Review: wallpapers for any taste
Wallpapers Rasch (Germany)
This manufacturer can be attributed to the 'golden middle': the Braunschweig factory produces truly high-quality wallpapers in an affordable price range.
Paper wallpapers
In this segment, the manufacturer only produces children's wallpapers. A standard roll 0.53*10.05 can be purchased for $17.5 to $24.7 per roll. Pink, blue, flesh-toned, pale green, and pale yellow shades predominate. Wallpapers with a pattern feature small cells, wide and narrow stripes, animal images (elephants, tiger cubs, bears), two-color wallpapers with baby foot and palm prints, and patchwork-style wallpapers. This product is mostly aimed at wallpapering children's room walls up to 7-8 years old.
Photo 1 — Paper wallpapers Rasch (collection Bambino 2013), animalistic pattern in 'patchwork' style, $21/roll
Vinyl wallpapers
Vinyl wallpapers are often suspected of harmful effects on human health. You have nothing to fear from Rasch wallpapers: this manufacturer does not cut corners on materials, so the vinyl wallpapers contain only the base material (wallpapers on felt or paper) and a quality PVC layer that allows for various textures, patterns, colors, and enables cleaning some types of vinyl wallpapers with cleaning agents without damaging the coating. Prices in this category start from $28 and mostly do not exceed $45 per roll.
Since vinyl wallpapers can find broader application in decoration, they can be used not only in the living room, bedroom or hallway but even in the kitchen and bathroom, the choice of pattern and texture is also expanded.
Rasch prefers pastel, not bright but saturated tones and patterns from the 60s and 70s: two-color wallpapers with plant motifs, a wide selection of smooth and textured monochrome wallpapers, 'wood-like' wallpapers, animalistic pattern wallpapers, striped two-color wallpapers, lace texture wallpapers, and 'paint splatter' style pattern wallpapers.
Photo 2 — Vinyl wallpapers Rasch on felt base (collection Barbara Becker), $36 per roll. German vinyl wallpapers on the market are also represented by companies AS Creation (prices from $20 to $75), Marburg (from $32 to $58) and others.
Photo 3 — Vinyl wallpapers AS Creation (Germany) on felt base (collection Versace), $75 per roll
Photo 4 — Vinyl wallpapers Marburg (collection Patio), $50 per roll
Textile wallpapers
Textile wallpapers belong to the most expensive class, both in terms of purchase price and cost of wall covering.
The distinctive feature of textile wallpapers is that prices are quoted not per roll but per linear meter of fabric, and often textile wallpapers are sold not in standard rolls 0.53 cm wide but in fabric widths of 1.05 m up to 3.05 m.
Such material specifications allow walls to be covered without seams, unrolling the fabric not vertically but horizontally. Rasch's textile product prices start at $73 and reach up to $185. The manufacturer stays true to the overall style of their products: there are almost no bright colors, all patterns are restrained and minimalist. You can find black-and-white, gray, mustard, pale pink, pale marsh, and burgundy shades. Plant patterns dominate, as well as monochrome fabrics with different pile layouts, wide stripes wallpapers and wood/bamboo-like wallpapers.
Photo 5 — Textile wallpapers Rasch (collection Luxury Designs), $184 per linear meter
Vinyl wallpapers Germany are mainly supplied without the usual shiny coating that is practically impossible to incorporate into updated interiors, and without 'worn-out' floral patterns. The same can be said about paper and especially textile wallpapers. If German wallpaper designers do illustrate flowers on the fabric, the pattern looks stylish and restrained (for example, not roses but orchids or peonies), and if they do use glitter, it is only to highlight stripes or the structure of the fabric.
Other manufacturers: More than 10 years ago, Rasch opened its branch in Ukraine - Sintra wallpapers combine a high level of production quality and affordability due to the proximity of manufacturing facilities. OVK Design - a company engaged in supplying German and Italian wallpapers to Russia, as well as wallpapers of the Versailles (Ukraine) and Ideco (Belgium) brands.
Wallpapers Zambaiti (Italy)
The distinctive feature of Italian manufacturers is their focus on VIP audience. This does not mean that collections from Italian wallpaper factories do not include affordable products, but rather that Italy aims for exclusivity in its products, and thus even for the most basic wall covering variant, they ask for a slightly inflated price. Fortunately, the quality of the wallpapers produced allows Italian companies to do so without any particular conscience.
The 'telling' fact: Italian manufacturers do not produce paper wallpapers, thereby rejecting the most budget-friendly production line, and many factories focus exclusively on textile wallpapers.
Vinyl wallpapers
Vinyl wallpapers from Italy are undoubtedly of high quality, but if we consider that the minimum prices here start at $67-75 (exceptionally, one can find a collection for as low as $40 per roll - for example, the Zambaiti Classic Top vinyl wallpaper series), one might reconsider choosing wallpapers from other European or domestic manufacturers. Regarding pattern and color, the manufacturer mainly follows classicism, restraint, occasionally adding surface shine or color shimmer. Dominant tones are deep burgundy, violet, gray, beige.
In terms of texture, wallpapers imitating natural finishes (wood, leather, fabric - linen, velvet, stone or brick). The dominant pattern style is empire.
Today, Zambaiti has more than two dozen wallpaper collections.
These wallpapers are well-suited for covering all walls in a room, but it is quite difficult to create vivid accents using several types of wallpapers with them. Mostly due to the muted color palette. However, the manufacturer gives the possibility to experiment more with furniture in rooms using light brown, green, and soft yellow tones.
The same can be said about the vinyl wallpaper catalog of another Italian manufacturer - Sipri factory. Regarding patterns, one can find more interesting graphic solutions in the Sipri catalogs, although the color palette is almost unchanged (except for rare exceptions): beige, gray shades, green. Dominant plant motifs (blooming sakura, intertwining branches, leaves).
Italian vinyl wallpapers can also be found in the Decori Decori and Emiliana Parati catalogs. In the first catalog, we find a print not used by other manufacturers - city-themed wallpapers (Bella Italia collection), and in the second catalog, blue color, also unjustifiably ignored by other Italian manufacturers.
Photo 6 — Vinyl wallpapers Zambaiti on paper base (collection Splendida), $65 per roll
Photo 7 — Vinyl wallpapers Sirpi (collection Naxos), $115 per roll
Photo 8 — Vinyl wallpapers Decori&Decori (collection Bella Italia), $72 per roll
Photo 9 — Vinyl wallpapers Emiliana Parati (collection Artu), $77 per roll
Textile wallpapers
Italy is known for its textiles. These wallpapers, of course, cannot be cheap. The general neutral color palette is enriched with noble saturated burgundy colors with golden or silver embroidery, red wine shades, and one can also find noble black fabrics. Regarding patterns, it is standard - predominantly restrained English style and florals, monochrome coatings with clearly expressed pile structure, as well as wide stripe wallpapers.
Other manufacturers: Vincenzo (vinyl wallpapers from $30 to $92), Murella (part of the Zambaiti Parati group, vinyl and felt wallpapers from $70 to $97).
Photo 10 — Textile wallpapers Zambaiti (collection Preziosa), $185 per linear meter with embroidery
Wallpapers Grandeco (Belgium)
The company was formed from two other manufacturers - Ideco and Grantil - in 2007.
Paper wallpapers
Paper Belgian wallpapers are well represented in our market. Although the leader in sales in this segment continue to be domestic manufacturers, their designs still cannot compete with those of Belgian wallpapers. The only thing that prevents the mass buyer from switching to products from Belgium is price. Compare: if paper Belarusian wallpapers can be bought for as little as $2 per roll, Belgian ones cost no less than $18-20.
Regarding pattern and color, everything here is brighter and more varied. Even the mentioned stripe does not look boring: the manufacturer combines several color shades (blue/indigo/black plus white/beige), does not hesitate to use bright and saturated colors. The same flower motifs look more cheerful and youthful.
Finally, there are beautiful bright yellow wallpapers that are more similar to mustard rather than muted yellow! The manufacturer also boldly uses a black background as a way to highlight a light pattern, and although black wallpapers are undesirable for use in interiors, one can certainly use such 'arsenal' of wallpapers to highlight a specific area in the room!
Photo 11 — Paper wallpapers Grandeco (collection Coral), $21 per roll
Vinyl wallpapers
What makes vinyl wallpapers from Belgium good is the choice of both standard monochrome palette (textured and smooth) and typical plant motifs that do not look banal: flowers on some fabrics are arranged asymmetrically, and the manufacturer boldly experiments by combining stripes and florals, layering one over another.
Photo 12 — Vinyl wallpapers Grandeco (collection Daisy), $31 per roll
Photo 13 — Vinyl wallpapers Grandeco (collection Aurora), $30 per roll
Other manufacturers: Company Khroma/Guy Masureel (wallpapers and textiles).
Photo 14 — Felt wallpapers Khroma-Guy Masureel (collection Lumina Inca Orange), $32 per roll
Wallpapers of the 'Eden' factory (Ukraine)
The Ukrainian wallpaper factory 'Eden' is one of the largest wallpaper producers in Ukraine and importers of wallpaper products to Russia. Today, among others, it produces the Versailles and Status lines. What makes this manufacturer attractive? First, its pricing offer. Second, a wide selection of wallpapers.
Vinyl wallpapers
The factory offers more than 450 articulations of textured vinyl wallpapers on paper base (vinyls with color patterns, monochrome and white vinyl wallpapers), providing a wide selection of structured vinyl wallpapers on felt (painted, paintable, mastic felt and skirting boards, borders).
Regarding color palette and pattern, as we have already said, domestic manufacturers are unfortunately far from European ones, but models that appeal to the heart and pocket can be found in 'Eden's' catalogs.
Photo 16 — 'Eden' wallpapers, Wallpaper Status line. $14 per roll
Other manufacturers: Among domestic manufacturers, one can also highlight Artshow wallpapers, TM Slavic Wallpapers (especially wallpapers with roses in the Expromt vinyl wallpaper collection), Elysium brand wallpapers (the manufacturer's catalog includes not only standard vinyl but also heavy, silk-screening and inking), the products of the 'Art' wallpaper factory (vinyl wallpapers and hot-stamped Art wallpapers), as well as Ukrainian TM Lanita - Skif line.
Photo 17 — Artshow wallpapers (collection Bolang)
Photo 18 — TM Slavic Wallpapers, (collection Expromt), $11 per roll
Photo 19 — TM Elysium, silk-screening, $23 per roll
Photo 20 — ART wallpapers, hot-stamped Art wallpapers (Paris, Rome, London), $18 per roll
TIP: If you don't know where in your city the certified point of sale for wallpapers of a particular manufacturer is located, the right decision is to go shopping at one of the local construction hypermarkets.
For example, in Leroy Merlin or similar ones. A large construction store offers a wide selection of products, so you can find structured vinyl wallpapers (Belarus, 'Belooboi'), high-quality products from Dutch company BN International - Durafort wallpapers, German wall coverings Erisman, smooth vinyl wallpapers (France, Casamance), and other quality finishing materials.