‘Now It’s the Happiest Room in the House.’ Wallpaper Converts Share Their Stories.

The idea of wallpaper elicits so much apprehension in homeowners, New York designer Francis Toumbakaris purposely uses the term “wallcovering” when speaking to clients about it. Yet decorating websites and media accounts teem with instances of the stuff. “It transforms a room and gives it personality,” said Casey Keasler, founder of design studio Casework, in Portland, Ore.

So what keeps folks from hanging the gorgeous material, and how do homeowners get over these wallpaper willies? Here, some case studies of conversions.

Hangup: It’s too pricey.

Budget concerns can hamstring homeowners. Home-services company Angi estimates that wallpaper can cost as much as $12 a square foot for labor and materials, while painting tops out at $6. “If the wall surface needs work beforehand, prices go up,” said Bethany Adams, an interior designer in Louisville, Ky. And Keasler notes that paper can cost as much as $400 a roll.

Antidote: Baby steps

New York designer Tara McCauley says homeowners can get more hang for their buck by using paper strategically. In an apartment in Brooklyn whose homeowners sweated the bottom line, she coated only the hallway with a dark-blue pattern inspired by Portuguese tiles. “It added so much impact,” McCauley said of the modest use. The designer adds that another way to save money is by hanging what she calls the gateway drug to wallpaper: patternless grass cloth. With no need to align a motif, the material goes up quickly and costs less to install, she says, “but it adds visual depth in a way plain paint never could.”

Hangup: I’ll get sick of it

A fear of commitment stops many would-be wall paperers, who worry about having a change of heart later. Erik Perez, a design publicist with his own firm in Los Angeles, campaigned hard for what he thought was the perfect old-Hollywood look for his and his husband’s dining room—a maximalist, leafy green wallpaper made famous by the mid-20th-century decoration of the Beverly Hills Hotel. His husband, Paul Hardoin, a voice-over actor, resisted. “Is it going to go out of style? Will I tire of it? Will it affect resale value?” he worried.

Erik Perez, right, and his husband, Paul Hardoin, in their Los Angeles dining room, clad in CW Stockwell’s Martinique paper. Photo: Julie Goldstone for WSJ

Antidote: Low-use spaces

Infrequently used rooms can carry a bold choice long-term. Of the Brooklyn hallway she wrapped in blue, McCauley noted, “It’s a pass-through, so you don’t get overwhelmed by a bold pattern.” Ditto powder and dining rooms, like that of Perez, who said, “We only used that room when we were entertaining and it was too cold to be outside.”

It took three years, but Hardoin caved when the banana-leaf pattern became available in blue. “I thought it looked cool,” Hardoin said. He took the leap, knowing his sister Annette Moran (a wallpaper enthusiast) would be their DIY installer. “Now it’s the happiest room in the house,” he said.

Hangup: It’s dated

When Sarah and Nate Simon bought a historic home in Louisville, Ky., the walls sported oppressively dark patterns, including big, repeating medallions set in a grid. Sarah recalls thinking, “ ‘Not this! What’s the opposite of this?’ In my mind that would be paint.” Even for folks who haven’t pulled down awful examples, “the word ‘wallpaper’ can take them back to flowery patterns of the ’50s and ’60s that feel very dated,” said Toumbakaris.

Antidote: Modernity

“Wallpaper does not mean what it used to. It can be meandering, abstract, ombre or sisal,” said Simon’s interior designer, Bethany Adams. She suggested a sophisticated Chinoiserie that New York designer Miles Redd, in a collaboration with Schumacher, updated with an aqua colorway. Adams explains that like most Chinoiseries, this pattern doesn’t repeat for more than 8 feet. “You get a peripatetic design that keeps the eye engaged,” she said. “It’s looser.” Said Simon of her dining room today, “It’s a complete transformation, like art on my walls.”

Stereotypes of fusty florals and pitiless patterns fall away when designers present homeowners with contemporary picks. Still, sometimes the conversion takes time. One of Keasler’s clients, gun-shy after removing old paper, came back a year later, ready. “We chose a clean classic style that was graphic and minimal for a modern edge in the bathroom,” said the designer.

Buyers of Aston Martin’s 1,079PS Valhalla can commission one of two bespoke Breitling Super Chronomat watches, with colours and personalised details inspired by their individual car.

The relationship between cars and watches has produced countless branded chronographs, racing editions and logo-bearing collaborations. Breitling and Aston Martin are taking a more personal route with a new watch program reserved exclusively for owners of the Valhalla supercar.

Rather than offering every customer the same limited-edition watch, Breitling is opening part of its Super Chronomat design process to Valhalla owners. A dedicated configurator will allow each buyer to commission a timepiece inspired by the specification of their car and their individual tastes.

Two Super Chronomat models are available: a technically ambitious 44mm perpetual-calendar chronograph and a more compact 38mm automatic watch.

The flagship is the Super Chronomat B19 44 Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. Presented in a 44mm titanium case with Breitling’s distinctive Rouleaux bracelet, it combines a carbon-fibre dial with one of mechanical watchmaking’s most sophisticated complications.

Its automatic perpetual calendar accounts for months of different lengths, leap years and the phases of the moon. Provided it continues running, the calendar will not require manual correction until 2100—the next centurial year that will not be recognised as a leap year.

The B19 movement also provides a 96-hour power reserve, allowing the watch to be left unworn for four days without stopping. A display caseback exposes the movement and black rotor.

Valhalla owners can customise the colour of the inner bezel, seconds hand and chronograph counter hands. The rotor can also be engraved, creating a more permanent connection between the watch and its owner.

The second option, the Super Chronomat Automatic 38, offers a less complicated and more restrained interpretation.

Its 38mm stainless-steel case is paired with a textured carbon-fibre dial, a titanium crown and a diamond-set bezel. The automatic three-hand display incorporates a date window at six o’clock, while customisation extends to the colours used for the inner bezel and hands, together with a personalised caseback engraving.

The combination of carbon fibre and diamonds might appear contradictory, but it captures the dual character of the Valhalla: a car built around highly technical performance that remains unmistakably positioned as a luxury object.

The watch program draws directly from Aston Martin’s first series-production, mid-engined plug-in hybrid supercar.

Valhalla combines a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with three electric motors to produce 1,079PS. Aston Martin claims it can accelerate from zero to 62mph—approximately 100km/h—in 2.5 seconds and reach 217mph, or about 349km/h.

Production is limited to 999 examples worldwide.

Formula One-derived technology and aerodynamic development have played central roles in the car’s engineering, but customisation is equally important to its ownership proposition. Breitling’s configurator extends that process from the Aston Martin specification studio to the wrist.

Each car will be produced at Aston Martin’s headquarters in Gaydon, England, while the watches will be made at Breitling’s Chronometrie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

The program also reflects a broader change in the luxury market. Exclusivity is increasingly being defined by access rather than the simple production of another numbered edition. These watches cannot be purchased merely by joining a waiting list or paying a premium on the secondary market; the commission begins with ownership of the corresponding car.

That restriction gives the project greater authenticity than a conventional co-branded release. The strongest configurations should be those that use colour and engraving to create a subtle relationship with a particular Valhalla, rather than attempting to reproduce the car too literally.

For Valhalla buyers, the choice ultimately comes down to two very different expressions of the same idea. The 44mm B19 is the serious collector’s proposition, built around a rare combination of perpetual calendar and chronograph. The Automatic 38 is simpler, smaller and likely more versatile as an everyday watch.

Both turn the usual automotive-watch collaboration into something more individual: a timepiece configured alongside one of Aston Martin’s most significant new cars.

Watch summary

Program: Bespoke Breitling Super Chronomat watches for Aston Martin Valhalla owners

Available models: Super Chronomat B19 44 Perpetual Calendar Chronograph and Super Chronomat Automatic 38

B19 case: 44mm titanium

B19 power reserve: Approximately 96 hours

B19 complication: Automatic perpetual calendar chronograph

Automatic 38 case: 38mm stainless steel

Shared design element: Textured carbon-fibre dial

Customisation: Selected colours and personalised engraving

Availability: Exclusively for Aston Martin Valhalla owners

Valhalla production: Limited to 999 cars worldwide