Wallpaper has returned in a blaze of ultra-stylish designs, eye-catching textures, dimensional treatments, new materials and digital printing techniques. For those who grew up in the all-white walls of the 1990s and 2000s, wallpaper is an opportunity to create interiors that hum with vibrancy and personality. It’s a look that marries with the move towards more layered interiors with clusters of collectibles.

Wallpaper has become a conversation piece.

For those who remember wallpapers from their childhood, those sometimes dull and overpowering styles have been replaced with wallpapers that are rich, colourful and interesting.

Here’s a taste of the latest wallpaper trends:

Nature

From sweetly pretty to rampantly tropical, leaves and flowers are growing up walls. There are meticulous designs that look like they have been lifted from the pages of a Victorian era plant catalogue, painterly flowers with a whimsical look, lush sprays of palm fronds, fossilised leaves and decadent overblown flowers.

All have one thing in common: nature. Botanical motifs have always been popular in wallpaper design as people seek to surround themselves with stress-releasing natural elements. This season there's a rich array of styles, colours and scale with on-trend looks, including tropical hot-house plants and fullsome florals.

Luxe

Tactile, glossy, richly coloured wallpapers will give interiors extra depth and a certain wow factor that's difficult to achieve any other way. The dramatic and glamorous effects being created like layered metallics, embossed designs and shimmering patterns, are made possible by advances in printing technologies.

Many of the wallpapers in this category come in moody, dark colourways, or rich jewel tones. The designs draw from many inspirations — there are peacock motifs, leopard prints, stylised botanic and textural treatments. With just a few rolls of wallpaper a room can get the five-star hotel treatment.

Shapes

Geometric shapes, stripes in all forms, retro patterns, 3D effects — graphic effects of all types can be found in the Resene Wallpaper Collection. Today's graphic patterns tend to be more relaxed and presented in a looser way, like the layered triangles at right, forming a soft mountain-like landscape.

Geometric patterns are eye-catching yet there's something about the rhythmic structure of a geometric design that is also visually relaxing.

Oversize

It's the ultimate feature wall. A wallpaper with an oversized print or a full-on mural will certainly make an impact in the home. Going big and bold doesn't mean ending up with walls that scream at people — it might be an all-over cloud-scape, a pretty tonal botanic print, or a toile-style scene.

For more impact, choose a colourful oversized design or a mural using photographic imagery.

Fun

Lemurs peek from behind palms, flamingos strut their stuff and tiny towns populate the wall. There's currently a real appetite for whimsical and cheeky wallpaper designs, which are being increasingly used in quite sophisticated schemes. In the industry, they're called 'conversational' designs.

Patterns, plains, bolds, neutrals or textures, when it comes to wallpaper there is a huge range of designs and styles to choose from. Resene has created a new habitat plus — wallpaper to help designers and their clients incorporate wallpaper into design plans. View online or visit a Resene ColorShop to pick up a free copy.