Mahone’s Wallpaper Shop | Wallpaper Designs and Fabric Online

  Search "wood wallpaper" and you'll find two very different things. Some rolls have a flat, printed pattern that reads as fake from across the room. Others use raised ink to actually mimic the ridges of real grain, and hold up under a hand run across the wall. The difference isn't obvious from a small product photo, so here's what to check before you buy. Our wood wallpaper collection has both types, once you know which to look for.   What Makes Wood Wallpaper Look Real (or Fake) Wood wallpaper and wood wallpapers are made one of two ways. The cheaper method prints a wood grain pattern flat onto vinyl or paper, no texture, just color and shading. It can look convincing in a photo, but up close it reads as a picture of wood, not wood. The better method uses embossing or raised ink to build actual texture into the surface, so the grain lines you feel match the ones you see. This is what separates real hardwood wallpaper from a flat imitation, and it's the d...

  Most people assume ikat fabric is just a busy print, blurred edges, bold colors, done. It isn't. What is ikat, really? It's a technique: the yarn is dyed before the fabric is ever woven, not printed onto finished cloth afterward. That's what is an ikat pattern actually is, and it's also why a real ikat has that slightly soft, blurred edge a print can't fake. Once you know what does ikat mean, buying it well gets a lot easier. Our ikat fabric collection is a good place to start once you know what to look for. What Is an Ikat Pattern, and What Does Ikat Mean What is ikat, in the simplest terms? It's a resist-dye weaving technique. Before a single thread is woven, sections of the yarn are bound and dyed, then bound again for a second color if the design calls for it, then finally woven into cloth. What is an ikat pattern comes entirely from how precisely, or imprecisely, those bound sections line up once woven, which is why the motif always has a touch of softne...

  Search "damask wallpaper" and the results show gold fleur-de-lis prints, blue florals, and ornate medallions, all labeled the same way, even though only some of them are technically damask. Here's the actual rule: damask is a wallpaper pattern made in a single color. The design shows up through a change in sheen or texture, not a second color. That is the whole definition. Once you know this one rule, you can tell real damask apart from patterns that only look similar, and pick a color, a style, and a finish that fits your room. Our damask wallpaper collection has the full range once you know what you're looking for. The One Technical Detail That Separates Real Damask From a Floral Print Damask is traditionally a single-color pattern, with the design showing up through contrast in texture or sheen, a matte background with a satin-woven or embossed design, rather than a second color doing the work. A gold-on-gold fleur-de-lis print is a classic example of this. Mod...

  Basket weave means two different things, and most people don't realize it until they click the wrong link. Some want a wall covering. Others want a woven-look fabric for a chair or a pillow. And both get confused with grasscloth, since they look similar. That mix-up gets expensive fast, since returning a full order of the wrong wallpaper or fabric usually costs time and shipping either way. None of this is hard once you know the difference, though. Here's how to buy the right one the first time. Wallpaper or Fabric, Which One You're Actually Looking For "Basket weave" is really two products with the same name. If you're covering a wall, look at textured wallpaper , where the woven look is printed or embossed onto the surface. If you're covering a cushion, a chair, or curtains, you want fabric instead, a woven cotton or cotton-blend material made for upholstery. The two aren't interchangeable. A wallpaper-weight product won't work like fabric, an...

  Most people have seen toile without knowing its name, the print with small pastoral scenes, shepherds, garden pavilions, courting couples, repeated across the surface in a single color on a plain background. Once you go looking through toile wallpaper , though, that recognition doesn't help much. You run into dozens of colors, scenes, and price points, with no obvious way to tell a well-made print from a cheap one until it's already on the wall or cut into a cushion. Most of that confusion comes down to not knowing what actually makes something toile in the first place, and what separates the good versions from the rest. Here's what toile actually is, what to look for when you're buying either the wallpaper or the fabric, how to pick a color for your room, and where it works best in a home. What Toile Actually Is Toile started as toile de Jouy, a French cotton print from the 1700s depicting pastoral and mythological scenes in a single ink color on a light background....

  Most people who search for mirror wallpaper have already seen it somewhere, a bar, a powder room, an entryway, and want to know if it holds up outside a photo. Two questions usually follow: does it actually look reflective in person, and is it too much for an everyday room. Both come down to where you use it, not whether the wallpaper itself is a good idea. Mirror wallpaper is a finish, not a full-room decision. Used in a small, contained space, it adds shimmer and depth without turning the room into a fun house. This guide covers what the finish actually looks like, where it works best, how much is too much, and the difference between an antique and a modern take on it. What Is Mirror Wallpaper, and What Does It Actually Look Like Mirror wallpaper is not glass and does not give a true reflection. It's a vinyl or foil-effect paper with a metallic, reflective sheen that shifts as light hits it. Think of it as the difference between a mirror and a polished metal surface. You get sh...