I absolutely LOVE wallpaper and think it has SO much power to completely transform any room. I have wallpaper all over my house so I’m often asked where I buy my wallpaper, how to get started with wallpaper, and if I provide some wallpaper design ideas for their own home.
Soooo … I’m here to share my wallpaper knowledge with YOU! If you’re on the fence about hanging wallpaper in your home and you worry that it’ll go out of style or maybe you just have no idea where to start, this blog post is for you!
There are millions of choices of wallpaper patterns out there and I’ve narrowed those (million-ish) choices down to 21 ideas for (almost) every room in your home.
But first, I’ll answer your pressing wallpaper questions so that you feel more confident moving forward with making this design leap.
Psst … I NEVER hang my own wallpaper so I can’t answer questions about that. I have my professional ‘wallpaper guy’ that I’ve used for almost 15 years!
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Let’s start by answering some common questions (that you might be thinking about RIGHT NOW) …
IS WALLPAPER STILL IN STYLE IN 2022?
Wallpaper is ABSOLUTELY still in style in 2022 and I don’t see it going out of style any time soon.
I personally started adding wallpaper to my home back in 2008 when wallpaper was starting to gain traction as the ‘comeback kid’. At that time, people questioned how long this ‘trend’ would last and they’ve continued to question it every year since.
Well, here we are 14+ years after I started my own wallpaper journey and I’m still adding more to my home. I recently redecorated both of my daughters’ bedrooms and their ‘teen’ room … all three rooms have a fresh (and gorgeous) accent wall of wallpaper now.
Even more convincing … all of the popular designers (e.g. Studio McGee) continue to install wallpaper in new homes so this should give you some confidence that wallpaper is here to stay :).
CAN I PUT WALLPAPER IN EVERY ROOM?
You can do whatever you want … it’s YOUR house, my friend!
However, I do think adding wallpaper to every single room in your house might be a little *much*.
My personal design philosophy is to keep the main areas of the home very neutral. In my home, this includes a mixture of a neutral paint color combined with neutral grasscloth wallpaper that blends seamlessly with my painted walls.
Other than the main areas of my home (which I keep very neutral … and this includes some neutral wallpaper), I go BANANAS with adding fun and colorful wallpaper to other rooms in my home.
We have wallpaper in all four bedrooms, our teen room (this paper), powder room (this paper), dining room (this paper), breakfast nook (this paper), guest bathroom (this vinyl paper), my small home office (this paper), and a nook (this paper) in our upstairs hall.
HOW MANY WALLS SHOULD BE WALLPAPERED?
This depends on the room you are wallpapering and, even more importantly, your budget.
Wallpaper costs can add up very quickly when you do several walls in a room. I’m always amazed at how many rolls my ‘wallpaper guy’ tells me I need to order (and he’s always right).
A general rule of thumb is to wallpaper ALL the walls in a small room (i.e. powder room, laundry room, closet, small office, etc.). I don’t recommend an accent wall in these small areas (unless it’s a small bedroom) because it looks a bit unfinished . The good news is that these rooms are small so they don’t require as many wallpaper rolls as a larger room.
Bedrooms, on the other hand, are a great place to just add an accent wall of wallpaper to keep cost down. Bedrooms typically have four full walls (unlink a dining room or living room) and the amount of wallpaper rolls needed to cover four walls in a larger room is astonishing!
I would LOVE to wallpaper all four walls in each of our bedrooms, but we chose to do an accent wall in the bedrooms because it was WAY cheaper than buying wallpaper for four walls.
I did choose to splurge on my dining room wallpaper (LINK IT) and hang grasscloth on all the walls because this is a room that I see every day and our guests see as soon as they walk inside our home. Plus, it helps that we only have 2.5 walls in the dining room because of our open concept floor plan :).
WHERE CAN I BUY WALLPAPER?
There are soooo many great places to buy wallpaper! It’s a bit overwhelming so I’ve created a list for you of my FAVORITE places to purchase wallpaper online.
Head to ‘Where to Buy Wallpaper Online: 12 Great Sources’ to see my list.
WALLPAPER DESIGNS KITCHEN
Kitchen wallpaper is a big trend right now. We’re talking big, bold, colorful patterns in the kitchen. It looks beautiful, but this is probably a trend I’ll stay away from. Just sayin’!
If you don’t want a bold wallpaper in your kitchen, consider wallpapering your ‘breakfast nook’ with a subtle print or a textured grasscloth (this is exactly what I did) … it adds fun and pizzazz but doesn’t overtake your kitchen.
Whatever you choose (bold or neutral), be sure to choose a paper that is water safe (e.g. vinyl) if you plan to wallpaper near your sink and ‘splash safe’ if you wallpaper behind your stove (hello, bubbling spaghetti sauce).
Personally, I recommend installing a tile backsplash (as opposed to wallpaper) behind your stovetop.
SHOP KITCHEN WALLPAPER
WALLPAPER IDEAS DINING ROOM
The perfect dining room wallpaper pattern is highly dependent on the ‘look’ you’re going for.
If you want a casual dining room ‘feel’, then have fun with color and bold patterns.
If you want a formal dining room, choose a sophisticated option such as a grasscloth (that’s what I have) or a neutral print.
SHOP DINING ROOM WALLPAPER
WALLPAPER LAUNDRY ROOM
Adding wallpaper to your laundry room turns this functional (and boring) room into a design masterpiece.
If you’re on the fence about adding wallpaper to your home, your laundry room is a great place to start your wallpaper journey. If you end up hating it, no worries because only your family will be in this room.
However, I’m pretty confident that if you wallpaper your laundry room, you’re going to end up LOVING it and you’ll want to show it off to EVERY single guest who comes to your home :).
SHOP LAUNDRY ROOM WALLPAPER
WALLPAPER IDEAS POWDER ROOM
Your powder room is another great place to ease into the world of wallpaper.
The powder room is a GREAT place to have some fun with bold patterns and color. However, you also have the option to go neutral with a simple pattern. Either way (bold or neutral), adding wallpaper to your powder room will make a design statement.
SHOP POWDER ROOM WALLPAPER
NURSERY WALLPAPER
A baby nursery is seriously one of my FAVORITE rooms to choose wallpaper for. I had SO much fun gathering ideas for your little angel’s bedroom :).
Whether you have a sweet little girl or a sweet little boy or you want to go gender-neutral, there are soooo many great options.
SHOP NURSERY WALLPAPER
HOME OFFICE WALLPAPER IDEAS
A home office is another really FUN room to add wallpaper to.
The pattern and style you choose depend on the ‘look’ you’re going for. If you want a sophisticated, formal office, choose a sophisticated grasscloth or traditional print. If you have a small, fun office (like I do), choose something a little more fun.
I chose this neutral-colored, small geometric pattern (9 years ago) and I still love it today because it serves as a simple backdrop for the explosion of color in my office art and accents.
SHOP HOME OFFICE WALLPAPER
WALLPAPER IDEAS FOR BEDROOM
Like other rooms in your home, the style you choose depends on the ‘feel’ you want in your bedroom.
If you want your bedroom to feel like a sanctuary and retreat, choose a tranquil neutral pattern or a simple grasscloth.
If you want to have some fun with your bedroom design, choose a big, bold, colorful print.
Side note … guest bedrooms and secondary bedrooms are great places to have fun with color and pattern.
We have wallpaper in literally every bedroom in our home (because I’m obsessed). Here are pics of the recently installed wallpaper in my tween daughter’s bedroom and my girls’ ‘teen room’
SHOP BEDROOM WALLPAPER
NEXT STEPS …
Ok, we went through just about every room in your home so now you have plenty of ideas to get you started in finding the perfect wallpaper :).
If you are new to the whole wallpaper world, I encourage you to read WALLPAPER 101: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO GET STARTED. Not only will you learn what you need to know to get started with wallpaper (duh!), but you’ll also find a list of my favorite places to buy wallpaper online (if you don’t see anything you love above).
So … what are you waiting for?! It’s time for YOU to choose the perfect wallpaper to take YOUR home design to the next level!
