What wallpaper to choose for different rooms

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you take everything into account, the wallpaper will last a long time and will not get bored.

Things to Consider When Choosing Wallpaper

First, answer the following questions.

1. What is the purpose of the premises?

Any wallpaper is suitable for bedrooms and living rooms. If you want beauty and practicality, pay attention to non-woven and textile.

It is better to glue paper ones in the nursery: they are the most environmentally friendly and cheapest. If the child ruins the walls, it will not be easy to re-glue.

In the kitchen or in a studio apartment, vinyl and non-woven wallpapers with moisture-resistant impregnation will last for a long time.

In rooms with high traffic and temperature changes (corridors, hallways, balconies), vinyl wallpaper, paintable or liquid wallpaper is also recommended.

It is better to zone the room with natural and photo wallpaper.

2. Are the walls even there?

Best of all, irregularities are hidden by non-woven, vinyl and textile wallpapers. Worst of all are paper ones.

3. Is there a lot of light there?

The darker the room, the lighter the wallpaper should be. If the room is on the sunny side, you can take dark wallpaper, but with high lightfastness. To determine it, study the pictograms on the roll.

• Half sun. The wallpaper is only suitable for darkened rooms.
• Semi-sun with a plus. With constant exposure to ultraviolet light, the wallpaper will lose its brightness.
• The sun. The wallpaper is suitable for rooms with windows to the sunny side.
• Sun with a plus. The wallpaper does not fade even with constant exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

4. What is the humidity there?

In rooms where water is dealt with, but ventilation works well, any wallpaper can be glued. The main thing is that they have a moisture resistant impregnation.

In rooms with poor ventilation, it is necessary to glue "breathable" wallpaper: paper or non-woven on a paper basis. It is better to refuse vinyl and textile. In humid conditions, mold can grow underneath.

4. Will there be children and / or pets indoors?

If so, the wallpaper must be washable and resistant to mechanical damage.

According to the degree of resistance to moisture, wallpaper is divided into waterproof, washable and super washable.

• One wave means that the wallpaper can be wiped clean with a slightly damp cloth, but not rubbed.
• Two waves indicate that the wallpaper can be thoroughly washed.
• Three waves - can be washed with detergent.
• One wave and brush - slightly damp cleaning with little friction is allowed.
• Three waves and a brush - can be washed with detergents and rubbed with a brush.

The strength of the wallpaper is indicated by the icon with a hammer.

What material to choose

In the store, you will see racks with hundreds of wallpapers. In order not to get confused, remember that by the type of base, wallpaper is divided into paper and non-woven.

The difference is that glue is always applied to the paper base (sometimes the walls are smeared as well), but not to the non-woven base (the walls are treated with glue).

According to the type of the upper decorative layer, wallpapers are subdivided into paper, non-woven, vinyl and textile. There are also such unusual wallpapers as liquid or glass cloth. Strictly speaking, this is not a wallpaper at all.

Let's consider all types of wallpaper in more detail.

Paper wallpaper

They are made from different grades of paper and are single-layer (simplex) and multi-layer (duplex).

Simplex - thin and light (less than 110 g / m²) with a typographic print.

Duplex wallpapers are heavier (the highest quality ones weigh from 140 g / m²), the pattern is not only printed on them, but also embossed.

Paper wallpapers are very popular as they are varied in prints, breathable and inexpensive. But they have many disadvantages.

• Difficult to glue (they get wet, bubble, turn yellow from improperly selected glue).
• They are afraid of moisture (even with a moisture-resistant coating, they will not last long).
• Easily damaged and overwritten.
• They lose color over time.
• They poorly mask the imperfections of the walls.

Non-woven wallpaper

Non-woven fabric is a non-woven material made up of cellulose fibers and polyester. Similar to paper, but heavier, thicker and more durable.

Non-woven fabric can act as a base and as an independent material for wallpaper. In the latter case, the pattern is applied by hot stamping. Non-woven wallpaper in its pure form is quite expensive and has a meager range of designs, but it has many advantages.

• Resistance to mechanical damage.
• Easy to stick and maintain (as a rule, they have moisture-resistant and sun-protective coatings).
• Environmental friendliness.

There are very few 100% non-woven wallpapers on the market. The most common non-woven vinyl wallpaper.

Vinyl wallpapers

Vinyl is a wallpaper, the top, decorative layer of which consists of polyvinyl chloride (vinyl) or other polymer material. The base can be paper or non-woven.

Depending on the method of applying the pattern, vinyl wallpapers are divided into foamed (under the influence of high temperatures, the vinyl layer foams and a textured pattern is created) and hot stamping (the vinyl layer is rolled under textured rollers in a high-temperature chamber). Compact vinyl, heavy vinyl, silk screen printing, inhibition - these are all hot embossed wallpapers.

Vinyl-covered wallpaper is controversial. On the one hand, there are many advantages:

• Excellent wear resistance.
• Can be washed, including using detergents.
• Perfectly mask irregularities, cracks and other imperfections of the walls.

On the other hand, they do not breathe at all, they do not burn during a fire, but smolder, emitting toxic substances. They are difficult to glue: heavy, glued only end-to-end (there will be overlapping bumps). Plus, it's a pretty expensive option.

Textile wallpaper

Textile wallpaper consists of several layers: a paper or non-woven base plus a decorative layer of linen, silk, cotton, felt, velor or jute.

Such wallpapers look luxurious, they have good noise and heat insulation, they hide the flaws of the walls well. And jute and linen are still resistant to sunlight. But textile wallpapers also have disadvantages:

• Expensive (often sold not in rolls, but in running meters).
• They accumulate dust (not suitable for allergy sufferers) and absorb odors.
• Difficult to clean (some can be vacuumed, for some a damp cloth is acceptable).
• Difficult to glue.

Other types of wallpaper

Wallpaper

They can have both paper and non-woven backing.

The highlight is that the canvases make up a single picture. Wall murals are suitable for highlighting one or two walls. They are also often used to visually expand the room. They are environmentally friendly and not very expensive.

Wallpaper for painting

Use plain paper or foamed non-woven, as well as fiberglass wallpaper.

The latter are made of fiberglass threads impregnated with special compounds and have a clearly expressed texture. The choice of textures is small (Christmas trees, diamonds, matting), but glass wallpaper can be repainted many times. At the same time, they almost do not lose their appearance.

Acrylic Wallpaper

They consist of a paper or non-woven base and a decorative layer of foamed acrylic.

They are not as heavy and expensive as vinyl, but also not as durable. It is also a plus that acrylic wallpaper allows air to pass through freely.

Natural wallpaper

They are produced, as a rule, on a paper basis, and natural materials serve as a decorative coating: bamboo, veneer, reeds, straw, algae, and so on.

Such coatings are very heavy - you cannot stick to ordinary wallpaper glue. Usually they are used for zoning and decoration of small sections of walls.

The liquid wallpaper

It is a cellulose mixture with glue and decorative splashes.

Liquid wallpaper is applied to the wall with a spatula. This wall covering is suitable for hallways, corridors, balconies. In case of mechanical damage, they can always be tinted, but you should not wash liquid wallpaper.

How to choose the color and pattern of wallpaper

Having decided on the type of wallpaper, calculating how many rolls you need, and finding the appropriate rack in the store, you can choose a pattern and shade. We will not limit the flight of your imagination, but recall a few basic rules of interior design.

1. The smaller the room, the smaller the drawing. Large compositions on wallpaper "eat up" an already small space. Wallpaper with vertical stripes will make the room taller, and horizontally wider.
2. Plain and even more glossy wallpapers are glued only on perfectly flat walls. It is better to mask imperfect surfaces with the help of variegated embossed wallpaper without shine.
3. Photo wallpaper or natural wallpaper on one wall is an excellent solution for zoning and expanding space. The main thing is to choose the right picture and shade of background wallpaper.
4. The shade of the wallpaper should correspond to the purpose of the room. So, for a bedroom where a person sleeps and generally spends quite a lot of time, it is better to choose calm pastel colors. In the kitchen, walls can be pasted over in delicious colors: orange, green, yellow.
5. In small rooms, avoid blacks, whites, and contrasts (blue plus orange, purple plus yellow, and so on). This enlivens the interior, but makes the space visually smaller.

Remember: the lighting in the store is brighter than at home, and the wallpaper roll always looks different than on the wall. Be prepared for diverging expectations and reality.

What else to look at before buying

Take the sealed roll in your hands and read the insert carefully.

So that during the repair there are no surprises in the form of a subtle difference in shade or pattern, always take wallpaper from the same batch and with the same article number.

And the last thing. Be sure to clarify on what conditions you can return the wallpaper if you suddenly don't like it.

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