Wallpaper for hospitals and nursing homes

Designing wallpapers and decorations for hospitals, nursing homes and fragile patients

When dealing with hospital furniture, the relationship between the environment and the person living in it is of the utmost importance. It is critical to enhance people’s well-being in such sensitive places, and the use of wallpaper and vertical decorations is becoming ever more frequent to achieve that. In this article we analyze these design elements, and how CFS uses them.

The wallpaper materials selected by CFS Italia

The wallpapers used by CFS Italia are made of cotton fibre and are digitally printed by large plotters on surfaces with different finishes, smooth or more porous depending on the customer’s requirements and the desired aesthetic result.

We choose products that meet strict safety and hygiene standards. They are durable, fireproof (or with a fire rating of 1), antibacterial, colorful, easy to clean, and simple to install.

The issue of cleanliness is crucial: the material chosen must be resistant to alcohol and active chlorine, two substances found in most common detergents and disinfectants.

The development of a wallpaper project by CFS Design

The selection of materials goes hand in hand with another very important aspect: the level of customization required to get a familiar and welcoming atmosphere thanks to the wallpaper. The goal is to make all patients comfortable by decreasing fears and distances.

Usually, the design and customization part is proposed by CFS Design to the customer, who is often looking for ideas and suggestions. There are those who want to customize all the rooms in the facility, those who want a common theme, or those who are simply looking for a specific finish (fabric or stripes, for example).

Then it is up to us to select the pattern or images from a huge catalogue. Just as we did in the Borgo Nuovi Passi project in Padua.

Wallpapers are the ideal solution to obtain a clean design: this was the choice of Istituto Bon Bozzolla in Farra di Soligo (Treviso): instead of installing a boiserie and wood panels behind the bed, we used wallpaper to keep the room uncluttered and to find a minimalist and tasteful solution.

There is another element of the bedrooms that makes us extremely proud. One of the projects designed by CFS from scratch is the sliding cover of elements such as oxygen connections, not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing thing in a patient’s room. We created a frame integrating a plexiglass panel with a digital print of paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso and Botero.

How CFS Italia used wallpapers in the project Borgo Nuovi Passi

Borgo Nuovi Passi is a facility located in Padua that accommodates people with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. CFS Italia designed the furniture for the facility and, in particular, how to decorate it with wallpapers: a realistic setting to actually guide patients, in collaboration with psychologist.

Massimo Gazzola, CFS Design manager, tells us: “People with neurodegenerative diseases are often used to walking a lot and being on the move all the time: hence the decision to create a circular route with bus stops, restaurants, squares, places that evoke the past and stimulate them to interact”.

Another purpose of the wallpapers in the Borgo Nuovi Passi project is to create false walls to conceal doors and create trompe l’oeil, like fake bookcases or fake brick walls. This is a smart trick to prevent patients from walking around in rooms where access is strictly reserved to medical personnel or staff.