Of course you can use any fancy wallpaper you want but I assumed the reason you were asking if it was "too much" was to avoid making an expenxive mistake. If you want to choose something that works vs something you like that doesn't work, that's your decision. The wallpaper is beautiful and would look lovely in a bedroom, dining room or powder room but not a den with heavy leather sofas. The wallpaper and sofas don't compliment each other. Please assert your femininity in another room--a den isn't supposed to be feminine. It would be like painting the walls pink. Find some magazines with pictures of rooms with leather sofas and notice how they've been accessorized. Do you want an honest answer to "does this dress make my butt look big" or are you going to wear the dress no matter?

A belated THANK YOU to everyone who commented. This is the final result. We're super happy with it. Room A north facing "through-lounge" in a new build, 3 bed semi detached house Paint Walls: Purbeck Stone, Farrow & Ball Ceiling: Strong White, Farrow & Ball By the way, the room isn't as long and skinny as it looks in the photos. Painting it all one colour actually made it feel much, much larger. We were really impressed with the quality of advice the F&B staff gave us in regards to colour. We loved Purbeck Stone from the minute we saw it, and being brave really paid off.

Hi Liz, sounds like you've got an exciting project on your hands. My two penneth, for what it's worth, is that hallways are often neglected or left til the end. Some people don't think they are worthy of spending too much money on. However, I disagree. When you first walk in the door, or you move from room to room, your hallway gets oodles of views and movement throughout the day. When people visit - their first impression to your house is in your hallway, so you should start as you mean to go on. So rather than paint over the wallpaper and make do, if it was me, I would bite the bullet and take off the old wallpaper and repaint the walls. Whilst doing it, pay attention to the lighting in the hallway and make improvements to increase the light. I can't comment on what needs to be added from the pictures, but you could consider recessed lighting up the stairs, better quality pendant lights, placing mirrors opposite windows to reflect the light back in. Or why not follow Abigail Aherne's lead and embrace the dark side. Make it cosy, comfortable and a little bit quirky! There's lots to consider, but ditch the paper!! Most importantly, enjoy the process and don't think of it as a chore. It's exciting and the adventure is only just beginning.

I would box in the pipework as that is going to be very difficult to paper around. I would also get yourself a proper scalpel from an art shop as these are best for cutting paper in situ - it will also be easier if you have paper where you can paste the wall rather than the paper. One issue you will have is around the edge of the fireplace as its such an irregular shape you will really struggle to get a clean edge. I would be inclined to agree with others who have said you will get a better finish if painted - if the wall was painted I would also polish the copper pipes to a high sheen if you don't plan to box them in, its an easy job and looks great when done.