Residential Painting and Papering – Which to Choose?

Painting and papering, when chosen carefully, can add character and create a special ambiance to every room of your home. Choosing the right residential painting can be one of the easiest ways to give a room a whole new look. From changing the color scheme to switching to an entirely new style, a simple coat of professionally applied paint works wonders. Small rooms can suddenly feel large while large rooms can be made to feel warm and cozy by choosing the correct colors and textures. Your residential painting professional can help you choose the painting and papering techniques that will get the best results. Whether you decide to stick with paint or go with wallpaper, here are five questions you can ask yourself to confirm that you are on the right design track. Answering these questions will help you select the right combination of paint and paper for your home.

1. What is the general style of your home and its furnishings? Professional home painting takes into account the type of furniture inside your house as well as your decorating accessories. For instance, maybe you love antiques and like that kind of old look, but you enjoy mixing your old items in with a more modern setting. It’s your home so you can decide. Anything goes! Other styles you might prefer are retro, modern, sedate, fancy or conservative. You could decide to go with beige or rust colors to produce a conservative and calm feeling or choose a bright turquoise to give a more retro or modern look.

2. What is your design theme? Sometimes people organize the things in their home according to hobbies or a specific profession. Various types of themes represented on your walls could include sailing, horseback riding, trains, travel or gardening. For instance, if you love botanical prints and a more light and outdoors type of look, you could consider starting with flat base colors on the walls. Keep the colors to earthy type tones that typify your landscape. Then go with a more ornate wallpaper on one wall with your favorite flowers, hills or trees. The results can be stunning.

3. Are you considering your personal lifestyle when choosing between painting and papering? One of the more important issues to consider is whether there are young children in the home. Here are some other lifestyles that can determine when to use paint or paper:
Young kids in the house mean frequent cleaning of the bottom portion of the wall.
If you enjoy frequent redecorating, nail holes are easier to repair on painted walls.
Flat and bright colors can represent a clean and open look.
Painted walls with muted or early tones won’t overpower framed paintings and prints.
Papered walls with scenery can give the feeling of being outdoors.

4. What type walls do you have? Take into account that vinyl wall coverings are easy to keep clean from smudges and tiny hand prints. On the other hand, high quality paints that are used in residential painting can easily be wiped clean. If the walls are dirty beyond repair, a new coat of paint can make them like new again. A good alternative to choosing between paint or paper is installing washable wallpaper on the bottom half of the wall and paint on the top half. If you go with painted walls, slightly darker hues can hide stains better than light colors.

5. What is your budget? You should consider the cost not only for this painting and papering project, but also take into account the cost for maintaining and updating the walls in the years to come. While it’s possible that the initial cost of papering is more than painting, the wallpaper also lasts longer. Good quality wallpaper can still look nice after 15 years of use, while the average life of a painted wall is about three years. Whichever route you decide to go, buy the best quality that your budget affords so you’ll get the longest life out of your new paint and paper.

The above questions will help guide you during your next residential painting project. If you have any questions regarding the information you just read or wish to have a quote on your next residential painting project, please reach our team today at (828) 326-0953!