Thom Filicia and Carson Kressley Have Us Hooked on Statement-Making Wallpaper

The latest installment of Get a Room with Carson and Thom (tune in Fridays at 9/8c!) took us to bucolic New Jersey, where many an urban breeder hightails it to after having kids, and homeowners Lisa and Joe are no different. The chiropractor dad and office manager mom have landed in Franklin Lakes in a big ol’ manse expansive enough to handle their brood of active boys because their cramped city digs just weren’t cutting it (been there, done that). The problem is the space. There’s just so much of it they don’t know where to begin. So they enlist Carson Kressley and Thom Filicia to help with the living/dining “grand room,” as they call it in Jersey, and the XL-sized master bedroom. 

This seems like a no brainer for our intrepid design duo, but there’s a slight hitch. The husband Joe has rather opulent taste, kind of like “the John Gotti furniture collection, but light” as Thom puts it or as Carson terms it simply, “Italian AF.” Sensible Lisa on the other hand likes a clean and crisp palette. Not only that, she wields a clipboard like a Viking shield, guarding fiercely against any budget overruns.

Well, since draping the place in marble like the Roman Forum and laying down a few bear rugs is out of the question, the team must come up with something spectacular to save the day, and they do — wallpaper!

Thom and Carson use it twice in key places in the living room and bedroom to bring on just the level of drama Joe is seeking while still pleasing Lisa’s more measured tastes, but more importantly staying squarely within the boujét to keep her happy. Couples therapy should be so easy. 

We found ourselves so inspired by this design sleight of hand that we delved deep into the world of wallpaper and came up with a few statement-making choices to incorporate into our next design project. Best of all, they’re the temporary removable kind so you really can’t go wrong. Check them out below.