How to choose the perfect wallpaper (for you, not just for your sitting room)

What you choose to put on the walls of your house says a lot more about you than you might imagine: your tastes, your lifestyle, even your mood. Maybe that tropical print reveals your longing for freedom? Maybe those geometric motifs betray your more creative leanings? Wallpaper has become as personal a means of expression as the clothes you wear or the music you listen to. And it’s all about music with the new collection by Mind The Gap, a brand which has stridden boldly into our houses - to the beat of jazz.

JAZZ LIVE: the collection that provides the soundtrack to your house

The Mind The Gap brand, for which Gancedo is the sole agent in Spain, presents JAZZ LIVE. Inspired by the jazz clubs of New York, bespoke suits and modern art, this collection of wallpapers fills the walls with rhythm, elegance and a touch of sophisticated defiance.

There are vignettes in black and white that whisk us away to those intimate bars where the saxophone floats amid the smoke; geometric motifs that look like visual time signatures; textures that urge us to touch and feel. Everything is designed for those who aren’t afraid to make a statement, for creative spirits throbbing with music, art and freedom.

Ideal for: music aficionados, elegant bohemians, lovers of vintage with a cosmopolitan touch. If your soundtrack features Ella Fitzgerald or Miles Davis, this collection could by your new favourite wallpaper.

What style suits you?

When you’re choosing wallpaper, the easiest thing is to ask yourself: will it go with the sofa? But perhaps the key question should be different: how do I want to feel in this room? Because that’s what makes the difference between a well-decorated house…and one that really feels like your own.

If you find it hard to make up your mind, think of what you’re like. The way you dress, your music, what you like to do at the weekend. All of that can also translate into a pattern on your wall.

Look: If you’re the type of person who goes all soppy at a romantic movie, adores dried flowers and has more cushions than are strictly necessary, what you need are gentle, enveloping prints. Flowers, landscapes, powdery hues. Ideal for bedrooms, reading nooks and quiet spots where you can switch off from the world for a while.

If what you need is vibrancy, colours that raise your spirits and shapes that don’t go unnoticed, take a bold leap with dynamic papers: large designs, geometric patterns, unexpected combinations. Brilliant for a sitting room full of character or a welcoming hallway that makes a statement about you.

For those who are seeking order, clarity and a dose of visual serenity, nothing can beat minimalist designs: clean lines, neutral colours, soft textures. Perfect harmony. They work wonderfully in studies, bedrooms or any Zen spot.

And if you have a nostalgic side, you’re into furniture that tells a story and your eyes gleam at a great vintage discovery, retro and art deco prints may be your best friend, boasting that warm, elegant air that looks good without being overdone.

Emotion and logic

It’s great to be guided by emotion but it’s also sensible to consider what is practical. The size of the room, the light it gets, the height of the ceiling…Everything matters.

A very dark paper can look incredible if the space can cope with it, but it may not be the best choice for a tiny room. And a heavily patterned one can work by highlighting a single wall, without having to paper everything. The safest formula? Choose a wall –behind the headboard or sofa or in the hallway – and make it the centrepiece. That way you can be bold without having to worry about visual overload.

More ideas to inspire you

So, if the Jazz Live collection has roused the explorer in you, there are many more styles that might suit you.

Do you like tropical stuff? Giant leaves, colourful birds and prints that make you feel as if you were deep in the jungle. This style is perfect for those who dream of having palm trees at home (even if it’s in the sitting room of a city flat). If your inclination is for the soothing greenery and rhythm of nature, you’re going to fall in love with botanical style. Papers with illustrations of ferns, delicate plants and even engravings inspired by science, ideal for creating cool, calm environments.

There’s also the industrial look, for those who feel at ease among exposed brick, cement and rusty metal. This style has that sophisticated urban touch that works brilliantly in open spaces, kitchens and studios with that New York loft feel.

And if you’re an artist at heart, there are papers that look as though they’ve come from a gallery: patterns that echo collages, abtract paintings and antique etchings.

As you can see, decorating with wallpaper is so much more than simply covering a wall. It’s choosing what you want to see every day, what you want to feel, the message your house projects (even if only to you). So, leaving fashions and trends aside, look for what chimes with you. And if it also sounds like jazz, as in the Mind The Gap collection, so much the better.