A fun part of owning our own home has been designing with wallpaper for the first time ever. While we have plenty of clean white walls, I love the visual interest wallpaper creates. The selection process can be quite intimidating though, particularly if you’re looking for a statement wallpaper. I thought it could be helpful to outline some steps we’ve taken before to help you make your decision easier!

Calculate Your Budget

The cost of wallpaper can add up quite quickly and it’s important to understand how much you may end up paying. Though you won’t be able to identify exactly what it will cost you based on roll and repeat sizes, any online wallpaper calculator can help you come up with an estimate – covering all of the walls in a room, big or small, will always be more than just doing an accent wall. Remember to tack a little extra on!

Identify the Style

In the second bathroom, we wanted something super modern and luxurious, whereas our guest room called for something unique yet calming. For our daughter’s nursery, we opted for a statement wallpaper that’s magical yet elevated. Knowing the kind of style you’re looking for will help narrow down your options significantly.

Select a Color Palette or Pattern

Another simple way to narrow down your options is to decide on your color palette. Some ideas include neutral, tonal, or complementary colors. Instead you may already know what kind of pattern you like and that can be very helpful too. (Be aware of scale – you don’t want to match the pattern size of anything else in the room, and large-scale patterns create an intimate feel while small-scale patterns make a room look larger.)

Consider Extra Features

If your budget allows for it, extra details like texture and metallics can level up a statement wallpaper that much more. However, these details can be quite costly.

Think About the Location

Your decision may be impacted by where you can see the wallpaper in other rooms. We have a fairly consistent aesthetic, so this wasn’t as much of a concern to us, but walking from a blue room into a pink one, for example, could be visually jarring. Also think about who will be in this room and how often. Would your child find a bold and bright pattern to be overstimulating?

Order and Test Samples

Just like with paint swatches, this is a step I wouldn’t recommend missing, especially because wallpaper is much more expensive to redo than paint. Your computer screen can be deceiving and the physical paper used will also have an impact. Ask yourself how you would feel about looking at each sample every day for years. The answer could surprise you!