What's Better: Paste Wallpaper or Paint Walls? Designer's Opinion

Wallpaper or paint? Everyone who plans a renovation inevitably faces this question.

To help you decide, we did a comparative analysis of both options together with interior designer Artem Kulagin.

Artem Kulagin — INTERIOR DESIGNER. Head of Coolagin.Design studio. Creative and technical mentor of his team

Cost

Painting walls is usually more expensive. To ensure good paint adhesion, you must eliminate all unevenness and roughness of the walls. In addition, in new buildings it is advisable to use glass cloth to prevent micro-cracks from forming during house settling.

Preparing walls for painting costs about twice as much as preparing for wallpapering, because the process is labor-intensive — walls must be plastered, then spackled, a glass cloth must be applied, then spackled again and sanded.

Wallpapering does not require such thorough preparation, as dense wallpaper can easily hide cracks, chips and other wall irregularities.

Design: Evgenia Makarova. View the Full Project

Lifespan

Paint is more durable and easier to maintain. If you have small children or pets that like to scratch their claws on walls, then paint is your option.

The lifespan of paint is typically between 10 and 20 years, although the ability of paints to undergo spot repairs can extend this period. Additionally, once you invest in quality wall preparation, you can easily update the wall color with minimal costs.

With wallpaper, things are more complicated — most coverings require replacement after 5–7 years. Partial replacement is not possible, and all the wallpaper in the room must be changed.

Design: BALCON Design Studio. View the Full Project

Visual Appearance

Generally, we recommend paint for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, the palette of wall paints is diverse. When visualizing a design project, you can select a color that exactly matches the paint shade. Selecting the right tone of wallpaper is much more difficult, as not all wallpapers will suit you in terms of quality and texture.

Secondly, paint looks uniform, while seams are unavoidable when applying wallpaper.

Thirdly, painting allows for the use of moldings, borders, columns and other three-dimensional elements on the walls. Wallpaper often features a pattern that draws attention, so details lose their emphasis. Moreover, some decorative elements cannot be applied with wallpaper despite your best efforts.

Design: Irina Mezhova

What do you think? Share your experience in the comments.

Cover Image: Design Project by Denis Tarasenko