Need wallpaper advice

8 years ago

We will be selling our house soon, and have a bedroom with pretty heavily textured walls- it's just a mess. The tops are drywall with texture and the bottom half of the wall is venetian plaster (the faux kind). The plaster doesn't have any real peaks or anything, but this room needs love. Don't really want to tear out and re-drywall, so considering wallpaper with a heavy liner. I've not done this before but am pretty handy. I'm mostly unsure of what styles won't look awful on all four walls. A feature wall is possible, but I want it to be as appealing as possible to the largest possible population of people. Our buyers will likely be young families, so style-wise we will want to stick with that kind of aesthetic. Open to any and all ideas, including specific recommendations. Thanks!

Featured Answer

pink_peony

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Sand the walls smooth, prime well and paint white. White not a color as a color will only show flaws where as white will help them recede. Even a wallpaper with a liner will show lumps and bumps. If you insist on wallpapers I’d do a neutral grass cloth. Even then the walls will need to be sanded smoother, primed and then don’t forget the sizing! Be prepared it won’t be cheap.

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Comments (18)

Nelly Bluth
8 years ago
Won’t adding wallpaper on top of all that make things worse? Is it possible to skimcoat over all of the existing textures to make them uniform?
Jennifer Wilton
Original Author
8 years ago
Apparently not- I've been watching videos and it seems like a wallpaper liner is the way to go, followed by wallpaper.
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Judy Mishkin
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
don't add wallpaper, buyers will be suspicious anyway. paint it all a nice color, price the house accordingly for 'one sketchy bedroom'. it's not the end of the world assuming the rest of the house is decent or better.
L Cole
8 years ago
How about textured wallpaper like Anaglypta High Trad Paintable Textured Vinyl Wallpaper Bolt or Faux grass cloth, both hide imperfections.
Bev
8 years ago
If you use a top rated eggshell paint, like from Behr, it will help mask the imperfections. I live in a house that was built in 1945 and we have plaster walls, not drywall. I read, before choosing paint for my house, that eggshell helps to hide those imperfections since it gives the walls a velvety look. My husband says that the wallpaper probably will not adhere right. He also said that you could skim the walls with plaster before painting. He knows a lot about building construction and he works for an engineering firm.
pink_peony
8 years ago
Another thought and honestly probably easier and possibly less expensive is to put up shiplap or faux ship lap on the walls. Painted white. It’s all the rage right now and it would be much easier to do than wallpaper. Watch a video or two. If you’re handy you shouldn’t have any issues.
hummingalong2
8 years ago
No wallpaper. Young families will probably not care for it. Wallpaper, like art is in the eye of the beholder, a personal choice.
Jennifer Wilton
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for all the comments. The walls are in bad enough shape that painting isn't really an option unless we replace drywall. The ceiling and on wall are shiplap, so probably can't add much more without it being overkill. At this point just weighing whether to replace drywall or wallpaper. I did try painting part of it and that's a no go. Houses in my market and price range are flying off the shelves so I'm not too worried about buyer loving it-just need it to be good enough. The rest of the house is fabulous.
Judy Mishkin
8 years ago
have you had a realtor weigh in? i get now that you dont want to 'ding' your perfect home... altho in truth homes are rarely perfect in the eyes of the buyer. your favorite color isnt their favorite color. you may be stressing over this room, when really your first viewer is saying to their spouse omg this (fabulous, perfect to you) bathroom has to be ripped out before we'd even think of moving to this awful house. its what buyers do.

if it was old me i'd also be itching to fix that last room. new me has realized in a hot market it wont matter an iota. i'd ask your realtor.
PRO
North Coast Interiors
8 years ago
What about this? Cover the wall . . .

http://www.makingjoyandprettythings.com/plank-a-wall-diy-shiplap/

(I'm not a shiplap cheerleader, but the idea could work with different wood types)
Judy Mishkin
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
OP said ceiling and wall were already shiplap, 2 posts up from yours.
PRO
North Coast Interiors
8 years ago
Ah - I didn't see that (OP) = great minds!!! ???
felizlady
8 years ago
Wallpaper will not work on a half-textured wall. And your choice of wallpaper may not please a buyer. If you don't want to properly redo the walls and paint the room a nice neutral color, put a large sticky note on the door saying "Project Room!" with a big smiley-face. A buyer may enjoy the humor and may appreciate not having to remove wallpaper to redo the walls.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
8 years ago
You can actually paint the lining paper but it is not cheap in the right weight I would just paint the whole space a nice neutral that goes with your bedding and leave it .N
Laurie Schrader
8 years ago
Especially in a sale- wallpaper looks, to many buyers, as just one more pain they get to fix if they buy. Take the advice of many- talk to a Realtor, get a strategy, and paint.

Caveat: I hate wallpaper, so take it with a grain of salt. But I'm not alone.
Jennifer Wilton
Original Author
8 years ago
I'm a Realtor. :-)
In my market, modern-looking wallpaper isn't a red flag. I show houses with it all the time. When it's well done, I don't mind it and most of my clients don't either. I'd rather have a nicely papered wall than a lumpy painted one, I guess.
Going to try the liner and see if it smooths out the surface enough. I'm mudding over some of the spots with the most texture, but my husband reminds me that the walls had paper when we moved in (it was a large floral waverly- not my style at all) and they looked fine (except for said waverly pattern).
If it doesn't work out, I'm out the cost of the liner only, and can demo the walls. I'm really not sure even a good skim coat could save them.
Laurie Schrader
8 years ago
Jennifer- sorry if I missed it on the thread that you're a Realtor. This should be easy, then. You must know local designers/stagers, yes? Tap those resources for the style questions for appeal in your market, perhaps.