Seeing new works by the design master John Saladino is always a welcomed treat. You can look at a photo of his designs and identify it as his without even reading the credits. His style of romanticism and classicism is enduring and has little regard for trends. If anything, trend setters and copiers have tried to emulate and capture the essence that he creates in his designs.
When I studied the photos of the latest work of Mr. Saladino in the current issue of Veranda... I was caught a little off center when I observed the painted or wall papered border in the photos of the client's living room. It looks to me to be a papered border, but it is not always easy to tell from a photo, and I could not find any comments in the article regarding the image. What first came to my mind when I saw the border is that the use of the this particular decoration seems contrary to Mr. Saladino's style. He is known for his editing and most of the decorative elements that he uses are usually not so literal when it comes to faux finishes. The second thing that came to my mind is that I am pretty sure that Mr. Saladino would choose to use a design element regardless of it being a trend or not... simply because he is not a trend follower.
So... the question in my mind is this... "Will this resurrect the use of the wall paper borders?... I certainly hope not!"
After many years of being out of fashion we saw the return of wall papers. I personally love wall papers in the appropriate application and if they are of quality. Given those two requirements, that usually eliminates the use of them in most projects. However papered borders, for me, require different considerations... of which there is none. Can't stand them... never have, never will...
As far as the images in Mr. Saladino's photos... I think I would have preferred to see perhaps just a band of color which could have been sanded or scraped back to give the impression of an aged fresco.
What do you think about Mr. Saladino's border? Are you ready to see the return of the application of papered borders?
