WHAT’S NEW for WALLS
armhouses stir romantic notions of whitewashed walls and exposed woodwork. However, history reminds us that even humble homesteads claimed decorated walls. Eighteenth-century itinerant artists crisscrossed the countryside painting folk-art stencils and murals in exchange for room and board, and 19th-century American homeowners were drawn to English and French wallpapers resplendent with flowers, damask designs and pastoral scenes. Through the years, beadboard,
