What does a seventeenth-century Italian Renaissance villa, the historical Músee Carnavalet in Paris, and Frederic Church’s nineteenth-century homestead Olana on the Hudson River have in common? Simple: significant architectural buildings with stunning decorative wall treatments that uniquely express the spirit of the time.

This historical detail one of several recounted in a book bound to become a design historian’s reference guide and a decorator’s bible is Florence de Dampierre’s “WALLS: The Best of Decorative Treatments” Rizzoli New York 2011. Ms. de Dampierre, a decorative arts historian, interior designer extraordinaire, and lecturer leaves no stone unturned. Focusing on European and American murals, wood panels, stencil, and wallpaper, we are taken on a historical journey showing various trends from the allegorical to the realistic to simple design motifs leading up to gorgeous modernly stylish interiors.

Taking cues from these inspiring collections and using the term “wall decoration” broadly, VandM.com selected six examples: four diverse motifs from a range of periods featured in WALLS; a mid-century wall tapestry (an early form of wall décor) from Los Angeles VandM.com dealer with the humorous name of Rubbish Interiors; and Min/Day architects whose twenty-first century interior construction is one example that redefines conventional thinking.

Op Art is for the adventurous. Creating an optical illusion of multi-dimensional space, this needlepoint tapestry catches the eye with its 60s color palette. Dealer Scott Mangan recommended hanging the tapestry against a painted wall in a shade from the daring color motif to make it inclusive to the overall décor scheme, or, as a stand-out, one-of-a-kind artwork enhancing a contemporary setting. http://vandm.com/rubbish_interiors

The wall mural of lowering vines is a simplified version of eighteenth-century chinoiserie wallpaper in Drottingholm Palace, Stockholm. New York interior decorator Tim Whealon designed this Park Avenue apartment entry.

Timothy Whealon is known for his tranquil wall décor and a style rooted in classicism with an American sensibility mixing textures, styles, shapes, and patterns. Picking up three colors in various tones of taupe, green, and pink for floral and trapezoid fabrics, the entry is light, airy and uncluttered. Dark wood for flooring, bench frame, and console top add dimension and warmth. http://www.timothywhealon.com/

The frescoes in the former seventeenth-century ballroom of the Villa Antinori delle Rose now owned by the Ferragamo family are enhanced with classical architecture in the style of Piranesi. A vignette of sofas and ottomans upholstered in blue silk velvet and a 1970s travertine cocktail table add a modern touch.

Appealing to a contemporary perspective, a formal room with striking historical architecture is transformed into a casual space for easy relaxation and informal entertaining.

This grisaille chinoiserie scenic wallpaper, designed by Zuber serves as an elegant backdrop for a grand entrance hallway.

Coveted by lovers of Fine and Decorative Arts and Antiques, grisaille, and the eighteenth-century, the Zuber wallpaper depicting a panoramic scene pulls together numerous decorative objects on and around a busy console table defined by five different symmetrically placed light structures. http://www.zuber.fr/

Stripes energize any room, as with walls of this Catherine Grenier designed room in Cadiz, Spain, which are covered in horizontal-stripped wallpaper by Osborne and Little.

A bit of whimsy in an array of colors and patterns on clean-lined furnishings and a pair of floor lamps reflect the best in contemporary décor. Information on London-based Osborne and Little collections on http://www.osborneandlittle.com/

Innovation reigns from the design team Min/Day (E.B. Min and Jeffrey Day) a new breed of architect whose idea of “interior landscape” was realized on a CNC Milled Cabinet where a waveform interference pattern on stacked plywood headboard (close-up shown) echoes the ripples in the lake’s surface only ten feet away. The complexity of this construction’s execution is detailed on http://wwwminday.com/ Min/Day’s offices have a broad reach from offices in San Francisco to the country’s heartland, Omaha, Nebraska.

Editors Note: “Walls: The Best of Decorative Treatments” by Florence de Dampierre, $60.00 USD is available from http://www.rizzoliusa.com/ A reservation for Ms. de Dampierre’s lecture and book signing on Tuesday, March 22, 6:00 p.m., at the New York School of Interior Design, 161 East 69th Street, can be made at pottertonbooks@verizon.net,  (212) 644-2292. Admission $20.00; students free.