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Take a journey through the world’s driest – and often most spectacular – climates with Desert Dreams, the umbrella name for a series of new collections by Arte. The Belgian brand specialises in unusual, groundbreaking techniques to take wallcoverings to the next level, and this collection is no exception: from metallics that reference the beating sun or the starry sky to lacquered faux-leather that imitates the dry, cracked earth, each has a compelling story to tell.
There’s an incredible series of textures within the collections, from the jacquard-woven ‘Geloma’ to ‘Medjoul’, a high-relief tile-shaped design with a pattern of raised palm leaves.. Natural materials play an important role, including hand-applied raffia strips for ‘Ruban’, and alpaca wool woven into ‘Atacama’ – a bouclé for walls named after Chile’s Atacama Desert, where alpaca live in these harsh, dry conditions.
For the palette, think earthy, warm tones – although many designs also feature jewel-coloured contrasting shades, such as ‘Barkhan’ (pictured above), a wallcovering with an uneven crescent-shaped pattern picked out cross its velvet surface. It’s named after the perfect crescent-shaped dunes that are created by the wind.
