--- title: "Choosing wallcoverings | Mr Wallcover" url: https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/choosing-wallcoverings/ description: "How to choose a wallcovering that still looks right once it is on the wall: traffic, light, cleaning, moisture, sample size and the questions to settle before ordering." author: "Dorin Burcus" last_updated: 2026-10-09 --- The Wallcovering Guide / choosing # Choosing wallpaper for the room, not just the photograph How to choose a wallcovering that still looks right once it is on the wall: traffic, light, cleaning, moisture, sample size and the questions to settle before ordering. By [Dorin Burcus](https://www.mrwallcover.com/about/#dorin), founder · Last updated 9 October 2026 [Discuss my room](https://www.mrwallcover.com/contact/?audience=homeowner&intent=advice) Will this wallpaper suit the room? That depends less on the photograph you fell for than on four things the photograph cannot show: how much the wall gets touched, how the light crosses it, how it will be cleaned, and whether moisture reaches it. Settle those first, then choose between the samples that pass. A sample is a small piece of a much bigger decision, because you are choosing how an entire wall looks in daylight, under lamps and beside everything already in the room. ## How will the wall actually be used? Start with traffic. A bedroom wall is rarely touched. The wall beside a staircase takes hands, bags and the odd suitcase every day. A restaurant banquette wall takes chair backs. The more contact a wall gets, the more the surface matters: a delicate paper or a silk can suit a protected feature wall and become a frustration beside a busy passage, where a [contract vinyl](https://www.mrwallcover.com/materials/contract-vinyl/) or a washable non-woven would shrug off the same use. Then think about the room’s job. A quiet background and a wall that becomes the main feature ask for different things, and that choice affects pattern scale, sheen and colour as much as it affects price. ## What will the light do to it? Look at the sample where it will be installed, beside the flooring, the curtains and the joinery, during the day and again under the room’s usual lamps. A metallic surface can look restrained from one angle and much brighter from another. Texture changes noticeably as light travels across a wall, and strong side light from a window will show every ridge in the surface beneath it, which is one reason [wall preparation](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/wall-preparation/) matters more for smooth and reflective finishes than for a textured paper. Ask for enough of a large design to understand the repeat. One flower, or one fragment of a scene, does not tell you how the room feels when the whole pattern is present. For a bold design, a larger sample or a quick room elevation is worth the delay. ## How will it be cleaned? Decide this before you order, not after the first mark. Many papers are not washable at all. Grasscloth and silk are dry-dust surfaces. Contract vinyl will take a damp cloth and mild soap, but only as its own maker allows. The word “vinyl” on a sample card does not make every product suitable for every kitchen position, and “washable” means what the product’s own care sheet says it means. Washability marks are cleaning marks: even “extra-washable” or “scrubbable” describes how the surface takes a sponge, not whether it can stay wet, and none of them makes a paper suitable for a shower or a splashback. Our [aftercare page](https://www.mrwallcover.com/aftercare/) sets out the general care each family can take; the exact product’s instructions take precedence. ## Will moisture reach it? Separate decorative walls from walls exposed to splashes, steam, grease or heat. A rarely used cloakroom and a bathroom with daily steam are very different rooms. Ordinary decorative wallpaper should not be assumed to work in a direct wet zone, and wallpaper should never be used to hide a damp problem. Draw the line physically, not by label: inside a shower or bath enclosure, and the splash zone behind a basin, sink or hob, are not places for decorative paper. [Zoffany](https://zoffany.sandersondesigngroup.com/product-faqs/wallpaper-faqs/), for one, would never recommend paper “in an area which would come directly into contact with water splashes, i.e., behind a sink or shower”. A dry cloakroom wall outside that line can take paper if the wall is dry and the product’s sheet allows it. Extraction helps the room; it does not make a wet wall dry. If a wall feels cold or soft, or a stain has spread, investigate the cause before you choose a finish for it. ## Do you want an even surface or a natural one? Some clients want a very uniform wall. Others want the movement and character of a natural material. Neither is wrong, but it should be decided before ordering. [Grasscloth and other natural weaves](https://www.mrwallcover.com/materials/grasscloth-and-weaves/) show their panels: colour and texture vary from roll to roll, and adjacent drops can catch the light differently. That is the material, not a fault, and our [guide to grasscloth seams and variation](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/grasscloth-seams-and-variation/) shows what to expect. If you like the texture but not the panel character, a woven-look vinyl or a printed texture is worth comparing. ## Room by room **Hallways and stairs.** Look at where bags, hands and furniture meet the wall. Cleanability and the chance of a local repair matter most here. Stairs add installation questions too: access, changing wall heights and where the pattern should sit as the wall climbs. The drops stay plumb while the stair rises, so the motif steps up the wall rather than following the handrail; that is geometry, not a fault, and it is why a flat-wall calculation is not a stair quantity. **Kitchens and dining rooms.** Keep the decorative wall away from the hob and the sink, and check the exact product’s suitability for the positions that will take splashes. **Bathrooms and cloakrooms.** Understand the ventilation and the existing moisture condition. Keep decorative paper out of the shower or bath enclosure and the splash zone at the basin; a direct wet zone needs a system specifically made for it. **Bedrooms and living rooms.** These usually give you the most freedom. Appearance still deserves care: side lighting emphasises texture and imperfection, and a large pattern needs a large sample. ## When does this advice stop being reliable? General family guidance cannot tell you whether a particular product is approved for a wet position, whether it carries a fire classification, or how it should be cleaned. Those answers come from that product’s own data sheet and care instructions, and from the maker where the room is unusual. If an answer is missing, keep the product on the shortlist rather than treating it as the final choice. Before you buy, collect the product reference, a photograph of the room and any dimensions you have, then ask about care, [quantity](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/quantities/), lead time and installation together. The [material finder](https://www.mrwallcover.com/materials/#material-finder) compares the seven families we hang by room, appearance and cleaning, and lets you save a shortlist to bring to the conversation. ## Further reading - [Zoffany: wallpaper FAQs](https://zoffany.sandersondesigngroup.com/product-faqs/wallpaper-faqs/) Your next step ## Bring it back to your room. Send the material reference and what you already know. A photograph and a short note are enough to start. [Discuss my room](https://www.mrwallcover.com/contact/?audience=homeowner&intent=advice) ## Explore the materials [Paper and non-woven](https://www.mrwallcover.com/materials/paper-and-non-woven/) [Grasscloth and natural weaves](https://www.mrwallcover.com/materials/grasscloth-and-weaves/) [Silk and textiles](https://www.mrwallcover.com/materials/silk-and-textiles/) [Contract vinyl](https://www.mrwallcover.com/materials/contract-vinyl/) ## Keep reading 02 / choosing ## [Grasscloth seams and variation](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/grasscloth-seams-and-variation/) Grasscloth seams show and panels vary in shade. What is normal, what is a fault, how the set-out and the batch change the result, and what to settle before you order. [Read the guide ↗](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/grasscloth-seams-and-variation/) 03 / preparing ## [Wall preparation](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/wall-preparation/) How to tell whether a wall is ready for wallcovering: old coatings, dryness, soundness, filling and sanding, lining paper, priming and what needs a site inspection. [Read the guide ↗](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/wall-preparation/) 05 / planning ## [Installation cost](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/installation-cost/) Why there is no honest price per roll: measured area, repeat and wastage, wall preparation, the material, access and protection, and what a quotation should include. [Read the guide ↗](https://www.mrwallcover.com/advice/installation-cost/)