Choosing A Wall Covering

The best plan is to have a general idea of what you want to do with the room that you are changing. Do you want to brighten a dark room? Would you like to create an illusion of space in a small room? Would you like to create a feel of intimacy? What are your goals for this room? Will you be doing this project yourself or will you hire a professional wallpaper hanger? The answer to all of these questions will determine what type of wall covering for which you should look. As far as colors and brightness goes, in general, dark colors give the appearance of a smaller space; and lighter colors can usually visually enlarge the space where you use them.

If you are going to a wallpaper store or decorator, you will want to take as many samples from your home as possible to be able to mix and match colors. Paint samples and swatches of material and any other textured items from your room are a must in determining colors and patterns for your wall coverings. If you are planning to order from the internet, you can usually order a sample of the wall paper in which you are most interested for a fee of $3-5. It generally takes 1-2 weeks for the samples to arrive in your home.

Websites that carry wall coverings have several helpful features in helping you choose the right product. Most of these websites have both a wallpaper and a border calculator. As you plug in the dimensions of your room, it calculates how many rolls that you will need to buy. Another helpful aspect is the option to search a website or product line based on specific colors, type of wall covering and also the use of a keyword to narrow your search (such as fruit or stripes, if you specifically want one of these items to be present in the wall covering). Being that there are hundreds of thousands samples to choose from, anything that can narrow your search can be very beneficial.

Other suggestions in choosing wall coverings are to watch for coordinating patterns that would go well with your chosen wallpaper or border. Most websites and product lines will have suggested products that coordinate well to bring a look together. You may also want to notice the frequency of repetition of the design and also intricacy of matching your wallpaper, if you are hanging the wall covering yourself. Another suggestion for those who have a limited budget is to check out the discount tables for discontinued lines of wallpaper. It is perfectly good wallpaper at significantly lower prices. But you have to make sure that there is sufficient wallpaper for your needs because you will not be able to order more.