At our Barham project in Los Angeles, we used House of Hackney wallpaper as more than a decorative accent. It became a backdrop throughout the interior—behind the kitchen sink and stove, across selected cabinet panels, on a feature wall with a concealed door, and inside the wardrobe room.
We had looked through a large number of wallpaper samples before finding the right material. Many of the patterns were attractive, but the colors felt pale or washed out once we viewed them in the actual rooms. We wanted something vibrant, deep, and substantial enough to hold its own against the cabinetry, lighting, and other finishes.
House of Hackney gave us that richness.
The completed installation brought color, depth, and personality into the project in a way that paint or a conventional stone backsplash would not have achieved.
Why We Chose House of Hackney
Wallpaper can look significantly different on a website than it does when installed across an entire wall.
A small digital image may appear saturated and detailed, but those colors can lose their strength when the print is enlarged and viewed under real lighting. That was the problem we encountered with many of the wallpaper samples we reviewed.
House of Hackney stood apart because the colors maintained their depth.
The pinks remained vibrant, the black areas had real weight, and the blues and other floral tones stayed visible from across the room. The pattern did not feel like a flat image repeated across the wall. It created atmosphere.
In the wardrobe room, we installed a floral pattern containing pink, black, and blue flowers as a backdrop behind the cabinetry and clothing displays. Portions of the pattern are partially concealed once the room is in use, while other areas remain visible between the shelves and stored items.
That layering gives the room more depth than a conventional painted wall. The wallpaper does not need to be seen in full to influence the space.
Using Wallpaper as an Architectural Backdrop
At Barham, the wallpaper was not limited to one traditional feature wall.
We used it behind the kitchen sink and stove instead of automatically selecting tile, stone, or marble. We also carried it onto cabinet panels and across a feature wall containing a concealed door.
Continuing the pattern across different surfaces helped the interior feel unified.
The concealed door does not disappear because the opening is physically invisible. It recedes because the wallpaper continues across the door panel, reducing the visual interruption that a conventional painted door would create.
This approach requires more planning than hanging wallpaper on one uninterrupted wall. The pattern repeat needs to be considered across door joints, cabinet edges, countertops, corners, outlets, and adjacent surfaces.
When those transitions are carefully planned, wallpaper can function similarly to aligned wood grain, continuous wall paneling, or matched stone veining. It becomes part of the architecture rather than something added after the room is finished.
Our Installation Experience
The House of Hackney wallpaper was straightforward to install.
The quality of the paper was noticeable as soon as we began handling it. It had more thickness, weight, and texture than many of the other wallpaper products we reviewed.
The material was easy to work with, and the pattern repeats were clean and predictable. This is particularly important with a bold floral design because the eye naturally follows the flowers, leaves, and stems across adjacent sheets.
Even a small alignment problem can become noticeable once the full wall is complete.
The paper installed cleanly, but we did encounter one minor issue along the cut edges.
A Small Detail That Improved the Wallpaper Seams
The printed face contained deep pink and other saturated colors, but the paper itself had a white core.
When the wallpaper was cut, small white fibers could remain visible along the edge. Where two pink sections met, that thin white line occasionally made the seam more noticeable than we wanted.
We solved this by lightly coloring the cut edge with a marker in a similar tone before installing the sheet.
Darkening the exposed white fibers allowed the adjoining pieces to meet more cleanly and helped the seam visually disappear.
It is a small detail, and it would probably go unnoticed from across the room. Up close, however, it made a substantial difference.
The marker color should always be tested on an offcut before applying it to the installed material. The goal is to tint the exposed paper edge without bleeding onto the face of the wallpaper or creating a dark line at the seam.
This technique does not correct inaccurate cutting or poor pattern alignment. It is simply an additional finishing detail that can make a premium wallpaper installation look more refined.
Protecting the Wallpaper Behind the Kitchen Sink
Using wallpaper behind a kitchen sink requires more consideration than installing it on a typical feature wall.
At Barham, we protected the wallpaper with two coats of Polyvine Decorator’s Varnish in the Dead Flat finish. The clear varnish gave the paper additional protection while maintaining a soft, nonreflective appearance.
We also caulked the bottom edge where the wallpaper meets the countertop. This helped prevent splashed water from reaching the exposed paper edge and working its way behind the wallpaper.
The completed wall is more protected and easier to maintain, but we would not describe it as equivalent to a fully waterproof tile, stone, or glass backsplash.
This application made sense for Barham because the kitchen is part of a studio residence and is not used as heavily as a typical family kitchen.
For a primary kitchen that receives daily cooking, repeated splashing, grease, steam, and frequent cleaning, exposed wallpaper may not be the best long-term choice.
One alternative would be to install a clear glass panel over the wallpaper. This allows the pattern to remain visible while the glass becomes the working backsplash surface.
We originally considered that approach at Barham. It can be a strong solution, but the glass dimensions, edges, attachments, outlets, and heat exposure need to be coordinated before installation.
The right choice depends on how the kitchen will actually be used.
Wallpaper Behind a Stove
Wallpaper behind a stove should also be evaluated carefully.
The suitability of the material depends on the type of appliance, distance from the wall, ventilation, cooking habits, heat exposure, and the required clearances around the cooking surface.
Barham’s studio kitchen receives limited use, making the application more reasonable than it would be in a busy residential kitchen.
We would not recommend installing wallpaper directly behind every stove simply because it worked visually in this project. The location should be reviewed as part of the complete kitchen design.
In a high-use kitchen, glass, stone, tile, or another durable surface may remain the better option.
Is House of Hackney Wallpaper Worth It?
House of Hackney is a premium wallpaper, but based on our experience at Barham, the difference was visible.
The material had substantial weight and texture. The colors were richer than the other samples we reviewed. The print remained clear at full scale, and the pattern repeats were consistent and easy to align.
Most importantly, it achieved the effect we wanted.
It gave the kitchen, wardrobe, cabinetry, and concealed door enough color and visual presence to feel connected. The wallpaper brought life to the rooms without feeling thin, pale, or overly decorative.
We would confidently use House of Hackney wallpaper again in the right space.
Before ordering, we recommend reviewing a physical sample inside the actual room under both daytime and evening lighting. The scale of the pattern, the surrounding finishes, and the direction of the light can all change how the wallpaper appears.
The layout should also be planned before installation begins, particularly when the print will continue across doors, panels, cabinetry, or other architectural elements.
House of Hackney Wallpaper Installation in Los Angeles
The Barham project demonstrates that wallpaper does not need to be limited to one decorative wall.
It can be used to create a kitchen backdrop, line a wardrobe room, wrap cabinet panels, disguise a concealed door, and establish the atmosphere of an entire interior.
At Kink Construction, we approach wallpaper as part of the complete design and construction of a room. Our work includes wall preparation, custom cabinetry and millwork, concealed doors, finish coordination, kitchen renovations, and detailed wallpaper installations throughout Los Angeles.
For Barham, House of Hackney gave us exactly what we had struggled to find elsewhere: rich color, substantial material quality, clean pattern repeats, and enough depth to bring the rooms to life.