Describes fully upholstered walls, as opposed to walls with loose hangings (see wall hangings).
To do so, walls are first battened out, then covered with a thick cotton interlining or batting, or other appropriate site specific padding and insulation. The top fabric is then secured to the battens with tacks or staples at the top and bottom, and hand stitched down the corners of the wall. These fittings are then covered with a self-covered band, a braid or a wooden or metal gilded filet.
* Fabric walling deadens sound and creates a womb-like, quiet, intimate and secluded space which has no equal. It is especially pleasing in rooms where it’s good to keep the outside out: studies and libraries, home offices, music rooms, bedrooms, sitting rooms, bedrooms and dressing rooms; in fact, in any room in the house where the walls don’t need to be wiped down regularly.
* Sound is absorbed into fabric walls, stopped, held by them, and is especially effective when the walls behind are also inherently sound deadening, such as lath and plaster, or have other sound insulating properties between the fabric and the outside.
* Any material can be used to create fabric walls: silk, damasks, cotton prints, repp or plaids, faux suede, even toweling–actually anything goes with the right backing and handling. Fine fabrics can be ruched or backed with muslin canvas. Small motifs are the most difficult, as corners are rarely square, and nor are walled areas necessarily parallel. Quilted fabric panels or piqué look very special in bedrooms and dressing areas.
Fabric backed wallpaper
Any fabric can be paper backed so that the walls gain all the qualities of textile/ a textile quality; whilst these are very lovely and not to be denigrated in the slightest, they do rather fall between two stools in that they’re neither as soft and sound deadening nor as luxurious as battened walling, though much more so than mere paper.