Wallpaper in the bathroom

You probably know it: the bathroom is our favourite subject, our core business, as those who like big English words say. Thanks to technological evolution, today we are able to offer, in addition to other bathroom coverings, from classic tiles to modern large stoneware slabs, wallpaper as a decorative and unique element for your bathroom!

The modern wallpaper is proposed through a new support called fibreglass, characterised by great efficiency, excellent resistance, lightness and breathability. It adheres like a fabric to the wall, avoiding the annoying air bubbles and accidental detachments that common paper used to present, and is therefore extremely suitable for the humid environment of the bathroom. Although fibreglass paper, obtained by processing it with resin, can also be laid in the shower, we still prefer to propose the greater safety provided by larg decorated porcelain stoneware slabs!

If you want to use wallpaper in the bathroom, therefore, we advise you to lay it in areas not dedicated to water, where a large slab will ensure extreme durability!

Read more about wallpaper in the bathroom: wallpaper in the bathroom

Wallpaper in the living room

If you are tired of white or plain walls that lack personality, wallpaper may be for you! Modern wallpaper has become an important decorative element in the home: it helps to shape spaces and highlight specific elements, as it enhances the objects and furniture near it. You can think of wallpapering just the fireplace column with a plasterboard structure, the walls of the staircase ramp, the television wall or the wall at the end of the living room. 

You can play with colours, patterns and geometries, the important thing is to be clear about the style you want to give to your living room. I will give you a few suggestions, which, however, are not fixed rules:

• For a classic style, opt for neutral tones and damask textures, which can become more contemporary if you choose reflective and metallic finishes;
• If you want to keep a cleaner and more essential style, I recommend some geometric weaves or dyed effects;
• If you are looking for a more energetic and sunny style, I suggest the much in vogue jungle-themed wallpaper.

Read more about this in this article: living area wallpaper

Wallpaper in the bedroom

We can also use wallpaper in the bedroom, usually to decorate the wall behind the bed, but there is nothing to stop us using it in other areas such as the ceiling, to reproduce the effects of the colour blocking technique, or other walls in the room. The choice of which paper is most suitable depends on many elements: the style of the room, the client's personality, the chosen colour palette, how the bedroom is perceived and so on.

We could go from dark, prominent wallpapers that make the room masculine and luxurious, to lighter papers with cosy textures that make the room warm and relaxing, inviting you to have a good, refreshing sleep. It all depends on what you want to feel when you are in your room!

Wallpaper in the kitchen

After the bathroom, the living room and the bedroom, you may decide to put wallpaper in the kitchen too! Depending on the style of your kitchen, you can combine creative and optically spectacular wallpapers:

• With a light kitchen, opt for eclectic or optical wallpapers, especially coloured ones to create an interesting contrast between the neutrality of the furniture and the wall;
• The industrial style kitchen goes well with map motifs, aged effects or wall effects;
• Modern kitchens go best with light colours and sober patterns.

These are just a few ideas for your kitchen: you should bear in mind that this is a decorative element with a strong impact and that it should go with all the other furniture and accessories you choose. If you have decided to use wallpaper in the living room, you will want it to match the wallpaper chosen for the kitchen: the risk is that you will create a jumble of too many different textures and patterns in the same room, as can happen in open spaces. As one designer would say: "less is more".

Customised wallpaper

We happen to work with customised wallpapers: we can decide together with the customer how to centre the design, what to show and what we do not want to include in the final result, in order to create a tailor-made wall decoration. 

The paper is then printed and cut according to the customer's requests, who can know in advance what will be waiting for him when he opens the door of the room in which the wallpaper is present. Details that really make a difference to some people and that can bring even the most hardened of perfectionists to agreement. 

Wallpaper or porcelain stoneware slabs?

Although modern wallpaper has evolved technologically, it has a longer lifespan than other types of wall coverings. On average, wallpaper has a lifespan of about ten years if it is well maintained (it can deteriorate quickly if it becomes an object of entertainment for children and animals, as well as if you live in a particularly humid environment and the paper was chosen without taking this into account). Over time it will absorb dirt and grease particles, tend to lose its original colour brilliance when exposed to the sun and may begin to peel, especially at the corners. 

The solution to this natural deterioration of upholstery could be the use of large stoneware slabs: very fine slabs of ceramic material on which the decoration is printed, similar to that of wallpaper, of which it can reproduce textures and consistencies with 3D processing. On a tactile level, the result will be completely different, but porcelain stoneware is eternally durable, not liable to scratch or discolour over time. Definitely a long-term solution!

The cost will clearly be quite different and you will have to think honestly about how long it takes for us to get bored of a decoration, how often we want to change the decor and style of the house!

You can read more about this here: wallpaper or large decorated ceramic tiles?

Wallpaper or mosaic?

Two different but equally decorative elements compete to cover the bathroom. As we have said, modern wallpaper can easily cover wet rooms such as bathrooms, as the surface is treated to make it water-repellent. However, there is a risk of moisture seeping behind the paper and causing it to peel away from the wall.

For this reason, you might favour mosaic, a traditional material that is more durable than wallpaper. The cost will be much higher than paper and you will have to take into account the totally different visual and tactile impact of the two coverings. If, on the other hand, you like the look of mosaics, you can recreate decorations with the tiles of any kind: floral designs or natural settings, geometric or linear patterns. 

Read more about this in this article: wallpaper or bisazza mosaic?

How to wallpaper

How do I install wallpaper? My advice is to ask a professional wallpaper installer. Do-it-yourself wallpaper laying risks wasting time and money: if the wallpaper is badly laid, the risk of it coming off the wall is very high! In general, however, it is good to know what method is followed by the installers. I will summarise the process in small steps below:

1. Preparing the base: clean the wall thoroughly, fill holes and flaws with grout and then smooth it out;
2. Laying phase: moisten the back of the material with a sponge with clean water fifteen minutes before application, spread the unthinned adhesive with a roller on a section of wall to be covered, then apply the strip with the help of a spatula and wait fifteen minutes before trimming the edges;
3. Application of the protective coating: this should be applied 24 hours after the application of the sheets in two coats, 4/6 hours apart.

We would like to assure you at the outset that it is normal for the newly laid paper to present some bubbles: these should last 3 to 4 days before the paper shrinks and spreads out after the mixture of water and glue has set.

It may seem a simple procedure summed up in this way, but it requires a great deal of manual work and in-depth knowledge of the material in order to achieve an optimal and lasting result. The work of laying, we stress, is a manual job: it is not repeated by a machine, but by an installer who includes a human component in his work and who risks, despite having years and years of experience behind him, making mistakes in laying. 

Wallpaper: costs and prices

The price of wallpaper can vary in many ways according to the following elements:

• Area to be covered;
• Material from which the paper is made;
• Wallpaper chosen;
• Whether the work is custom-made or not.

It is almost impossible to establish a certain range to guide you. But this question posed by a user may give you an idea of the range required for the material:how much does wallpaper cost?