And wallpaper purveyors are finding new ways to play with its texture, creating patchwork, herringbone or basket-weave effects.

WSJ: Go Supernatural With New Grasscloth Wallpapers | Off Duty Spring 50

The effect is preternatural--bringing an immediacy to the past that is paradoxically fresher than the present--and is accomplished with careful attention to the texture of materials and the play of light on surfaces, modulated with projected shadow.

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