tones and natural materials in the sitting area you see here, including a rust-colored velvet sofa, an oversized cork board, and a rattan and iron table. This keeps the silver from feeling cold or clinical — and over-the-top opulent, which is fine but just not my style. The nice thing about metallic walls, though? They’re equally at home in minimalist or maximalist settings. It’s all about what you choose to surround them with in terms of furniture and decorative accessories.
If you want to get the look, consider one of these Heuman- (and Elkins-) inspired picks. And watch this kind of metallic finish work its magic in your room.
