Wallpaper Gets Down

Wallpaper Gets Down
Knitting needles, brooches and swing skirts aren't the only vintage accessories making a comeback. At last week's International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York-an annual showcase of high-end design for the home-a crop of start-up companies showed off a fresh take on something long associated with Grandma's house: wallpaper. Instead of yellow daisies and toile, there were sequins, fringe and trippy Mylar. "Wallpaper is getting a new lease on life," says Arlene Hirst, a senior editor at Metropolitan Home.

The return of attention-grabbing graphics for walls is only the latest sign that minimalism is dead. Austere, Zen-like spaces, so popular in the 1990s, are giving way to bright colors and witty designs. The ICFF show was brimming with examples, like LED lamps that looked like stacks of yellow, orange and blue children's blocks (glide-inc.com); furniture made from loose change (johnnyswing.com), and chandeliers decorated with gilded leaves and flowers (artecnicainc.com) .

Plain, painted walls were the last bastion of restraint. "Customers are going for a more complete, more decorated look," says Kathy O'Brien, a vice president at home-furnishings supplier F. Schumacher & Co., which has seen an uptick in sales of wall decor over the past two years.