The Victorian era is famous for its busy, floral designs. Ornate, scrolled woodwork on furniture. Delicate porcelain figurines on mantles and shelves. Fringed table toppers and tatted doilies everywhere you look. Dusting day must have been a nightmare!
One of the most pervasive trends, however, was wallpaper. Explosions of flowers, cupids, and feathers upon the walls of parlors, bedrooms, and dining rooms. Understatement was not in the decorating vocabulary. As much as I love the Victorian era, I think I might have suffered from sensory overload in most wealthy homes.
In my new novella, Inn for Surprise (in The Kissing Tree), my heroine Phoebe is designing her Kissing Tree Inn, and her romantic sensibilities take her over the top when it comes to selecting wallpaper. In her opinion, the more obviously romantic the design (cupids, lovebirds nesting in trees, lovers engaging in a flirtation) the better. Our hero, Barnabas, is tasked with making sure the inn is a success, and he recognizes the danger immediately. Her taste is far too polarizing, especially if she wishes not to alienate the paying (male) half of her proposed clientele. Hence, a wallpaper war ensues.
“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just abscond with my wallpaper samples. That’s thievery!” Phoebe Woodward lunged off the back porch and grabbed his arm.
“I’m not stealing your precious papers, madam,” Barnabas objected, “I’m merely holding them hostage temporarily so that we might negotiate a few terms.”
The woman harrumphed as she released his arm and crossed hers over her chest. “Kidnapping carries more prison time than theft, I’ll have you know.” Barnabas nearly smiled. The woman might have atrocious taste in inn décor, but her verbal sparring skills were on point. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been so invigorated by a conversational adversary.
This is one of Phoebe’s particular favorites:
Barnabas favors a more subtle print that pays homage to the giant oak the inn is named after.
Who will win the wallpaper war? The battle begins on October 13!
You can preorder a copy of The Kissing Tree here:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christianbook| Baker Book House
Have you ever had a design war in your home?
Who tends to hold more sway when it comes to home decor?
Is there any item in your home you hate with a passion but put up with out of love for your child/spouse/parent?
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This sounds like a fun book, Karen. My husband is hopelessly colorblind so I can get away with a lot.
Thanks, Lynn. 🙂
I can’t wait to read your novella! It sounds fantastic from your little blurbs. When I moved into my home, I had to remove wallpaper from the closets of all places… the wallpaper in the living room closet reminded me of a circus tent… gold striped! Oy…
You are a brave soul, Joy. I have wallpaper in a few places in my house that has been there since we bought it. Thankfully it’s not atrocious, but I’m too chicken to try to take it down my self and too cheap to pay someone to do it for me. Ha!
I have an aunt who was quite handy at putting wallpaper up… she did everyone’s back in the day… so I learned some removal tips from her! These days there’s probably a YouTube video on the topic. HA!
Oh, my! Sounds like this could be a popular reality show on HGTV! Love it! Best wishes!
Thanks, Angie! I have to admit to watching quite a few of those types of shows in the last decade or so. 😉 Not that you’d know that by looking at my house. Ha!
My husband let me pick out and put up wallpaper between the counter and cabinets in the kitchen(but he was right, didn’t stay nice looking for long and he replaced it with beautiful, CLEANABLE ceramic tile-definitely a HANDY man to have around.) I used the scraps of wallpaper to cover my Betty Crocker cookbook. By the way, ABSCOND is one of our favorite family words. Can’t wait for my copy to come in.
I love that you have favorite family words, Kathleen! That’s awesome. And how wonderful to have such a handy hubby. Mine is great for technology issues but decoration and installation is not his forte. 🙂
Me too – In the office -( no wifi at home, we had to find somewhere to WFH )
the last industrial raw and and brutal looking lampshade has to go.
Belongs in a 1950’s prison, or school except the Fifties
light bulbs looked better. Lampshade or me…
No landlord could object, surely ?
We recently painted our shutters and doors periwinkle. It only took a few times of me pointing to the sample and saying, “I really like this one” for my husband to catch on and agree to it.