Everything You Need to Know about WallpaperEugene Chrinian

Everything You Need to Know about Wallpaper

Wallpaper once instantly dated a house; walls covered with fruit-filled cornucopia patterns or evergreen floral trim along the ceiling have made many designers cringe. In recent years, however, wallpaper has made a fun-filled comeback as designers have rushed to bring it back into the fold. Contemporary wallpaper comes in a variety of patterns, ranging from whimsical to sophisticated, and decorators have embraced its versatility and artistry.

Here’s everything you need to know about the history of wallpaper and where it fits in today’s home design world.

Patterns and Paper

Wallpaper is a descendant of simple patterns drawn on ancient cave walls and the Chinese invention of paper around 100 B.C. The Chinese were thought to have decorated their walls by gluing rice paper on them as early as 200 B.C., and in Europe during the Middle Ages, people hung gilded leather and tapestries on stone walls as insulation and decoration. While the wealthy continued this practice, poorer people emulated it by hanging paper—a cheaper alternative—on their walls instead. The earliest known wallpaper fragment found in Europe dates to about 1500, and prior to the advent of printing, wallpaper was painted by hand.

Coming to America

The first recorded instance of wallpaper, or “paper hangings” as it originally was called, in America was in 1700, when a stationer in Boston listed a collection of it in his estate inventory. Of the original colonists, only the wealthy classes could afford to decorate with this luxury import from England, although it became more affordable as the decades went by. After the Revolutionary War, Americans began printing their own wallpaper, and popular prints ranged from patriotic flags to roses. In Victorian times, wallpaper was hugely popular on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Height of Popularity

Wallpaper was all the rage in the 1950s and 1960s, when demand boomed and created a supply of professional wallpaper installers who used homemade paste to glue the paper to walls. After World War II, manufacturers created adhesive-backed wallpaper that homeowners could install themselves. This led to even more demand, and designers expanded wallpaper patterns to include bolder colors, flocks, and foils. In the late 1960s, manufacturers rolled out vinyl wallpaper, which was oil-based, cheap, and easy to print. It was even easier to install, as it consisted of a layer of vinyl laminated to a paper backing.

Removal Issues

The temporary demise of wallpaper began when homeowners learned that while new types of wallpaper were easy to install, they weren’t easy to get off the wall, requiring lots of scraping and peeling. Some homeowners didn’t take the time to properly prepare walls before hanging the paper, which made removing it years later a nightmare. And certain prints and colors became so closely associated with their time that wallpaper could quickly make a home look dated.

The New Paint

Wallpaper is now finding its place in design as a modern, artful way to cover a wall. Once a tool to create a pleasing background in a home, today’s wallpaper designs are so creative that they can easily take center stage—especially as an accent wall or the focal point of a room. Many types of wallpaper still feature patterns, but some designers are creating wallpaper with a dramatic central image, such as a giant flower or landscape scene, that can command as much attention as a statement piece of art.

Patterns often are designed by artists, and innovative creators are producing everything from remote-controlled wallpaper that changes patterns with the push of a button to wallpaper that you can write on. At least one company allows customers to create their own design. No longer the lowly, cheap design choice, wallpaper is now a way for homeowners to express their style and bring sophisticated artistry to their homes.

Do It Yourself?

Wallpaper has certainly come a long way, both in design and material. Modern wallpaper can be as functional as it is beautiful, made from materials that are long-lasting and easy to care for. Even the removal process has been improved, with numerous helpful videos and websites providing advice and step-by-step demonstrations.

Do-it-yourselfers take note: Even though wallpaper is much easier to handle than it once was, if you’re covering a dorm wall or another surface area where you’re not quite ready to commit, consider a stick-and-peel option that comes off easily.

However, leave the installation to the professionals if you want to cover your walls with high-quality wallpaper that’s intended to stay for a while.

Want to know more?

If you’re intrigued by wallpaper, there’s no better place to see samples than Historic New England’s website, where archivers have put together a digital collection of more than 6,000 wallpaper patterns from the 1750s to the 1950s. Along with each pattern pictured, the website includes information about the pattern’s artist and the era when the wallpaper was in style.