Meet the Designer: for Triinu Silla, wallpaper is her canvas

Triinu Silla is a wallpaper designer who thrives on the variety her work brings. She enjoys switching between roles and exploring the different angles of design. Ms Irmeli Karja sat down with her for a chat about wallpapers and life.

How would you describe your work?
As a graphic designer, I’m used to beginning with something. There’s always a brief, a task, or a problem that needs solving.
Wallpaper design, however, can be a completely independent discipline that sits somewhere between art and design. You invent your own brief, task, and method. It’s a strange paradox — this total creative freedom can actually feel a little overwhelming at first. The directions you can take, the possibilities are endless. But that’s also what makes it such an exciting challenge.

What did you want to be as a child?
A nature researcher! It seemed like the most fascinating job in the world. I could spend hours watching birds or ants. My desk drawers were full of seashells, birdshells, and dead insects.
I don’t collect dead insects anymore, but I still love getting back into that childlike mindset. It’s incredibly calming and meditative—like turning over rocks at the beach, searching for fossils.

What has shaped who you are today?
The environment I’ve grown up and lived in. The people I’ve shared my life with. The schools I’ve gone to – where I’ve also, in a way, lived and grown.

Do you accept challenges?
Every day is a challenge. So yes, definitely. Luckily, my work is challenging in the best way – it invites me to play. I usually try to say yes.

Work: solo or with company?
The right people are essential. The brainstorming phase especially needs a good crew around. Alone, in a vacuum, not much happens.
But when it comes to the actual doing, I definitely work best on my own. I need a fair amount of solo tinkering time.

What do you value in life and work?
On one hand, I value balance between the two and knowing where to draw the line. But on the other hand, I’m also grateful that the line is often blurred – that my life and work have blended together. If I’m doing work that excites me, then life feels more interesting.

Tell us about your latest project – The Wild Ink wall murals
At Baubauwall, I get the unique chance once a year to create my own wallpaper collection. This time, the process was longer – and that gave me the rare privilege of time. Time to immerse myself in a theme, to think, to experiment, to play.
The process included a road trip through Finland and up to Northern Norway. Along the way, I gathered materials and used them to make my own brushes – very naive, playful ones.
I’m not a professional brush maker by any means! I’m an amateur, fully aware of my limitations. But learning something new, trying it out, and playing with it – that’s something I think we could all use more of in life. You can’t do this halfway, but it pulls you in completely. There’s a kind of honesty and naivety to it that’s both refreshing and deeply enjoyable. I used these handmade brushes in creating the new collection. And I hope that same sense of play and joy comes through in the finished wallpapers.

This story was first published in the Spring 2025 issue of Design, Interiors & Architecture magazine.