Wow Your Walls with Wallpaper

So, how do you decide whether to wallpaper the whole room or a single wall?  Look at the size and shape of the room. Does it have a ‘natural feature wall’ such as the chimney breast wall in a living room or a blank wall behind the bed in the bedroom (unbroken by windows for example) or in the bathroom?  If the room feels off-centre, for example, if it is a long living room with windows at one end, doors at the other and the fireplace isn’t central, it may be best to paint or wallpaper the whole room.  If the room has limited furniture and is of a reasonable size, a patterned wallpaper on all four walls will look wonderful. Remember too, that wallpaper in the smallest room in the house (the downstairs loo) will be superb and this is where you can really be brave and go for a vivid design as it can carry it.

Feature Wall

A feature wall is created by making one wall in the room the main focus of the room. Ideally it should be a blank wall, that is, uninterrupted by doors or windows. It is usually the wall that is opposite the entry door into the room.  

The easiest way to create a feature wall is to wallpaper it in its entirety.  Most feature walls require two or three rolls of wallpaper. However, for the look to work successfully, remember to continue the same colour or pattern of the feature wall around the room, be it in cushions, a rug, vases or pictures. Don’t expect the feature wall to work in isolation or it won’t blend with the décor of the rest of the room.

Other ways to create a Feature Wall with wallpaper

So you have decided to create a feature wall but you want to do something different rather than wallpapering the whole wall - here’s a few ideas:

Wallpaper panels either side of the headboard in a master bedroom works beautifully and co-ordinate with either matching cushions or co-ordinating cushions on the seating and the bed.

Wallpaper the alcoves either side of your fireplace. You could either wallpaper the full width of the alcove or use a wallpaper panel or a single strip of wallpaper in each. Placing beading as a frame around the strip of wallpaper will make it look as though this was intentional and not intended to be a cheap way around your decorating! Alternatively you could paint the feature wall in the background colour of the wallpaper and then centralise the 2 strips of wallpaper in the alcoves - this creates vivid impact at a fraction of the cost of wallpapering the whole wall.

Hang the wallpaper horizontally across the wall, leaving a vivid strip of paint colour between each strip of wallpaper.

Wallpaper behind your bed - wallpaper from just under the top of the bed to the ceiling or create a ‘headboard’ with the wallpaper and some cornicing or beading.

Ideas for using wallpaper other than on the walls!

Thinking of using wallpaper in your home other than on the walls?

Like to create a wow factor with wallpaper?

Do you want the flexibility of being able to change the wallpaper frequently?

A little nervous of using wallpaper and want to get used to a little wallpaper first?

Fabulous wallpaper can be expensive. Read our tips on how to make a little go a long way.

1. Place a long strip wallpaper horizontally along your kitchen splashback and protect it with glass or perspex. It will be so fabulously individual and different. 

2. Wallpaper a piece of furniture, for example, a chest of drawers, a table top or the inside of a wardrobe. Apply 2 or 3 coats of clear varnish (not polyurethane as it will yellow it) to protect the wallpaper.  Eclectic Interiors in Castle comer Estate Yard has some wonderful examples of wallpapered furniture for sale.  

3. Use wallpaper to provide visual interest at the back of some shelving or in a glass-fronted unit or dresser.

4.  Wallpaper within the panels of your interior doors. This looks amazing, especially if the panels are a reasonable size within the door.

Place wallpaper within large frames such as Ikea’s large Ribba frames or within some panels and place on the walls. Another advantage of this is that they are easy to change whenever you get bored of them. You could have matching wallpaper within the frames and on the inside of your wardrobe  - all for the cost of one roll of wallpaper!

5. Use wallpaper panels to designate an area, such as the dining area, in an open plan apartment or ground floor.

6. Place a strip of wallpaper horizontally along the wall, either at eye level or at the level of the top of the sofa/unit/chairs.

Above all - have fun and enjoy your decorating.