07 November 2025 |
Circular Material Testing: Working with Wallpaper
As a circular designer, I work with leftover materials that arrive in all forms and states. Each new source asks for testing, and not just technically, but also functionally and aesthetically. Before any concept takes shape, I need to understand how a material behaves: how it reacts to pressure, glue, folding, heat or even light.
Recently I started testing wallpaper from discarded sample books. These books, once used by interior stores, hold a wide range of wallpapers: paper-based, coated and vinyl. Each type responds differently. Paper wallpapers (old ones) absorb and tear; vinyl versions resist or curl after using a heat gun.
Circular material testing choices
This stage of circular material testing is essential. It allows me to understand which waste materials can be reintroduced into design processes. Which can be used not only for my own work but also for potential collaborations with companies or interior professionals who want to explore the value of their residual streams.
Wallpaper turned out to be an excellent model material. It’s thin enough to manipulate, strong enough and available in many industrial variants. Vinyl wallpapers, for instance, reveal how synthetic coatings influence flexibility and adhesion. They help me study behaviour that’s comparable to other complex composites used in interiors.
By making small prototypes folded, rolled or layered I can evaluate how a surface reacts when transformed from a decorative sheet into a structural element. These experiments create insight into the limits and potential of circular materials: when does something still feel refined and when does it become waste again?
This process is slow and empirical. Some tests fail completely. Others show surprising strength or visual depth. Each result becomes part of a growing archive of circular materials, with notes on tactility, durability and aesthetic potential.
Wider practice
Wallpaper is only one example, but it illustrates how circular material testing can support a wider practice for companies seeking to reconnect design with their own resources.
If your organisation works with materials that often end up as waste (textiles, coatings, or composites) and you want to explore how they could return in a new visual form, I’m always open to test collaborations.
