Wallpaper in the Kitchen

Wallpapered kitchens were rare before the electric era, for obvious reasons: kitchens were historically smoky, greasy rooms to be kept spare and easy to clean. During the Victorian era, urban kitchens were often out of sight, in the rear basement, to contain heat and smells and to provide easy access to deliveries. No one would have thought to wallpaper such rooms.

In rural farmhouses, however, as in tenement apartments, the kitchen might have had wallpaper chosen by the housewife, who spent time in the room. The “sanitary” white kitchens of the bungalow era rarely were papered. By the 1930s, inexpensive papers printed with “kitchen motifs” were available. Designs included sprays of flowers or cherries, often with a geometric background; fruit arranged in clusters or over colored stripes; and naïve arrangements of windowpanes or plates. Wallpapered kitchens were very common during the 1940s and throughout the 1950s. You’ve probably come across some of it when stripping a wall. Roosters were wildly popular, as were nostalgic farm motifs like orchard trees and vegetables. Repetitive geometric designs were rendered in pink and turquoise, yellow with cornflower blue. Cherries or geraniums were superimposed on stripes and polka…

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Old House Journal (Digital) - 1 Issue, Renovation Lookbook 2024

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