Headache at Home? Wallpaper to the Rescue!

Andreas von Einsiedel / Corbis

Reading time: 2 minutes

“This wallpaper is dreadful; one of us will have to go.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Wallpaper has been so on-trend for the last couple of years that it surely must be on its way out. But that doesn’t matter to me, because it has never ever been out of style as far as I’m concerned.

I grew up in southwest Virginia, where both grandmothers had wallpaper on all their bedroom walls. It was de rigueur at that time and in that place. So, I spent many a summer morning lying in bed until well after sunup, drifting in and out of sleep, and letting my eyes ride the waves of the wallpaper. 

It was both calming and stimulating. The joy of repetition. The intrigue of learning the pattern by heart. The way sunlight, headlights or lamplight played off the colors and forms. I don’t think I ever had a bad night’s sleep in a wallpapered room.

Turns out there’s science behind why wallpaper just feels good!

It has to do with fractals. Fractals are complex patterns, very common in nature, that repeat. Examples would be palm fronds, pineapple skin, flower petals and such. Our eyes are naturally drawn to these repeating patterns; they ground us with their orderliness. (Turns out I wasn’t just being a lazy sleepyhead on those weekends at my grandmothers’ houses.) 

Researchers have found that looking at natural fractals prompts our brains to increase alpha-wave action, which is connected to a relaxed but wakeful state. And studies cited in a recent issue of Frontiers in Psychology found that fractal patterns used in design help offset the negative impacts of being indoors in a manmade environment (like our houses): “The increasing amount of time people spend indoors surrounded by Euclidean architecture produces visual strain because of the additional visual effort required to process more artificial spatial frequencies is suggested to lead to detrimental effects such as increased rates of headaches.” 

So – if you’ve been debating about whether or not to go ahead and wallpaper that wall – hesitate no more. I know what I’m talking about. Wallpaper is not dreadful. It’s delightful! And it’s good for you, too…

Author and RealEstateTherapy curator Cynthia Cummins has been devoted to homeowners and homebuyers for three decades and counting. Visit KindredSFhomes.com for more information on San Francisco real estate.