If you have a traditionally decorated room and want to modernize it slightly without losing its traditional charm, there are several ways to do so with wallpaper borders. Traditional wallpaper borders are an inexpensive way to update any room, and with the right methods, they can be an excellent choice for making a room appear more modern while still using traditional patterns or colors.
Play With Placement
Traditional wallpaper borders are placed at either plate-height, which is one-third of the way down from the ceiling, or at chair height, which is one-third of the way up from the floor. Both of these placements look balanced in almost any room. However, to add a modern twist to a traditional pattern, simply try changing up the placement. A ceiling border, center-line border, or border that climbs up over doorways (instead of skipping across them) can give a traditional room a more modern feel.
Get Creative With Color
Traditionally, the light neutral colors from the border are the colors placed above and below the border, and often these are achieved with wallpaper as well. However, by using paint and opting for some of the darker or more vibrant colors in your paper, you can stay true to your traditional room while bringing in a feeling of modernity. For example, if your wallpaper border has small specks of bright red within a flower, highlight this color with a bold red paint below the border.
Fill Up Frames
Usually, borders are meant to provide a small amount of visual interest while breaking up a room. However, they are not often meant to be the main focus of a room. You can change this by taking a few different but matching borders, cutting small samples, and placing them in picture frames. Creating a gallery of traditional wallpaper borders will allow you to have the traditional patterns in your room but in a way that seems more like you are paying homage to the past rather than living in the past.
If you have a traditionally decorated room and are wondering what you can do to keep the decor looking united while spicing things up with a twist of modernity, you should consider the many ways you can utilize wallpaper borders. By taking a traditional element and using it in a fresh and new way, you will make your room stand out as unique but be certain it will stay beautiful.
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