Is anyone using wallpaper, in their new home?

12 years ago

Is anyone considering having wallpaper, in any of the rooms, in their new home?

I'm thinking about wallpaper, in the entry hall and dining room. They're the most 'formal' rooms in the plan, but not too formal...and I think wallpaper would be a good fit. Not a big print, but maybe a narrow stripe in the entry hall and a small print in the dining room. I've seen some pretty solid colors with small dots and a few lovely 'twiggy' floral prints.

For the kitchen, keeping room, bathrooms, etc. I'll stick with paint, but it would be fun to try something different in a few spaces. Oh, and there would probably be paneled walls on the bottom 1/3 in both rooms. I'm guessing kitties and wallpaper don't work well, together :)

Anyone have any pictures? Thanks in advance.

Featured Answer

nanj

12 years ago

Wallpaper falls into the "been there, done that" for me which reflects my age. It was SO popular when we bought our first couple of houses. After removing wallpaper from unprimed and primed walls, I'll never do it again! Scarred for life! Yes, taking wallpaper off unprimed walls is a destructive nightmare, but removing from primed walls is no walk in the park. All that dried glue has to come off every single square inch of wall. UGH! And don't even get me started on the difficulties of removing textured wallpaper like grasscloth.

Wallpaper also dates a room. Think about the older houses you've seen and how the wallpaper looks so old-fashioned.

So my advice is, if you know the issues going into it, and still think it is what you want, go for it. There are some beautiful papers out there now....of course in the 80s, I thought those were beautiful papers, too.

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Comments (26)

LuAnn_in_PA
12 years ago
It's your house.
Do what you like!

(personally, I hate wallpaper.....)
lavender_lass
Original Author
12 years ago
LuAnn- LOL! Well, that's an honest response :)
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User
12 years ago
I have wallcoverings in 4 rooms (Master Bed, Powder Room, Dining Room, Office). I love it. There are so many cool wall coverings available today.

Here's what we did:

From .House Pics
From .House Pics
From .House Pics
From .House Pics
athensmomof3
12 years ago
I am not a wallpaper fan but do like the trendier ones like milz50 shows in their house. If you wallpaper, I would be sure to prime the sheetrock first so you can take it off easily!

That being said, I have considered a trendy wallpaper in my formal powder since I think it is an area you can have some fun in . . .
nini804
12 years ago
I didn't do any, but I certainly like really well-done wallpaper (like Milz's-absolutely gorgeous, your home looks like a magazine shoot!) I am like Athensmom, thinking about my powder room!
Eyegirlie
12 years ago
I didn't think I liked wallpaper until I saw Milz's pictures! Holy cow, that is definitely straight out of a magazine; beautiful!!

We didn't do any wallpaper in our new house but if I had seen those photos, I may have considered it!
mommyto4boys
12 years ago
milz50...drooling like always, when I see your pictures! PLEASE, please share all about your hardwood floors!

I'm also a powder room wallpaper lover. We had a gorgeous paper in our last home and I loved it! Probably won't this time because we will only have the one half bath by the mud room and it will literally be part of the MUD, iykwim! I would like to figure out another place for some great paper---might verge over to the master bath. I really love baths done well in paper.
User
12 years ago
Thanks...

It is difficult to tell from the pictures (especially the dining room), but the wallcoverings add a lot of texture to the rooms. I feel that it makes the house feel warmer.

The hardwoods are Carlisle 8" character-grade walnut. They have a stain and tongue oil.
lavender_lass
Original Author
12 years ago
Nanj- That's exactly why I want to use it! I want it to make the home look dated and old-fashioned. It's an older farmhouse and I think the wallpaper will give it more of a vintage 1910-1920 feel.

Good point about the mess. Luckily, if I find something I like, I don't change it, too often :)
mommyto4boys
12 years ago
Lav Lass,

You might like the wallpaper with a tea stain over the top. Have you seen that before, it "ages" the paper and might be perfect for your home. Hope things are going well & you are getting your plans finalized. We are all waiitng to see your project come to fruition, as I know you are:)
nanj
12 years ago
LavenderLass - Well, there you go! Sounds like wallpaper would be perfect for you!
susanmiller696
12 years ago
My husband and I just built a new home and I put wallpaper in almost half of our home! I find that it gives each room and little more life!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wallpaper
momto3kiddos
12 years ago
Confession... I am obsessed with grasscloth and I am seriously considering putting it in our dining room in a blue or turquoise color. I think it will add texture to an otherwise basic room. I remember pulling grasscloth off the walls of the home I grew up in when we moved to a new house and it was a lot of work. I also remember the cat we had in that house who could climb to the ceiling thanks to the grasscloth. Maybe I need to think about this some more. :)

I also was thinking of a more "blingy" wallpaper in the powder room - a lot like the one Milz50 shows above. I look forward to seeing your choices.
lavender_lass
Original Author
12 years ago
Susan- Thanks for the link! The 'wallpops' in the office are really nice...that would be great in our upstairs bedroom/office area. The nieces/nephews would love it!

Momto3- Grasscloth would look nice. Your cat could really climb up it? LOL Well, maybe you should give it some more thought. I tried inexpensive lace curtains (once) in my first apartment and my cat tried to climb up those. That was the end of that experiment :)

The 'blingy' wallpaper sounds like fun!
gaonmymind
12 years ago
I definetly will be. Milz50's looks right up my alley. It adds instant character and personality to a room. I just found out that Martha Stewart does a paintable beadboard wallpaper that gets rave reviews. It's only $24 for a double roll! Wallpapers like these saves tons of money when you don't have to use real trim. Gonna put it up in my kids rooms and their baths.

[traditional bathroom design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by los angeles interior designer Abbott Moon
suzyqtexas
12 years ago
I was recently in a beach house condo, and they had grass cloth on the ceiling, one bed room had light blue and the other green. It was fabulous. The walls were painted in the same tone of blue and green as the wall paper.
whallyden
12 years ago
Our interior designer wants to use it in the dining room, powder room and master bedroom.
kramerkel
12 years ago
I am not a wallpaper fan but do like the trendier ones like milz50 shows in their house.

We are going rustic so we are probably going to do some old barn wood on a wall.
demifloyd
12 years ago
Stunning home and decor, Milz50!

Always happy to see a Carlisle Wide Plank Walnut aficionado!

My build is almost seven years old, and at the time here on GW hardly anyone liked wallpaper, but I did and still do, Lavender Lass.

Here are a few shots of wallpaper, which I still enjoy:
vitiminj
11 years ago
milz50,

I love the style of all of your rooms. Very nice. Can you tell me more about the dining room? Is that a mural that was then framed around or individual pictures? Did they have other scenes at the place you bought it? Thanks in advance.
User
11 years ago
The dining room is a print of a map that was enlarged then cut into sixteen individual pieces. Each one is then framed. I don't have any more details on who/how the process was done.

There seem to be a lot of companies that have the ability to print a picture on large canvases now...I guess you could use that as a start (canvasondemand.com, costco, etc.)
auroraborelis
11 years ago
milz50 - I LOVE your wallpaper, I was just trying to search for a link to more photos of your house but I can't seem to find it - can you point me in the right direction?
Annie Deighnaugh
11 years ago
I love wall paper, but DH is afraid of damaging the sheet rock in the new house...old house had plaster walls which stood up to all kinds of wall treatments.

So I compromised in the DR by putting up wall paper panels instead. I selected an historic Wm Morris pattern.
threeapples
11 years ago
i plan to use wallpaper in our foyer powder room. i'd like to do a scenic wallpaper, but have yet to begin looking. i'm not against using it elsewhere either, i just don't happen to have the design eye to come up with any good ideas. i plan to look and have fun doing it, however.
User
11 years ago
Her is a link Laura...

Here is a link that might be useful: House pics