Inspiration

Creating a Calming Ottawa Home with Farrow & Ball Wallpaper

Written on 22nd March 2022

Wallpaper: Aranami BP 4602; Woodwork: Wevet No.273

All images by modest marce

With prints inspired by the flora of the Chilean desert, the coastal plant life of the British Islesand the Japanese art of kiri-e, Marcella DiLonardo has brought a world of wallpaper to her Ottawa home.

Known in blogging circles as modest marce, the recipe developer, cookbook author, photographer and stylist also shares snapshots of her interiors on her blog, including these three most recent room transformations – each starring one of our wallpaper patterns.

The Master Bedroom

Wallpaper: Aranami BP 4602; Woodwork: Wevet No.273; Walls: Cornforth White No.228

“It looks so dreamy,” says Marcella of the Aranami print she chose for her feature wall. “It’s named after waves, but it reminds me of fluffy clouds.” The rest of the room has been painted in Cornforth White, which Marcella describes as “a very light, soft grey”.

“It paired perfectly with the wallpaper,” she adds. “They all come from the same colour family, which is what I love about Farrow & Ball – that you use your own paints to create the wallpaper.”

The final touches are woodwork in Wevet and doors refreshed with a few coats of Mole’s Breath. “I love how all the colours came together,” says Marcella, who has repeated both of these motifs throughout the house to create a subtle link between rooms and an overall cohesive feel.

The Master Bedroom

The Studio

Wallpaper: Atacama BP 5803; Woodwork: Mizzle No.266

You wouldn’t know it to look at the results, but this airy studio space caused quite some consternation for Marcella in the beginning.

“I didn’t want the space to look like you were walking into a different home, but I still needed something neutral for imagery,” she says. “I was stuck narrowing down what colour to pick, so I had a virtual colour consultation which helped me land on the most perfect colour ever: Mizzle.”

In an hour-long virtual session, one of our expert Colour Consultants helped guide Marcella towards our soft grey-green to help achieve the look she wanted for the studio, and she couldn’t be happier with the finished product.

“I seriously can’t even picture this space another colour and I am now obsessed with Mizzle,” she says. “The colour consultation was extremely valuable, especially with the scale of this project and knowing that the colour had to be perfect the first time around.”

The Studio

The Home Office

Wallpaper: Samphire BP 4004; Woodwork: Wevet No.273

“For such a busy looking pattern up close, it ends up being so simple and subtle on the walls,” says Marcella of her Samphire-papered home office. “As with all my Farrow & Ball wallpapered walls, I couldn't be more happy with how it looks. Now I want to wallpaper the guest room and the loft... seriously, I think it’s contagious!”

What sets the home office apart from other spaces in his print-loving household is its all-over wallpaper treatment. “This was the first room where I opted to wallpaper every single wall, says Marcella. “I had two reasons for doing so: the old plaster walls had a lot of imperfections so I wanted to cover them up, and it was a small enough room where a feature wall wouldn't do the wallpaper justice.”

Personally, we agree with that decision wholeheartedly. Neutral enough not to draw focus away from an all-important day’s work, but with enough interest and depth to get that touch of hygge Marcella craved in this space, the wallpaper creates an elegant scheme with the Mole’s Breath door and Wevet woodwork.