Wallpaper or Paint? How to Decide Which is Right for Your Walls
When I was a child, the bedrooms in our house were all wallpapered with ivory white embossed wallpaper with European classical patterns. Looking back now, I don’t think it’s tacky. I can’t help but admire my parents’ taste in that era.
The floor was covered in carpet and the walls were wallpapered. A single wooden bed gave me a sense of warmth that no other place could match, like a nest.
I have tried many times to replicate this feeling, but without the involvement of wallpaper, it always falls short. Yes, no matter how high-end the wall paint is, no matter how carefully the wall colors are matched, I think it can’t compare to the warm feeling brought by a wallpaper on the wall. I miss and yearn for this feeling very much, so I have been thinking about a wallpaper with a decent pattern, eco-friendly, and reasonably priced.
Wallpapers are not outdated, it's your way of using them that's wrong
When most people mention wallpaper, they think of beige floral prints, Korean-style small floral patterns, and various silly horizontal and vertical stripes. In fact, we have never truly understood the beauty of wallpaper, whether it is due to aesthetic preferences or price, many people do not know how to select the truly stunning wallpapers.
Plant wallpaper can be a fresh and natural light green, exuding the breath of spring, or it can be a low-key, retro and gorgeous deep green, with a mysterious and deep forest-like atmosphere.
White background with green leaves, a fresh and lively wallpaper that feels like a breath of spring.
Subtle dark green wallpaper, vintage and noble yet mysterious
Wallpaper blends seamlessly with the interior environment, creating a vibrant and lively scene.
One point less is shallow, one point more is vulgar. The most difficult thing is to design floral patterns.
Geometric pattern wallpapers that are truly beautiful are often highly designed and suitable for creating an Art Deco style.
For ordinary people, it is too luxurious to use pure natural marble as a background wall. Marble patterned wallpaper is the best alternative.
Our embossed wallpaper has exquisite texture and strong three-dimensional effect, which can perfectly blend with the wall as if it were part of the original wall. The effect is comparable to that of wall panels or gypsum lines.
There are many patterns and types of wallpapers, such as floral, bird and animal themes, 3D wallpapers, and so on. They are too numerous to list one by one.
Pros and Cons of wallpapers
The advantages and disadvantages of wallpapers are very obvious.
Pros
① The most obvious advantage is warmth, which can create a feeling of a nest or a den. This sense of security is an innate feeling that humans crave, so it can make people feel relaxed and at ease.
② Secondly, wallpaper has aesthetic value that paint can never replace, of course, for those who appreciate it.
③ Wallpaper generally has a certain thickness and can absorb and isolate sound. New types of wallpaper are made from renewable materials, making them environmentally friendly.
④ The construction period is short, and you can move in immediately after the construction is completed, which saves decoration time.
⑤ The most impressive point is that it can cover up flaws. The surface of the wallpaper has strong resistance to stretching and shrinking. Even if there are cracks in the wall, it is not affected and can cover the cracks. This advantage is unique.
Wallpaper adds a touch of vitality and warmth to a cold and austere room.
Wallpaper all over the house, a warm feeling
Cons
① If high price is a disadvantage, it can be considered. Especially for well-known wallpaper brands, whether it is PVC or non-woven, the price is generally above $20 per square meter.
② The lifespan of wallpaper is not long, under normal conditions it is 7-8 years. Because of people’s love for novelty, they usually change wallpaper every 1-2 years.
③ Matching is difficult. Using wallpaper in the home actually tests the owner’s aesthetic ability and matching level. If used well, it can enhance the beauty of the home, if not, it can be hard to describe.
To avoid the latter situation, we will discuss how to use wallpaper wisely to reduce risk and get the maximum benefit.
Choosing and matching wallpapers is no small feat.
The color layout of the floral and bird patterns is good, but upon closer inspection, the expressions and lines of the flowers and birds are not as relaxed as those in traditional Chinese floral and bird paintings. It feels similar to the Chinese designs on foreign porcelain.
How to use wallpapers
Don’t cover the whole house, use it in these few places to make the best use of it.
Bathroom
Despite the risk of being criticized, after painting the bathroom, we suggested wallpapering it as well.
I believe the biggest benefit of wallpaper in the bathroom is to break people’s preconceptions about the bathroom as a place that is sterile, cold, and separated. It transforms the bathroom from a simple functional space separated from the rest of the house to a warm and beautiful place, like a cozy corner where we enjoy spending time.
The market already offers bathroom-specific wallpaper, which has a waterproof coating on the surface to effectively prevent moisture from entering. High-end wallpaper, like Wall&Deco’s WET series from the famous Italian wallpaper manufacturer, can even be used in shower areas and around bathtubs.
If you’re still concerned, you can simply use the wallpaper in the dry areas, and the effect will still be great.
Wall&Deco’s WET series can be used in shower rooms.
Wallpaper used on one wall in the bathroom.
Many toilets and bathrooms abroad are separated, with only a toilet and a mini sink. These rooms are usually wallpapered.
Ceiling or Wainscot
It’s very creative to only put wallpaper on the ceiling or on the wainscoting. If the wallpaper is aesthetically pleasing, your guests will surely be impressed by your creativity.
The best wallpaper for the ceiling is the embossed wallpaper mentioned earlier. If you like the noble and elegant European architectural style, it is highly recommended that you try this kind of wallpaper, which has a multiplier effect.
Another major advantage of embossed wallpaper is that it can be painted over. After installing the wallpaper, you can paint it any color you want, so you don’t have to give up your favorite colors due to the limitations of the wallpaper material.
Anaglypta, an old British wallpaper brand, is recommended. The name “Anaglypta” comes from Greek, meaning “embossed”. The brand started with embossed wallpaper and has a history of more than 130 years. It is famous for its exquisite embossing technology.
Embossed wallpaper used on the ceiling
Embossed wallpaper used as a wall skirt creates a feeling of tiles.
It is possible to paint over embossed wallpaper.
One narrow wall at home
When encountering wallpaper with stunning colors and designs, most people would feel both delighted and worried about whether they can handle it. However, there is a solution: choose a narrow wall with a small area and let the wallpaper be the highlight of the room without being too overwhelming.
It could be the wall where the piano is placed, the wall next to the dining cabinet, the wall in the foyer, or the wall in the hallway (be cautious when selecting the bedroom or TV background wall, as they are usually large and eye-catching). I believe every home has such a wall.
It is possible to put wallpaper on one side of the wall at home, even if the pattern is exaggerated, it is not so prominent, but rather very personalized.
Trim the wallpaper to fit a section of the wall
The hallway is also a good place to wallpaper.
Children's Room
What’s the quickest way to create a children’s room? The easiest way is to choose a suitable children’s wallpaper. I recommend a French designer brand called Nathalie Lété for children’s room wallpapers. My favorite wallpapers on Pinterest are from her.
Designer Nathalie Lété is a French-German mixed-race child who grew up in Paris. She is deeply influenced by Chinese and German folk culture as well as the Parisian art atmosphere. Her works have a very strong personal style, usually inspired by plants, flowers, and animals in nature. They are known for their bright colors and natural poetic style, making them perfect for children’s rooms without being childish. The Black Forest wallpaper below is frequently featured on Pinterest and is harmonious for use in places other than children’s rooms.
By the way, Nathalie Lété’s products cover multiple areas including ceramics, textiles, and various children’s products, all with a similar style to her wallpaper. If you like this style, be sure to follow her.
Nathalie Lété’s Black Forest Wallpaper
Products by Nathalie Lété are full of childlike fun yet not childish.
Things to Consider When Choosing Wallpaper
Wallpaper Materials
In the mid-18th century, the British began mass-producing printed wallpaper, marking the birth of modern wallpaper. With the progress of technology and continuous innovation in product design, it has gone through various stages of development, including pure paper, PVC wallpaper, non-woven wallpaper, special process paper, and more.
Plain paper wallpaper is made of paper as the base material, and its main feature is excellent coloring effect and rich colors, which is suitable for various printing and dyeing. If there are artistic requirements, it can also be painted with meticulous brushwork. The finished product is mainly made by printing. The advantage is that it has no odor, good environmental protection, and strong air permeability. However, the thickness of the pure paper wallpaper is relatively thin, and the three-dimensional degree is poor.
PVC wallpaper is made by covering a layer of polyvinyl chloride film on pure paper base material, and then undergoing processes such as compounding, embossing, and printing. It has advantages such as being waterproof, moisture-proof, durable, and easy to maintain. However, compared with pure wallpaper, PVC material is a chemical synthetic substance (polymer), and its environmental friendliness can only be ensured under the premise of ensuring raw materials and processes. Otherwise, it may cause certain pollution to the indoor environment.
Japanese wallpaper uses more PVC materials, many of which have additional functionalities, such as fire resistance.
Japanese people like to use this kind of plain wallpaper, which may not look very luxurious but contains a lot of functionality.
With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, new environmentally friendly wallpaper materials have emerged.
Fabric wallpaper is made of natural fiber woven materials as raw materials, made into a dense and tension-resistant substrate, and then processed by other techniques such as printing and coating.
The most common is non-woven wallpaper, which uses pure non-woven fabric (formed by natural plant fibers such as cotton and hemp) as the substrate, and the surface is processed by special materials after water-based ink printing, with the advantages of sound absorption, no deformation, good air permeability, and easy construction. Due to its environmental characteristics, non-woven wallpaper is currently the mainstream in the European and American markets and is also the trend of the future.
In addition to being environmentally friendly, non-woven wallpaper has many advantages: soft touch and visual effects, generally thicker in thickness, and therefore more textured and three-dimensional. Due to the unique porous structure of non-woven fabric, it has the highest air permeability among commonly used wallpaper materials (wallpaper with good air permeability can exchange humidity inside and outside the wall in time, prevent moisture and prevent curling, and have a longer service life.)
The disadvantage is that due to material limitations, the color selection of non-woven wallpaper is not many, and generally has plain and matte colors.
4. Silk and Grass Weave Wallpaper
There are also fabric wallpapers made from natural materials such as silk, hemp, and cotton. This type of wallpaper has a distinct appearance and can quickly create a specific feeling. For example, using real silk wallpaper can create a sense of luxury and elegance, giving the impression of a mansion. Meanwhile, using woven grass wallpaper can give a natural and rustic feeling, suitable for themed restaurants or hotels.
Generally, this type of wallpaper is relatively expensive, with real silk wallpaper costing around $300 per square meter. If embroidery is added, the price can soar to $400 per square meter.
I have also seen some special wallpapers in the market, such as shiny gold and silver foil wallpapers and embroidered diamond-inlaid wallpapers. They have a common feature of being expensive and therefore more niche, so I will not go into further detail.
Real silk wallpaper
Velvet wallpaper
Wallpaper accessories are very important
People pay attention to every detail of the visible wallpaper, but know little about the invisible accessories, even ignoring them. However, in fact, the main problem of wallpaper lies in the accessories. Even the most environmentally friendly wallpaper will fail if it encounters inferior accessories.
Basement membrane
Three steps to wallpaper construction:
Apply base film
Apply adhesive
Apply wallpaper
Any one of these steps not done well will affect the final construction effect and environmental protection.
The base film is a water-based and environmentally friendly product. Compared with traditional oil-based varnish, it does not contain volatile organic solvents and has no irritating odor, which is harmless to the human body. It can form a dense protective film on the wall, block water and alkaline substances from damaging the wallpaper, and extend the service life of the wallpaper. Generally, there are no problems with using a base film from a regular brand supplier. If you still have concerns, we recommend using a special wallpaper primer from a well-known German or Nordic wall paint brand. Of course, the price will be twice as expensive as ordinary base film, around 30 USD/3L (using area of 40-45 square meters).
Wallpaper glue
The greatest environmental hazard is adhesive glue. Currently, there are three main types of wallpaper glue on the market:
1. Glue powder + glue solution
When using, pour the gum into the water and mix it, then add the glue to enhance the viscosity. The gum powder is mainly potato starch, and the glue is generally polyvinyl acetate emulsion. Polyvinyl acetate itself is not toxic, but in the production process, factories often add various functional additives to improve its performance. Some of these substances are harmful to the human body, such as benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, etc. In short, this type of composite glue is generally used in engineering, and its environmental friendliness is not high. Fewer people use it nowadays.
2. Glutinous Rice Flour
It is mainly made of glutinous rice starch, corn or wheat starch as the main raw material. It can be directly mixed with water when in use, and it has high environmental protection and strong adhesive properties, making it the mainstream wallpaper adhesive on the market. Most high-end glutinous rice paste products are imported from Japan.
3. Bucket packaged finished glue
The main components are also glue powder and glue, but it is not as simple as one box of glue powder and one box of glue in the first type of wallpaper glue. Most of these glues are imported, and the price is relatively expensive, but the environmental performance is high.
Construction Steps
The level of wallpaper laying is closely related to the final effect and service life. We strongly suggest finding a reliable professional for the construction. The following are the specific construction steps under normal circumstances. You can have some knowledge to supervise.
Cleaning, filling gaps, sanding —-> patching putty, sanding —-> painting one coat of primer —-> marking the lines on the wall —-> applying glue to the wallpaper —-> applying glue to the wall —-> pasting the wallpaper —-> aligning, overlapping and matching the pattern —-> using a scraper to push out air bubbles —-> wiping off any squeezed-out glue —-> cleaning and finishing
Wall Treatment
Wall treatment follows the same process as regular decoration, including plastering (applying putty) and smoothing. The only difference is that after plastering, instead of painting with latex, the wallpaper is directly applied. Wallpaper is meant to replace latex paint. If the wall has already been painted with latex, it’s not a problem. Just apply a base film, glue, and then paste the wallpaper onto the wall.
Recommend some wallpaper brands
When it comes to brands, wallpaper is different from other home building materials, as it has too many brands. In the building materials and home furnishing market, a distributor usually represents dozens of wallpaper brands. Salespeople even have to look at each brand’s sample catalog to remember their names.
Therefore, here are only a few brands that are very famous both domestically and internationally.
British wallpaper
English wallpaper brands have always played an important role in the evaluation of wallpaper brands by the International Wallpaper Manufacturers Association (IGI). As the birthplace of wallpaper, the UK has a long-standing tradition of laying wallpaper, and the styles of wallpaper that have been passed down are diverse, but overall they take a high-end route, with a British accent and aristocratic atmosphere.
Representative brands include: Cole & Son, Sanderson, Harlequin, Graham & Brown, Anna French, Colefax & Fowler, Farrow & Ball, GP & J Baker, Lewis & Wood, Morris & Co, Mulberry Home, Osborne & Little, Romo, Villa Nova, Zoffany, etc.
Morris & Co Floral Wallpaper
Lewis & Wood Wallpaper
Farrow & Ball wallpaper
French and Italian Wallpaper
The biggest characteristic of French wallpaper is its strong design sense. It is a trendsetter walking at the forefront of fashion, always offering the latest creativity, patterns, colors, and the richest materials. Its representative brands include: Elitis, Camengo, Casadeco, Casamance, and Nobilis Paris.
Casadeco wallpaper
Casamance Wallpaper
Italian wallpaper is luxurious and romantic. As the birthplace of the Renaissance, most of them have a strong Baroque and Rococo style. Representative brands include Giardini and Wall&Deco.
Wall & Deco wallpaper
Wall & Deco Wallpaper
Nordic Wallpaper
Representative should be Sweden, which is completely different from the luxury route above. Swedish brands follow a fresh and natural forest style, which is full of fairy spirit. Although there are not many brands, there are two highly recognized and very individual brands, Mr Perswall and Sandberg. Mr Perswall’s custom wallpapers are very famous, and some of the most popular 3D wallpapers on Instagram are from their home. Sandberg’s representative is the Rydal checkered series, which is loved by literary girls all over the world.
Sandberg’s Rydal Plaid Wallpaper Collection
Mr Perswall 3D Wallpaper
German and Belgian Wallpaper
There are two more countries that cannot be ignored: Germany and Belgium. These two countries may have a higher level of industrialization, and they mostly produce mass-produced products, so their prices are relatively advantageous compared to the above brands. Representative brands include Marburg, Rasch, and Dignity in Germany, and Arte and Omexco in Belgium.
German Rasch wallpaper
Belgian Omexco Wallpaper