How to Choose a Right Wallpaper for Your Space?

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With the advancement in technology and people being more and more concerned about aesthetics, different building and design materials are being developed in the design world. One of the results of this development in the industry of architecture and design is Wallpapers.

As the name suggests they were developed as paper filed with different designs to be stuck on the wall as a beautiful wall covering. This gained huge success as there was no need to paint the wall from then and it required minimal maintenance and without much effort, one could get a beautiful wall.

Different wallpapers placed in a basket

Slowly, the wallpaper started coming in different designs, shades, textures, patterns, and paper quality depending on the different needs of users. Because of the wide variety of wallpapers, people often get confused about what kind of wallpaper will suit their space?

So to help them clear this confusion in this article we will see how to choose the right wallpaper for your space.

Some Prerequisite to Remember:

  1. Before buying wallpaper first decides on what parts you want to apply the wallpaper, it can be all the walls of a room or an accent wall a wall in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc. On this basis, the quantity of the wallpaper can be decided.
  1. Wallpapers available in the market today are very versatile and come with great adhesive value so they last up to years if taken good care of.
  1. Always measure the wall on which you want to install the wallpaper. The simplest way is to measure the length and width of your wall in square feet and multiply it to get the area of the wall, as you will get the wallpaper rolls in square feet in the market.
  1. Decide your style or the vibe that you want to bring out in your space based on the kind of interiors you are expecting.
  1. Decide the FOCAL POINT of your space and in 99% of the cases, your wallpaper should be on this wall.

Steps to Follow While Choosing Right Wallpaper

Now let us see the steps to follow while choosing the right wallpaper:-

1. Style of the Wallper

Only an architect or an interior designer knows the different styles that come with wallpapers, let us see:-

  • FORMAL – If you are looking for wallpaper in your office space or you want to create a home office or a library then you would love the formal wallpapers though there is no thumb rule a hand-painted or classic pattern would look great in this area.
Formal Wallpaper in dining area in grey color
  • RUSTIC – If you want to create a depth and intense feeling in the space then you would need a wallpaper with rustic patterns like a pattern with a lot of depth for illusion, Or faded colors that basically give you a feel of old times.
Rustic green wallpaper for all walls inside a house
  • VICTORIAN – If you are a fan of classic styles and floral luxury then you would like Victorian wallpapers. Some beautiful classic floral patterns will come under this style.
Classic victorian styled wallpaper in a house
  • MODERN – Abstract or geometric patterns come under the modern style of wallpapers. These help in creating linearity and boldness in the space.
Modern design wallpaper in living om
  • GLAMOROUS – These wallpapers generally include any pattern but with a lot of deep and intense colors, glitters, 3D patterns, and metallic patterns. These either look great in a small center all in a home or directly into a commercial space like a jewelry shop.
Glamorous wallpaper next to crockery table inside a house
  • CASUAL – This style includes a little bit of everything, this is for those who feel they do not resonate with any other style. This can include any pattern like faded floral, some natural or nature resonating styles like large leaves and bushes.
Casual Wallpaper inside living room of a house

2. Colors and Tones of Wallpaper

The next important thing to decide about wallpapers is what will be their color? Though this will entirely depend on the vibe of your space like if you want your wallpaper to stand out you can choose any contrasting color from your already present color palette in the room but if you need a natural look then you will have to go in the same shade and tone of wallpaper as it is present in the space. But still for basic ideas wallpapers are divided into two types of shade cards:-

  1. Base shade – These types of wallpapers is in a neutral tone and has an artificial pattern.

  • They generally come in greys, faded greens, whites, and other neutral tones.
  • They have very light patterned designs like stripes, repetitive flower or motif patterns, geometrical patterns etc.
  • They don’t work as a focal point of the space but they bring out do bring out that differentiation in the space other than the paint.
  • They are much affordable as well as there is no specialization involved.
  • If you are looking for the wallpaper but just for a different backdrop with a light texture pattern and also if you have a budget constraint you can go for this type.
  • These would be more prevalent in smaller spaces with a good amount of natural light.
A formal wallpaper on the backside of a stylish sofa inside a house
  1. Highlighter shade – As the name suggests wallpapers falling under this category are used to highlight the particular area. They come in real designs like bricks, real flowers, trees, etc.
  • They are available in a variety of designs in the market from floral to geometric to Victorian classics.
  • They come with a light background shade and then they are highlighted with different kinds of designs.
  • They come in 2D, 3D as well as customized designs where you can give a picture to the manufacturer or the store owner and he will get it customized for you based on your preference of colors and designs.
  • You must have a dedicated focal point in your space to install this kind of highlighter as they make the space bold and confident, highlight it so that all your eyes would come and rest on this area.
  • They come in a variety of designs and patterns like:-
  1. Neutral tones
  1. Floral and natural patterns like large and small leaves with Highlighted patterns.
  1. Geometric patterns where the lines or shapes are highlighted
  1. Glitter and glamorous where highlighting is done in the form of gold, silver, and sparkles of other colors.
  • These look great in large areas like a decently sized living room in a residence with a good amount of both natural and artificial lights around it.
  • As the look that they create is quite luxurious they are quite expensive but the end result is worth it as they can instantly transform a dull space into a bright and bold-looking space.
A luxurious black color looking wallpaper

3. Scale and Proportion

The next very important thing to keep in mind is the scale and proportion of the wallpaper according to your space.

For small spaces:

  • Always use wallpapers with light and minimal patterns in a small area.
  • The pattern of the wallpaper should also be small and detail and not large and bold otherwise it won’t go along with the space and will look disproportionate.
  • In a small space use the wallpaper only on one wall that is creating the focal point of the space or the wall which you want to highlight. This can be the wall behind the dining area, the wall behind the sitting area in your living room, or the wall behind your bed in the bedroom, choose wisely.
Patterned wallpaper in the dining room inside a house

For large areas:

  • In a larger space, you can use a combination of both base shade and highlighter wallpapers.
  • The wallpapers can be used on multiple walls like behind the dining, behind the sofa, and gathering space or in between partition walls, etc.
  • Use large and bold patterns in a large area to maintain the authenticity of the space and also to create drama.
  • You can use patterns like large palm leaves, large floral with multiple colors highlighted with gold or silver glitter, etc.
  • If you are using multiple wallpapers in a single space always create some solid colored spaces in between them for the eyes to rest and to make a differentiation between the multiple wallpapers.

4. Add interest to ceiling

Many people have a perception that wallpapers are just made

For walls but no you can install them on any surface you want to highlight like a ceiling.

  • Adding wallpapers on the ceiling is a bold step that is why it is not seen so often but some designers love doing this.
  • Wallpapers on the ceiling add a personality to the space and make it look so much more interesting, bold, and vintage.
  • You can keep a neutral tone in the space by using only greys and whites on the wall but for the ceiling, you can add bold color wallpaper.
  • Without much effort, this will create so much difference in the space.
  • This wallpaper can be of different designs depending on the scale and size of the space.
  • If you want to make the space look larges you can use elongated striped pattern wallpaper on the ceiling or if you want to make it look wider you can use horizontal patterns.
  • If nothing comes to your mind you can also install abstract pattern wallpaper just make sure not to go extremely overboard with the patterns unless you have a huge space.
  • Wallpapers on the ceiling add a lot of interest especially in the lids room where you can install 3D wallpapers for giving illusions like a sky with stars or a bold yellow color to add interest in the space for the kids.
A night sky resembling wallpaper installed in the kids bedroom on the ceiling
  • To complete the look you can highlight it with a nice chandelier, cove lights pendant light, or simple ceiling lights.
A floral wallpaper installed on the ceiling above the dining table

These were the basics that you need to keep in mind while selecting wallpaper for your space. Always work in accordance with the proportion of your space otherwise there are chances when wallpaper can even break your space.

The bottom line is you always need to decide a focal point on which you want to draw all your attention it can be an important area of the space and in most cases that will be the perfect place to install the wallpaper.