Whether you live in Hamilton, Burlington or anywhere else in the GTA when the time comes to redecorate you’ll be faced with a plethora of choices regarding everything from upholstery to area rugs to lamps and lampshades, window treatments and more. One of the most important decisions you’ll be faced with is whether it’s best to paint the walls or hang wallpaper. The home interior design choices you make will influence many of the other choices regarding your decor and so it’s a topic you’ll want to discuss at length with your decorator. Both options have their strengths and potential limitations and in this post we’ll take a look at those.
How Wallcoverings Influence Home Interior Design results
Whatever you choose to put on your walls will act as a foundation element of the overall home interior design, if for no other reason than so much of what you see in any room is wall. Making the right choice for your wallcovering then is crucial to the success of your home interior design resorts. To help you make an informed decision here are the pros and cons of each type of wallcovering.
Painting Pros
- Relatively inexpensive and does not require a lot of preparation work.
- Paint is available in an almost unlimited variety of colours and finishes
- A custom colour can be made to match your decor.
- Painting is often something the homeowners can do themselves.
- It’s easier to repaint a wall then to repaper a wall.
Painting Cons
- If you mixed a custom colour and need to do touch ups it can be difficult to match.
- It can be difficult to create visual interest with paint alone.
- Walls in high traffic areas may be scratching and damaging faster than wallpaper.
Now let’s take a look at the pros and cons of wallpaper.
Wallpaper Pros
- Vinyl wallpaper is very durable and will hold up to wear and tear of children and high traffic areas.
- As a result your long-term costs can actually be lower than painting.
- It’s far easier to create visual interest with wallpaper then with paint alone.
- You can add textures to your interior decor that would be impossible to do with paint.
- Wallpaper brings with it a cultural cache paint alone simply can’t match.
- Typically easier to cover cracks and other imperfections in the wall.
Wallpaper Cons
- Should be done by an experienced wallcovering installer.
- Wallpapering can entail larger upfront costs than painting.
- Wallpapering a room is more labour intensive than painting.
- If you decide to paint later you’ll likely have to remove all the wallpaper.
- If the wallpaper becomes damaged, it’s not easy to repair it.
The decision to proceed with either paint or wallpaper often comes down to two primary considerations: cost and convenience. Painting is no doubt cheaper than wallpaper, (at least as far as upfront costs are concerned). It’s also an easier process. So if cost and convenience are paramount concerns to you you’ll probably want to opt for paint. If, on the other hand, your primary motivation is to create the most compelling home interior design possible you’ll likely want to go with wallpaper. The decorative possibilities are simply much greater than with paint alone.
Isabelle Tremblay is one of the GTA’s most sought after home interior design and decoration professionals. She’ll guide you through the process of selecting the right type of wallcovering to perfectly compliment the interior decor of your Hamilton or Burlington home. Call her today on (416) 573-2301 to set up an appointment to discuss your interior decoration plans.
