A Little Bit of Lattice for Every Room

There are many ways to bring a garden ambience into your home. But the most dramatic and authentic way is through an application of treillage.

Meaning latticework or trelliswork, the French term treillage (pronounced “tray-YAHZH”) was epitomized by the 17th-century landscape architect André le Nôtre, who incorporated treillage into his designs for the gardens of Versailles, adding architectural interest and perspective.

Since ancient times, trelliswork has been used as a practical tool to keep vines and climbing plants supported in the garden. It has appeared in frescoes from Pompeii; medieval gardens had trellises creating rooms with walls of roses and jasmine; Thomas Jefferson used trellising in his kitchen gardens at Monticello. But it was interior designer Elsie de Wolfe who brought the garden indoors at the Colony Club in New York City in the early 1900s. The indoor lounge was covered with green painted trellises adorning the walls, ceiling, and moldings.

It was transformative.

Which is why, to this day, people bring treillage into their homes, looking for a garden sensibility, craving the three-dimensionality it imparts, and a bit of Continental sophistication. You can wrap a room in it or just put it on the ceiling. It elevates a dining room when installed under a chair rail, and it’s even more glamorous if placed over a mirror.

Latticework can be incorporated into a door, cabinetry, a fireplace, a bar—just about anywhere there’s a surface. Latticework can also be used as a room divider, lending a sense of separation without blocking out natural light. It’s incredibly versatile, as it comes not only in the standard diamond shape but also in squares and circles. It can be sized to suit the design. And in recent years, it can be purchased in sheets from Home Depot, Wayfair, and other sources.

“Cut, nail it, spray it; it’s applied molding,” says Beth Read Pusser, owner of Oodles of Wallpaper, who incorporates some flourishes of latticework into more and more of her clients’ homes. In one of her Vero Beach projects, Pusser created separation between a primary bedroom and its sitting room by designing a pair of large-scale trellises partially set into the existing archway, allowing the water view to be seen but creating a feeling of separate spaces.

In yet another Vero home, Pusser has added lattice insets to a fireplace design, giving it decorative ornamentation. She has added latticework to headboards as well.

“Lattice is affiliated with the outside. It’s more organic looking, not so formal. It makes the room look ‘gardeny,’” she says.

And if you want the look of treillage in your home without dealing with the application of the actual wood lattice, there are literally thousands of wallpapers that give a trompe l’oeil effect.

“People are drawn to the outdoors,” says Pusser. “They’ll say, ‘I want my kitchen to look like a garden.’ You get the look without going through the construction. Thibaut makes thousands of trellis wallpapers.” She adds that these papers continue to be among her strongest sellers.

The most popular colorways in trellis wallpapers are beiges/neutrals, greens, or blues, some designed with plants winding through, or not. It just depends on the busyness you are after. There are also thousands of trellis fabrics, which can bring the garden sensibility into a room through upholstery or pillows. Even a solid fabric pillow can be trimmed with tape in a trellis pattern.

“We’re creating a space we don’t have,” says the designer. “If you’re in an apartment, for example, throw up some dimension with lattice. You can have a garden feel anywhere.”

And if wallpaper isn’t an option, Stark carpet has several lattice-patterned rugs that can bring the garden underfoot.

Treillage … from Versailles  to Vero.