everything you need to know about buying wallpaper.
Wallpaper is an amazing way to add pattern and depth to any room. Whether you’re envisioning bold graphic prints or subtle luxe marble, there’s a wallpaper for you. Our comprehensive guide is here to answer all your wallpaper-related questions, so buying the right roll for your project is stress-free and easy.
wallpaper types.
product: plantain wallpaper in teal/blush.
Wallpaper comes in two main materials - which you choose depends on your wants and needs.
printed paper.
This paper-based wallpaper has the pattern printed or embossed on to it. It’s light and easy to hang, making it suitable for rooms all across the house.
vinyl paper.
Vinyl wallpaper is the same as paper-based wallpaper, but it has a thin layer of vinyl coating it. This coating makes it more water resistant, making it ideal for kitchens and bathrooms. It’s easier to clean as well, though all our printed paper is wipeable.
design.
product: bee deco wallpaper in blush.
patterned.
Patterned wallpaper is great for making a design statement, whether that’s for an entire room or just a feature wall. It can help create all sorts of different looks and feels, for any room in the house. You can create a subtly luxe look with a marble wallpaper, a tropical feel with leafy jungle wallpaper or even go graphic with geometric wallpaper.
plain.
Plain wallpaper doesn’t mean boring. It can include wallpapers with very small, subtle patterns, which means that you can use it as a complementary element of your interior design and not just as a feature. Plain wallpaper is perfect for minimalist, scandi and country interior design styles.
textured.
Similarly, textured wallpaper adds depth and discreet style to your room. Ideal for tonal rooms where you’re building on your textures instead of adding in colours, or for rooms that you don’t want to overwhelm with pattern.
metallic.
If you’ve got a room with poor lighting, then consider metallic wallpaper, like our marble wallpaper which has a subtle sheen. It’ll help bounce light around the room, brightening the whole space. this makes it ideal for powder rooms or small bedrooms – especially if you’re going for a glamourous, luxury style space.
get samples!
Not sure which wallpaper is the right one for and your space? Our sample service is available across all our wallpapers for just £1, so you can see exactly what your chosen wallpaper will look in your room, on different walls, in different lighting, etc.
rooms.
product: demoiselle wallpaper in jade.
When you’re choosing your wallpaper, it’s important to consider which room you’re making over. If it’s for a room that has a lot of moisture in it, i.e. the kitchen or the bathroom, then you may want to look for water resistant wallpaper, like vinyl wallpaper. However, as long as you use a strong wallpaper adhesive and you keep wallpaper away from the major 'wet zones' of the room, you can use any wallpaper you like!
Top tip: make sure your bathroom is well ventilated to draw moisture away from your walls and your wallpaper will last longer.
For kids' rooms, you should consider durable and wipeable wallpaper (which all of ours is!) so keeping it looking good is easy.
application types.
product: exotic wildlings wallpaper in warm sienna.
There are three different ways to hang wallpaper – paste the wall, paste the paper and pre-pasted/peel and stick. It all depends on the wallpaper itself (you have to use a particular application method with a particular wallpaper) so make sure you’re checking the instructions before you buy!
paste the wall.
As its name suggests, to hang this type of wallpaper, all you have to do it apply paste to the wall and then pop the wallpaper on top. There’s no soaking time, no need for a pasting table and you don’t have to cut it before it goes on the wall. It’s easy to move around on the wall, so there’s no need to panic when you make a mistake.
This makes it loads quicker and easier than paste the paper wallpaper, ideal if you’re new to wallpapering, you don’t have much space, or you want a quick transformation.
When it comes to changing up your look again, it will come off easily as well. It peels straight off the wall!
All our wallpaper is paste the wall, making your transformation quick, easy and instant.
paste the paper.
The traditional way to hang wallpaper, paste the paper wallpaper means that you have to soak the wallpaper in paste. It will then expand to its full size, at which point you can apply it to the wall. This way takes more time, as you have to wait for each drop to soak (usually around five minutes), and gives you less wiggle room for readjustment, air bubbles and any mistakes.
When it comes to removing the wallpaper, it’s not as easy as paste the wall – you’ll need time and a strategy to get it off, which might include steaming it or using a chemical stripper.
pre-pasted & peel and stick.
Pre-pasted wallpaper is coated with wallpaper paste that only needs water to activate. You still have to cut the wallpaper before it goes on the wall, like paste the paper wallpaper.
Peel and stick is perfect for short term living situations. You peel the backing off and simply stick on to the wall, and then once you’re done, you can peel it off the wall.
buying wallpaper.
products: winter woods wallpaper in blue.
matching patterns.
When it comes to patterned wallpaper, you’ll often see phrases like ‘full drop repeat’ and ‘half drop repeat’ in the product description. So what does it mean? It’s all about how the pattern matches at the seams.
Not all wallpaper will match straight across, so you’ll need to drop the second drop down to make the pattern match. This impacts how much wallpaper you need. These types of patterns are usually much more interesting than the straight across ones – but they’re a bit trickier to hang.
A full drop repeat is the simplest of pattern repeats, where the pattern will match horizontally – no fiddling needed. A half drop repeat is where the pattern is diagonal, so you’ll have to lower the second wallpaper drop halfway down the first drop’s pattern.
how much wallpaper do I need?
How much wallpaper you need depends on the measurements of your room. To calculate it, measure the tallest part of your wall for the height, and the widest part for the width. Then, simply pop those measurements in our wallpaper calculator (you’ll find it on the individual wallpaper product page) and we’ll tell you how many rolls you need.
how long is a roll of wallpaper?
Our wallpaper rolls are 10.5m long.
