Avoid Putting Wallpaper In These Areas Around Your Home

Applying wallpaper in your home is a great and easy way to boost aesthetic appeal. Unlike painting the walls in a room, installing wallpaper can grant you a level of detail and intricacy of design that you won't find with a single color or even painted and stenciled walls. If you're itching to apply some new wallpaper in your home, it's good to be aware that even though wallpaper can be a huge asset for your home's decor, if you choose to place it in the wrong areas of the home, you could be risking poor performance and therefore a wasted investment.

Some of the rooms that you should avoid placing wallpaper in include spaces that are prone to high traffic, high moisture levels, walls that have texture, or exterior walls that are exposed to the elements. Each of these spaces will struggle with the application and long-term wear of wallpaper for their own reasons. Remember that installing wallpaper is a skill that can take time to develop; while you're figuring out where to hang it, now is also a good time to consider hiring a professional installer or at least be aware of the biggest DIY mistakes when applying wallpaper yourself.

Wallpaper is made to be pretty durable these days. That being said, you can't expect too much from wallpaper if you place it directly in the line of fire. Spaces that are especially prone to high traffic and high levels of physical contact, which may include children's bedrooms, hallways, and foyers, are not always the best spaces to install wallpaper. Even though your wallpaper might be able to be wiped down with a damp cloth, exposing it to too much touch and activity over the course of time may result in the wallpaper being damaged. If you're unable to resist the temptation of placing wallpaper in a high-traffic space, you'll want to make sure that you opt for vinyl wallpaper, which should be durable enough to deal with day-to-day life.

Another place that might not be the wisest area to install wallpaper is any space in the house that is exposed to high levels of moisture. As wonderful as intricate wallpaper can look in a master or guest bathroom, this lovely appearance might be short-lived if steam and moisture are a constant reality of the space. Even if your wallpaper has been installed professionally, the day-in and day-out presence of humidity can cause the adhesive bond to lose its strength, resulting in peeling of the wallpaper, as well as unhygienic problems such as mold and mildew. The sad but hard truth is that if you're eyeing wallpaper for a full bathroom or a kitchen with poor airflow, it might be best to think again.

While not hugely common, some homes do have textured walls — a finish that can be used to conceal flaws in the drywall. If a space in your home has this kind of wall, however, it's far from advisable to consider wallpaper on these surfaces, as the bumps and divots in the wall can make it difficult for the adhesive to stick. That being said, some textured walls are less problematic than others – a professional wallpaper installer should be able to advise which surfaces will allow for wallpapering — but one of the most difficult surfaces is popcorn walls, which may show the texture through your wallpaper. Even if you can't wallpaper a space with textured walls, you can still employ innovative uses of wallpaper in the room, for example, on a ceiling or on a shelving unit.

Lastly, if you have an indoor-outdoor space or a fully exterior area that you'd love to wallpaper, you may wish to rethink that idea. Even if you live in a dry climate, your walls will certainly be exposed to moisture of one kind or another at some point; and if you reside in a tropical or subtropical climate, that moisture is a constant factor to contend with. Instead of using wallpaper in these spaces, it's best to paint the walls and employ the use of a stencil if you're hoping for a more intriguing visual. No matter the look you're hoping to achieve, knowing how to choose the right wallpaper for your space is a necessary first step.