Skip to content

Gorgeous Wall Coverings and Patterns Pop in this Queen Anne Home

A Queen Anne Craftsman veers bold with an elegant mix of motifs

By Lauren Mang June 17, 2014

0714innerspacemain_0

This article originally appeared in the July 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.

When designer Beth Dotolo, co-owner of Ballard firm Pulp Design Studios, known for its richly layered and sophisticated style, proposed that most of the walls—and some ceilings, too—inside Geoff and Audrey Kozu’s stately Queen Anne abode be festooned with patterned wall coverings, the couple didn’t bat an eye. “They were fearless—a designer’s dream,” Dotolo says. “They weren’t afraid of color or pattern, and we got to do things that we don’t normally get to do.”

So up went the Schumacher in the dining room and the Osborne & Little on the entryway ceiling. A blue-and-gold Vivienne Westwood print—a wall covering chosen to coordinate with the homeowners’ existing, intricately patterned ivory armoire—wrapped the master bedroom from top to toe. Within the powder room, Dotolo opted for a playful puffer fish motif from Bainbridge Island wallpaper design company Abnormals Anonymous.  “It takes a lot of practice and a keen eye to combine all these patterns,” Dotolo says. “You have to pay attention to scale and pair [patterns] of different sizes so that they’re not clashing.”

The designer mixed in even more pattern—stripes, swirls, zigzags—via furniture and accessories in the homeowners’ choice colors of blue, turquoise and white. A sleek three-drawer console table added a pinch of texture to the master bedroom with its overlapping metallic scales and circular gold pulls. (Dotolo had posted an Instagram of this furniture find while at the design trade show High Point Market in High Point, North Carolina. Her clients saw the post and immediately slated it for their space.) Above: Designer Beth Dotolo (left), co-owner of Pulp Design Studios (Ballard, 5308 Ballard Avenue NW, Suite 9; 206.701.9795; pulpdesignstudios.com) and online-only shop Pulp Home (pulphome.com) in the Vivienne Westwood wallpaper-clad master bedroom.

“We used a lot of architectural and geometric patterns without being superwhimsical,” Dotolo says. “And why not just go for it with wall coverings? They’re something that you can play with and easily change later.”

Left: A claw-footed Oly Studio chaise was custom upholstered in a durable indoor/outdoor fabric from Perennials and features magnetic bolsters for extra functionality (all furniture and fabric available through Pulp Design Studios)

The Annika chandelier from Oly Studio illuminates the dining room



Dotolo completely customized two Bernhardt wingback chairs in a striped fabric from Kravet on the back and a durable vinyl from Majilite on the front.

A school of puffer fish cover the powder room walls, courtesy of Bainbridge Island-based wallpaper design company Abnormals Anonymous (abnormalsanonymous.com).

“We used a lot of architectural and geometric patterns without being superwhimsical,” Dotolo says. “And why not just go for it with wall coverings? They’re something that you can play with and easily change later.”


A claw-footed Oly Studio chaise was custom upholstered in a durable indoor/outdoor fabric from Perennials and features magnetic bolsters for extra functionality (all furniture and fabric available through Pulp Design Studios)

The Annika chandelier from Oly Studio illuminates the dining room



Dotolo completely customized two Bernhardt wingback chairs in a striped fabric from Kravet on the back and a durable vinyl from Majilite on the front.

A school of puffer fish cover the powder room walls, courtesy of Bainbridge Island-based wallpaper design company Abnormals Anonymous (abnormalsanonymous.com).

Follow Us

Blueprints for Building Community

Blueprints for Building Community

After tragedy struck a local restaurateur family, one of their daughters stepped in to complete the design for her brother’s unfinished home.

Although he was just 35 when a heart attack took his life, Khoa Pham’s imprint on Seattle’s international district was such that the city quickly designated April 21 as a memorial day in his honor. With his rescue pitbull, Pinky, by his side, Pham cut a colorful figure through Little Saigon and became well known…

Tuft Stuff

Tuft Stuff

Tuft Ruft turns fiber art into a social, hands-on experience in Pioneer Square.

It all started with a bout of pandemic boredom. Like many, when COVID-19 hit, recent graduate Carrie Xiao found herself stuck at home, with extra time on her hands. One day, while scrolling social media, she discovered tufting: a textile manufacturing technique that creates a garment or rug with a “pile,” or raised surface. After…

Collaborating Cultures

Collaborating Cultures

Looking to build a home to welcome family and friends, one Kirkland couple turns to a sister to design a modern house with influences from the wife’s Thai heritage.

For many years, when homeowners planned to build or remodel, architects and designers advised them to think first and foremost about resale value. From the number of bedrooms to the materials, appliances, and finishes in the kitchens and bathrooms, homes were often treated solely as an investment, with an eye to future sales. In recent…

Whale Of A Remodel

Whale Of A Remodel

The transformation of an Orcas Island home takes advantage of remarkable views

For many years, Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders entertained his Orcas Island neighbors with breathtaking acrobatics in his vintage airplane. Anders and his wife, Valerie, had purchased a five-acre compound on the isolated western edge of the island for its mesmerizing view, a subject he knew something about. As a member of the first human…