It started with a simple Spring refresh in my living room. I was kind of ‘over’ all the turquoise in the room and I wanted to pare back and add a few more plants to give the space a bit of a different feel for the new season. Then about a week later, I decided to replace the turquoise curtains with a deep berry colour and suddenly the room started taking on a new look. The following week, I came across the work of Sian Zeng who creates the most deliciously beautiful illustrated wallpaper and I thought, ‘I must have it! If I do not have that wallpaper I surely shall die!’  Yes, I’m being overly dramatic but it did elevate quite quickly.

Sian Zeng Summer Tropical Bloom Wallpaper

Fast forward another week and my living room really does have a whole new look. The bizarre thing is, I haven’t actually done a whole lot. It was really just a few key pieces (the curtains, the wallpaper) that changed the direction but wow, I can’t even tell you how much I love it. And this wasn’t even planned – it just sort of… well… happened.

Swoon Worthy coffee table vignette

So for those of you who guessed when I asked which wallpaper you thought I might use, that it would be the Summer Tropical Bloom paper, you were correct (I don’t think there were very many of you to be fair so it’s nice that I’m not as predictable as I thought!).  Have a look at that incredible detail! And the little beetles and bugs on the branches! (the picture below is from the wall itself so that’s why there’s some variation in the light where there was a reflection from the window)

I don’t think I’ve been this in love with a wallpaper in a very long time.

https://www.sianzeng.com

The deep greens tie in with all the plants in here, the olives of the branches match perfectly with the olive velvet of the sofa and of course, those beautiful blooms in shades that vary from pale pink to fuchsia to maroon tie in perfectly with the curtains. There are even little dashes of yellows that pick up some of the golds and yellows in the room. I couldn’t  have designed a more perfect paper if I’d tried.

Sian Zeng Summer Tropical Bloom Wallpaper

I know I’m waxing lyrical about a change in wallpaper but it amazes me how only small changes can make such a dramatic difference to a room.

Swoon Worthy living room with Sian Zeng Summer Tropical Blossom wallpaper in olive and berry pink

The funny thing is that I feel like I’ve also repainted the room (I haven’t, it’s been this colour grey for the last 5 years) and I feel like I got a new sofa! Suddenly everything feels like it’s in a different context and the room feels fresh and new again. I think the olive green against the previous yellow paper made it blend in a bit and I treated it like a neutral – but now, it shines and I’ve fallen in love with my sofa all over again.

Sian Zeng Summer Tropical Bloom Wallpaper

The wallpaper itself is not what you might consider inexpensive but you do get what you pay for here. It’s incredibly high quality and it’s paste-the-wall so there is minimal fuss hanging it. It’s weighty and strong and comes in extra wide widths so you have a lot of flexibility hanging it. I hung this myself over the course of a few hours and it was probably the easiest hanging job I’ve ever done (and as it’s just one wall, I only needed one roll). So the quality shines through and in my mind, it’s worth the additional expense.

Sian Zeng Summer Tropical Bloom Wallpaper

I hesitate to call this a ‘before and after’ because there was nothing particularly wrong with the ‘before’ – I just fancied a change and well, a change is what I got. But for comparison sake, here’s what it looked like just a short time ago and here’s what it looks like now.

Swoon Worthy - Living room refresh

 

Summer Tropical Bloom is actually part of a series of wallpapers Sian designed called ‘Seasons’ – I love the other papers as well, each detailed so beautifully with a real hand drawn and painterly approach. The artistic skill is really quite staggering.

Sian Zeng Wallpapers - Seasons

She also designs children’s wallpaper that are equally beautiful, whimsical and a little bit magical! She carries this same line as either a normal paper or as a magnetic one, allowing kids to create their own imaginative scenes with magnets.

Brown Pink Magnetic Woodlands wallpaper

Now you want to hear the best part? Sian Zeng is offering an exclusive discount to Swoon Worthy readers!

Just enter the code swoonworthy at checkout

to receive 15% off your order

until 31st May 2015 at Sian Zeng

Getting back to my own living room, the only thing now is the ‘decorating domino effect’ – I need to paper the small chest of drawers as the yellow wallpaper no longer really works that well (how many times can I make over that chest? I think this will be makeover number four or five now) so stay tuned for that.  Eventually I want to replace it with something wood and vintage but I have other priorities right now with the ORC so that’s going to have to wait!

wallpapered chest of drawers

My hoop chairs will be coming back in here soon as well!

Swoon Worthy living room - olive green and berry with hanging chair

And I need some new artwork in here. I have SO many prints around the house but there just isn’t anything in the right size that works particularly well. So I’m on the hunt for something a little different that picks up the shades of pinks and greens.

Swoon Worthy living room with Sian Zeng Summer Tropical Blossom wallpaper in olive and berry pink

I’m also thinking that a David Hick’s La Fiorentina cushion would work very nicely in here (Hollie, are you listening? Yep, probably ordering another cushion from you!) 

Swoon Worthy coffee table vignetteSo what do you think about the new wallpaper? Have you ever changed something small and it had a snowball effect on the rest of the room? Are you planning to use wallpaper in your home soon? Do tell!

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a discount from Sian Zeng for my review but I actually approached them directly about this collaboration – I truly fell in love with this paper! So all images and words (except for the Seasons and Woodland wallpaper images) are my own. Thanks for supporting the businesses that support Swoon Worthy!


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