Recycled Glass, Sand and More

“A wallpaper designer is a trompe l’oeil artist,” says wallpaper guru Ronald Redding, Design VP at York Wallcoverings.

Indeed the very first wallpapers – created to mimic tapestries, marble and paneling in the homes of 16th century nobles – ‘fooled the eye’ with layered pigments, a technique York craftspeople still practice today. “Now we are adding actual texture to the paper with layers of repurposed sand and recycled glass beads,” says Redding.

“Recycled windshield glass never looked so spectacular. One of Redding’s newest proprietary techniques is mixing metallic glitter into glass for subtle sparkle; another is layering metallic ink over repurposed sand for a dimensional quality reminiscent of authentic tin ceilings. As pragmatic as he is pioneering, Redding has engineered his light-reflective metallics to add visual depth without actual weight.

“York’s singular sand-and-glass-bead technique is actually a kind of flocking, and York has re-invented this 17th century invention, too. Its innovative fade-resistant nylon flock has a velvety sensuality and, making it more magnificent, certain flocks are infused with metallic inks.

The eye may be fooled... but the hand never is.