CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 19 Opposite, Telisa Pharris' mural wallpaper in her formal living room. Above, Babette Augustin, owner of the Mill End Store, shows a selection of wallpaper samples. F or Babette Augustin, choosing wallpaper is all about the role you want it to play in your home. "When you are looking at it, you need to determine if the wallpaper is going to be a leading lady or a supporting actress," Augustin says. "One of my associates says that paint is one note, but wallpaper is the melody." Augustin has been helping clients choose wallpaper and fabric as the owner of the Mill End Store in Eutaw Village Shopping Center since 2017. "Wallpaper is super-cool," she says. "It is not the ugly wallpaper that we grew up with. It can totally redesign spaces." Wallpaper faded in favor for a time, but in the past few years it has made a comeback. Technology has made it easier to install, with even peel-and-stick varieties that make hanging it less cumbersome. Augustin sells wallpaper in styles from classic millennial to midcentury modern. Since adding it to Mill End's product line in 2018, sales have continued to increase. Augustin boasts the largest wallpaper stock in the state outside Raleigh.. "With wallpaper, there are other determining factors to decide other than the design," she says. "You need to see if it's washable if you have children and what the scale of the room is with the pattern. Wallpaper in smaller spaces, like half-baths, and murals in larger rooms and even on ceilings can add depth." Design is a process of combining pattern, color and texture. "When you incorporate fabric, along with looking at wallpaper, it helps design your space," Augustin says. "Layering and using pattern in design is something that professional designers can help you do." When Lee Ann Fortson's interior designer, Faye Riddle, suggested wallpaper to bring life to a powder room and her primary bathroom, Fortson immediately agreed. "We were decorating the entire house, and thought it was a fresh new idea to help update those rooms," says Fortson. Riddle, who passed away earlier this year, made other changes to the primary bathroom, including raising the vanity, installing a freestanding bathtub and new shower, and adding a chandelier with other light fixtures.

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