Before the image itself, there is the wall. Its proportions, the light that crosses it throughout the day, its distance from the furniture, its relationship with materials, the way it accompanies movement through space. In WallyArt’s work, wallpaper enters this grammar of living as a true design presence: it builds atmosphere, guides the eye, gives depth to interiors and transforms the surface into an active element of architecture.
In this interview, Salvo Rotondo, CEO of WallyArt, discusses the evolution of a brand born from the encounter between creativity and interior design, capable of anticipating the return of wallcovering as a contemporary language. A vision that has pushed wallpaper towards a broader dimension: a visual material, an identity-defining surface, a tool capable of giving character to private homes, hotels, spas, restaurants and contract spaces.
From botanical, abstract and panoramic collections to textured non-woven finishes, and even fiberglass solutions for bathrooms, showers, kitchens, outdoor areas and high-wear surfaces, the WallyArt catalogue reveals a research path where aesthetics, technology and customization move together. The central theme becomes the wall as a place of balance: between sign and architecture, image and durability, decorative strength and design measure.
From this perspective, the conversation explores bespoke design, the relationship with architects and interior designers, the brand’s international presence and the evolution of wallpaper within contemporary interiors. It is a reflection on the vertical surface as one of the most interesting territories in interior design: a space to compose, inhabit and make recognizable.
WallyArt was born from the meeting between creativity and interior design, and this origin is clearly reflected in your collections: wallpaper is not treated as a simple covering, but as an element capable of building identity, atmosphere and presence within a space. When did you realize that your field was not decoration in the strict sense, but a broader form of wall design?
In 2015, we began to think that wallpaper, re-evaluated in terms of design uniqueness and reinterpreted through the use of innovative and high-performance materials, had enormous potential in the world of interiors. It was an intuition that emerged at a time when this product was still perceived as something tied to the past: the very name “wallpaper” evoked an imagery that no longer felt contemporary, almost out of fashion.
For this reason, we found it interesting to work in that direction, trying to overcome this cultural limitation and demonstrate how, through a more evolved design approach and new production technologies, wallpaper could once again become a central and current element in interior design.
In your work, the idea of a wall that dialogues with furniture, light and architecture often returns. How important is it for you to design a wallcovering by thinking not only about the drawing itself, but also about what happens around it: the proportions of the room, the incidence of light, the materials present and the overall balance of the interior?
The pre-release study is truly the key to a good wallcovering project. Our creative policy has always been to dare, trying to touch strong, tangible emotions that make those who observe or live in the space feel a sense of uniqueness. The concept of bespoke design also guarantees complete customization of the elements and colours of the selected wallpapers, in order to achieve a perfect match in any environment or project.
The WallyArt catalogue moves between botanical, abstract and panoramic subjects, with a language that remains recognizable while changing atmosphere. How do you work to maintain this identity without becoming rigidly tied to a single style or, on the contrary, dispersing yourselves into overly heterogeneous proposals?
Our goal has never been to bind ourselves to a rigid style, but rather to build a recognizable visual language, one capable of evolving over time.
We always start from a clear creative direction: a balance between aesthetics, matter and atmosphere. Whether the subject is botanical, abstract or panoramic, what we try to keep constant is the design sensitivity, the attention to proportions, composition and the relationship with the architectural space.
Each collection stems from precise research, but is then filtered through this shared identity, which is what makes WallyArt recognizable. At the same time, we allow ourselves the freedom to experiment: subjects, textures and inspirations change, but an underlying coherence remains.
In this way, we avoid both the rigidity of a single style and the risk of scattering into proposals that are too heterogeneous. It is a continuous balance between consistency and openness.
Today you are present in more than 50 countries and work in both residential and contract sectors. What truly changes when a WallyArt wall enters a private home compared to a hotel, a spa or a commercial space? Do the project, the decision-making rhythm, the level of customization and the way you think about durability change?
In reality, the design approach does not change; it always remains the same. Every wall is conceived as an identity-defining element, capable of dialoguing with the space in a coherent and recognizable way.
What changes, if anything, is the level of technical attention required by the context. In contract environments, for areas more exposed to humidity, water or wear, we guide the choice towards more high-performance materials, such as fiberglass with Warp resin. In residential settings, which are generally less subject to wear, vinyl wallpaper with a non-woven backing is often more than adequate.
But the language, attention to detail and underlying idea remain unchanged: whether it enters a private home, a spa or a hotel, a WallyArt wall must maintain the same expressive strength and the same quality over time.
The theme of bespoke design, in your case, does not seem to be an accessory addition but a structural part of the proposal: customizable dimensions, adaptation of the subject, preventive simulation on the wall. How does this flexibility affect your relationship with architects, interior designers and final clients?
For us, bespoke design is not an additional service, but an integral part of the project. Most clients, whether architects, interior designers or private individuals, tend to request modifications: scale adjustments, colour variations or interventions on the subject to make it dialogue perfectly with the space.
This flexibility makes the relationship much more collaborative. We do not simply supply a product; we enter the design process together with the client. In this sense, the preventive simulation on the wall is a fundamental tool, because it allows the final result to be visualized immediately and enables more conscious decisions.
This is precisely the approach that allows us to transform every project into something unique, while always maintaining coherence with our language.
Your non-woven finishes — MURO, TELA and, in some cases, SHINE — are not simply surface variants, but different ways of making the image and the material read. How do you guide the choice between a more discreet wall, almost integrated into the plaster, and a more declared presence, closer to a decorative artwork?
For us, finishes are part of the design language, not merely a final aesthetic aspect.
MURO, for example, with its plaster-like grain, is designed to integrate more naturally into the space, almost as if the graphic were part of the wall itself. TELA, with its horizontal and vertical micro-striations, instead recalls a painterly surface and gives the image a more material, more “artistic” presence. SHINE, finally, introduces a more pronounced decorative component, thanks to the gold foil effect that captures the light and turns the wall into a protagonist.
The choice always depends on the design intention: whether the goal is to create continuity and discretion, or to give the wall a more expressive role. Our work consists precisely in accompanying this decision, helping the client find the right balance between space, light and matter.
Fiberglass is one of the most interesting aspects of your proposal because it brings wallcovering into normally more complex territories: shower interiors, bathrooms, kitchen backsplashes, outdoor spaces and surfaces subject to abrasion. When did you realize that this support was not only a technical solution, but a true extension of the decorative project?
At the beginning, fiberglass was seen mainly as a technical solution, linked to specific contexts such as showers, bathrooms or surfaces subject to heavy wear. Then, progressively, we began working on projects where it was no longer merely a response to a functional need, but became an integral part of the decorative idea.
The shift was precisely this: when we realized that it allowed us to bring the same visual language into environments that had previously been excluded, creating continuity between different spaces without compromising between aesthetics and performance. From that point on, it became clear that it was not only a technical support, but a true extension of the project, capable of expanding the expressive possibilities of the wall.
In your technical sheets, concepts such as washability, reaction to fire, resistance to light, simple maintenance and even the possibility of using aggressive chemical detergents in certain contexts often return. How do you transform these performances into design value, without reducing the discussion to a technical list, but making them part of the aesthetic and user experience?
For us, technical performance is not a list of characteristics, but a condition that makes the project possible.
When a surface is washable, resistant to light or to detergents, the way it can be lived changes: it is no longer something to be preserved with caution, but an element that can truly enter the daily life of spaces, even the most complex ones.
This translates into greater design freedom. It allows images and materials to be used even in contexts where they would normally be excluded, without sacrificing either aesthetics or functionality. In this sense, the technical component becomes invisible but fundamental: it is what supports the experience, ensuring that over time it remains consistent with the original idea.
One of the most delicate challenges when working with strongly characterized walls is preventing the image from “devouring” the space. How, in your view, can decoration be built so that it has atmospheric presence without becoming invasive or self-referential? And what mistakes do you most often see in projects that use the wall merely as a scenic effect?
It is a question of balance. A decorated wall truly works when it dialogues with the space, not when it tries to dominate it.
Our approach always starts from composition: proportions, rhythm, image density and relationship with light. Even the most strongly characterized subjects, if built with care, can have an atmospheric presence without becoming invasive, because they are not conceived as “images to look at,” but as surfaces that integrate into the environment.
The most common mistake is precisely to use the wall as an isolated scenic effect, without considering the rest of the space: furniture, volumes, distances. In those cases, the image becomes self-referential and loses its relationship with the architecture. When the project is coherent, however, the wall does not overpower the space; it amplifies its identity.
Louise is an interesting example of this balance: light tones, soft textures, stylized majolica tiles and dandelion motifs create a measured yet highly recognizable surface, also available for humid environments. What did you want to explore with this model, and what does it say about a more subtle decorative sensitivity compared to openly scenic proposals?
With Louise, we wanted to work on a more measured decoration, capable of building atmosphere without relying on an overtly scenic impact.
The idea was to combine recognizable elements such as stylized majolica tiles and dandelion motifs with a very light palette and a soft texture, in order to create a surface that is perceived over time rather than immediately. It is a model that does not invade the space, but accompanies it, allowing a sense of balance and continuity to emerge.
The fact that it can also be applied in humid environments reinforces this approach: it is not only an aesthetic choice, but a solution that can enter the everyday life of spaces, maintaining the same delicacy even in more technical contexts. Louise tells precisely this story: a subtler decorative sensitivity, where value lies in measure and the ability to integrate, rather than in immediate effect.
On the other hand, Bastille reveals a more theatrical tension: arches in golden yellow tones, cascading floral elements, an image with a more immediate impact that can nevertheless also be used in technical applications such as bathrooms, showers or outdoor areas. What interests you, in a subject like this, about the relationship between scenography, elegance and versatility of use?
With Bastille, we wanted to explore a more scenic dimension, while still maintaining control over elegance and composition.
The arches, golden yellow tones and cascading floral elements create an image with an immediate, almost theatrical impact, yet always balanced by an orderly design and a coherent palette. It is not scenography for its own sake, but a way of giving depth and rhythm to the space without losing refinement.
The fact that it can also be applied in technical contexts, such as showers or outdoor areas, adds another layer: it means that even a stronger image can become part of everyday life, without being limited to a “special” space. This balance between decorative presence, elegance and versatility is precisely what we are interested in exploring.
Staying with Bastille, we ask you to choose one of your models that you consider truly iconic and to tell us about it as one would tell the story of a project: where the first mark came from, which intuitions guided it, how its final image was defined and at what moment you understood that this wall had something profoundly “yours.”
One model we consider truly iconic is Maui.
It was born from the idea of working on a jungle unlike the usual ones, deeper and more layered, built on a dark background capable of bringing out less conventional colours. From the very beginning, we were interested in creating a balance between vegetation and chromatic component, allowing the tones themselves, often unexpected, to give rhythm and identity to the composition.
The project developed through layers: levels of leaves, variations in scale, contrasts between full and empty areas, until we arrived at an image that was not merely decorative, but capable of enveloping the space. The final definition came precisely when we saw that, while being a jungle, it never felt excessive, but maintained a certain elegance and depth.
We understood that Maui had something profoundly ours when it began to work in very different contexts while always maintaining the same strength. It is one of those projects in which you immediately recognize the WallyArt language: rich but controlled, expressive but never chaotic.
The brand’s international diffusion and its work in contract contexts such as hotels, restaurants and wellness spaces place you in front of very different cultural and operational needs. Which markets are teaching you the most today? And what have they forced you to rethink or refine in the way you conceive image, supports, timing and product reliability?
The United Arab Emirates market is certainly one of the markets that has taught us the most in recent years.
It is a context in which aesthetic impact is very important, but at the same time there is an extremely high level of attention to quality, timing and reliability. This has led us to work with even greater precision both on the image, often more scenic and material, and on the supports, favouring technical solutions capable of guaranteeing high performance even in complex environmental conditions.
At the same time, it is a very demanding market from an operational point of view: tight deadlines, structured construction sites, the need for rapid responses. This has pushed us to optimize our processes, become more reactive and better structure the entire service side.
In general, working in such different contexts has helped us refine our approach: maintaining a recognizable identity, while being flexible enough to adapt it to very different cultures, spaces and expectations.
We are in 2036: if you were to look at WallyArt from ten years ahead, what evolution would you like to see clearly accomplished? Greater integration between decoration and architecture, new supports for complex environments, even more refined customization tools, or a redefinition of the very concept of the wall within contemporary design?
Rather than a single direction, we imagine an evolution that brings together several levels, but with a clear guiding thread: greater integration between decoration and architecture.
We would like the wall no longer to be perceived as a surface to be covered, but as an active part of the project, conceived from the very beginning together with spaces, volumes and light. This also implies the development of increasingly high-performance supports, capable of adapting to complex contexts, and even more precise customization tools, almost tailor-made for architecture.
At the same time, we believe there will be a redefinition of the very concept of the wall: less a static element and more a dynamic surface, capable of dialoguing with those who live it. In this scenario, our goal is to remain coherent with our language, continuing to evolve it without losing identity.
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