The addition of wallpaper to a hallway can make a dramatic impact. Whatever your taste may be, there exists a color palette and design scheme that will look wonderful in your home. You could decorate your living room and bedroom, but why stop there? Modern wallpaper is safe to use in high-humidity rooms like bathrooms and kitchens.Â
How dramatically different the bathroom and hallway would look with new wallpaper. Trouble getting going? The hunt for wallpaper hallway ideas ends here. We’ve also enlisted the aid of interior designers to give you their best advice on how to use wallpaper in your hallway. If you want a functional hallway full of personality, wallpaper it.
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Benefits of Using Wallpaper in Hallways
Customize Your Home with Wallpaper
Can you no longer stand staring at the same old boring walls? When planning a home makeover, you may be debating whether to paint or wallpaper your walls. Why settle for boring walls when you can add a splash of your individuality and style with beautiful wallpaper?
Quick and Affordable Makeover Options
Wallpaper is a great way to dramatically alter the feel and look of a room quickly and affordably. A neutral or metallic wallpaper can brighten a small space and give the illusion of more room, while dark, luxurious wallpaper can make a room that feels too big feel warmer and cozier. The best part is that… New tools and techniques make hanging wallpaper a breeze.
Advantages of Wallpaper Over Paint
1838 Wallcoverings’ paste-the-wall method revolutionized wallpaper. This innovative decorating method saves time and effort. Wallpaper has advantages over paint. Wallpaper lasts over 15 years and is cost-effective. High-quality wallpaper hung properly can last three times longer than paint and hide surface imperfections.
Color, Texture, and No Mess!
Paint has two finishes—matte and glossy—but many colors. Wallpaper has many patterns and textures like beads, flock, metallic, and emboss. Wallpaper won’t damage walls, furniture, or floors. Most wallpapers can be cleaned with a damp cloth, making them ideal for homes with kids or pets.
Don’t limit your interior design imagination. Use beautiful wallpaper to express your personality. “Great for making your home unique and personal,” raves 1838 Wallcoverings co-founder James Watson.
Choosing the Right Wallpaper for Your Hallway
Whether you’re looking for a bold statement or a subtle accent, wallpaper is perfect for you and your space. But with so many options available, how do you choose?Â
Whole Room or Accent Wall
You must decide immediately whether to paper the entire room or focus on a single wall. If you have ample open space or are going for a design with subtle shapes and colors, don’t be afraid to paper the entire room instead of just an accent wall. Decide which accent wall you want to cover with wallpaper that is more like art than traditional wallpaper if you want to make a statement.
Setting the mood
The mood or “vibe” of your living room is another important consideration when choosing wallpaper. Think about how you want to feel in the space, what furniture you plan to use to accent the room and the overall architecture of your home. A romantic floral wallpaper might work perfectly in a cottage or country home but may not be as suitable for an industrial-style flat.
Creating an illusion
Specific patterns and designs can make your space look bigger or smaller, so choosing carefully is essential. If you have low ceilings and want your room to feel bigger, light-colored vertical stripes can create an illusion of more height. Consider the effects you wish your wallpaper to have before deciding.
Considering the journey
When choosing your wallpaper, it’s essential to consider how your living room ties into the rest of your home. Think about the décor in other rooms and the typical routes to the living room. Even if you purposefully juxtapose the living room with the rest of your home, it should still tie in somewhat.
Samples
Ordering samples of the wallpapers you have your eye on is a great way to ensure you’re making the right decision. Apply them to the wall and live with them for a few days to see which one stands out as your favorite. It may not always be the one you initially had your eye on.
Temporary or long-term
Consider whether you want your wallpaper to be a long-term feature or something you can change up frequently. If you like to redecorate often, opt for a wallpaper that’s easy to apply and remove. Non-woven backing wallpaper is fully strippable, making it an excellent option for those who like to change things.
Preparation
Wall preparation is vital for a premium finish. Avoid budget adhesive, sand and fill bumps, and pre-paint skirting boards to avoid painting over wallpaper. Your wall will look luxurious if you prepare it.
Buying enough: Don’t skimp on wallpaper
Measure your walls carefully to determine how much wallpaper you’ll need, then add a little extra for mistakes. If you need to match a pattern, you may need more wallpaper than you estimated. Having a little added than running out halfway through the project is always better.
Installation Tips and Tricks
It takes skill to wallpaper a room straight and with tight, nearly invisible seams. Paperhanger Bob Rowland offers advice. Proper preparation and planning are essential for a successful installation depending on the wallpaper.
Wallpaper installation tips:
Room layout
Use a whole roll of paper to guide the room layout. Start at the roll’s edge and make a pencil mark. Move the registration to the impact and mark the other end with a pencil. Repeat until every seam is known. Avoid hanging small strips (less than 3 inches) near doors and corners by cutting the first panel.
Avoid the entrance
Straight wall seams are butted, not overlapped, and less visible if placed farthest from the first panel. Start opposite the room’s main entrance to hide seams.
Use a plumb line
Start in a non-plumb corner. Draw a straight, plumb line with a level 1/4 inch beyond where you want the first paper panel to end. Overlap 1/8 inch for inside corner seams.
Hide the last seam
The last seam won’t match the wallpaper’s repeating pattern. Hide it in the corner above the front door.
Prep walls
Use a “wall size” primer/sizer to help the paper stick to the wall and reduce shrinkage. Remove plate covers, heat registers, and lights. Fill holes with a non-shrinking joint compound, scrape walls with a drywall knife or sandpaper, and cover the wall with “wall size.” Prime all walls.
Order enough paper
Measure a room using the paper pattern. Sometimes the patterns on two panels must match horizontally. For an 8-foot wall, you may need 9 feet of paper.
Don’t dunk—roll!
Paste with a high-quality 1/2-inch nap paint roller cover. Unless the paper specifies, avoid “universal” paste.
Select the right paste.
Clay, wheat, and starch make a paste. Most wallpaper instructions list the paste for each subcategory.
Join corners
Make inside corner seams to plumb the next panel. Measure from the last meeting to the corner top, middle, and bottom when entering a corner. Cut the corner panel 1/8 inch over the adjacent wall.
Ideas for Using Wallpaper in Your Hallway
Are you looking to make your hallway stylish and inviting? Check out these gorgeous wallpapers. These expert tips will help you expand a small hallway or highlight your historic home’s period features.
Enliven
Lighter wallpapers make dark hallways feel more open and airy. Example: a subtle blue and white pattern with white painted woodwork and a dark wooden staircase.
Space illusion
Horizontal lines lengthen even the smallest hallway. Use grasscloth or textured wallpaper to extend your space. Floral hallway wallpaper brings nature indoors. It’s a great way to welcome guests and add color.
Colorize
Contrast highlights wallpaper. To add color, pair a wallpaper motif with a vibrant yellow trim.
Highlights
Highlight your historic home’s features with wallpaper. Showcase your space’s architectural details by matching your wallpaper to a Gothic revival door’s pointed arch.
These wallpaper ideas will make your small hallway feel more significant, add a touch of nature, or highlight your home’s historic charm.
Conclusion
A home with wallpapered hallways looks more finished. You can find a wallpaper that matches your style and personality among the many colors, patterns, and designs. Wallpaper can hide surface imperfections and last up to 15 years, making it a quick and affordable way to update your hallway.Â
When choosing wallpaper for a hallway, consider the traffic flow from other rooms, the desired atmosphere, and the space’s size. If you plan and research, wallpapering your walls can be a fun and rewarding DIY project.
