Should You Wallpaper All Walls In A Bedroom? Yes. And No…

There are so many choices when it comes to wallpaper! It’s hard to not want to wallpaper all the things. And maybe all the walls?

It’s no wonder that so many people decide to incorporate wallpaper as they design their rooms. However, should all the walls in your bedroom have wallpaper, or does it look best when done on one wall?

Wallpaper can be placed on all of your bedroom walls or used as an accent wall. Usually, accent walls use bold colors, patterns, and textures. In contrast, more subdued colors, patterns, and textures are used when all the bedroom walls are wallpapered.

Wallpaper is a beautiful option for adding interest to bare bedroom walls. But, should all the walls of your bedroom have wallpaper?

Do All The Bedroom Walls Need To Have Wallpaper?

No, not all the bedroom walls need wallpaper. Wallpaper is commonly used in two ways: applied as a focal point on an accent wall or to all the walls. Some even apply wallpaper to the ceiling, often referred to as the fifth wall.

Accent walls have been popular in bedrooms for the past few years. However, the size of the room plays a huge part in determining whether or not the wallpaper should be on all of the bedroom walls.

Hanging wallpaper on all of your bedroom walls is pretty common if you have a small bedroom. This is because having an accent wall in a small bedroom can diminish the room’s size and make it feel significantly smaller. Wallpaper is generally placed only on one wall in an oversized bedroom.

Why Would You Choose To Wallpaper One Wall In Your Bedroom?

It’s best to use your bedroom’s style as a guide. Covering only one wall allows you to go bold with your wallpaper selection without overpowering the room. Usually, wallpapering one wall is done when the bedroom has its own beautiful architectural features.

The goal is to not overwhelm those features but to enhance them. Although the wallpapered accent wall is a focal point, the print needs to play into the bedroom’s overall look.

Suppose you want to create a focal point in your bedroom.

In that case, you can wallpaper one wall in your bedroom or wallpaper the other three walls and paint the wall that draws the eye or has the most interesting features in a complementary color.

An accent wall’s color contrast will draw (and stop) the eye. Therefore when picking an accent wall, it should be a wall that has the most eye-catching features, as it will most likely be the wall that you look at first.

Determining your accent wall is pretty simple. It will typically be the first wall you see when you walk into your bedroom. However, the tricky part is deciding whether or not that wall is accent-worthy.

Installing wallpaper just behind your bed’s headboard is an example of integrating the feature wall into the room decor. As the bed is almost always the focal point of a bedroom, highlighting the wall behind it helps emphasize that specific spot.

Why Would You Wallpaper More Than One Wall In Your Bedroom?

Selecting the best wallpaper for all of your bedroom walls has an entirely different set of guidelines than choosing wallpaper for a focal wall. The lively floral or vibrant pattern you select for an accent wall may be too much on all walls.

A large area can be wallpapered without overpowering the room if the pattern is kept to a minimum. Rather than being a feature, it serves as a backdrop. This backdrop can then be blended with additional interior elements like soft furnishings and window ornaments.

This also allows you to apply the pattern to other items such as bedding or cushions. You’re no longer restricted to matching your bedroom’s specific design to that of the feature wall, which can be great if you plan on going all out with your décor.

When you decide to paper more than one wall, remember that wallpaper has a presence. Therefore, you never want it to dominate or overpower the other elements in your bedroom.

Still, it can also bring your bedroom alive when the correct wallpaper is chosen. Just because your first choice bold wallpaper might be overkill on all the walls doesn’t mean you can’t find one that will work.

What To Consider When Deciding How Many Walls To Wallpaper

There are several things to keep in mind when deciding if you want to wallpaper all of your bedroom walls or just one. Take a look at the wallpaper you’re considering. Is it a bold print or more subtle?

Bold patterns can easily overwhelm the bedroom décor if used on all walls. However, bold prints generally look fantastic when used on one wall as they enhance the bedroom’s décor. What does the furniture in your bedroom look like?

If you have a printed sofa or curtains, a wallpaper with a strong print could potentially clash with them. Therefore, a bold accent wall might not be the best choice. Instead, try wallpapering all of the walls in a subtle pattern that complements the color scheme of the existing prints in the room.

In short, only one element should be the star of the show — everything else should be supporting cast.

Is your bedroom cluttered? When there’s too much going on in a bedroom, it can be visually disorienting and generate a sense of chaos. Avoid installing a feature wall in a room that’s already congested. A feature wall should be a focal point. Thus, it should have enough space to breathe.

Does Size Of The Bedroom Matter When Wallpapering?

Yes, the size of the bedroom will determine if you should stick to one wall or if you can get away with wallpapering all the walls. Avoid using an accent wall in a small room. It will simply make it appear smaller. You should cover all walls if you want a striking color or pattern in a tiny area.

However, installing wallpaper on one wall doesn’t always make the space appear smaller. If you select a color and pattern with a lower contrast to the painted wall color, the visual transition is smoother.

Darker walls, when used well, with add depth and visually recede, resulting in a more expansive feel. You can, for example, use deeper tones of similar hues to add subtle focus rather than something high contrast which can visually shrink a space.

The scale of the pattern can make a bedroom look larger or smaller. Use a bold print with a darker background to visually shrink the scale of a large bedroom if you plan on covering all the walls.

The pattern and color contrast will create the visual effect of drawing the walls closer, giving the room a cozier feel. On the other hand, a little patterned wallpaper can make a small space appear larger or a huge room seem even more enormous, based on the color and pattern.

Not all styles function in the same way. Some wallpapers appear best on a single wall, whereas others look best on all walls.

Conclusion

One stunning wallpaper design can drastically transform the appearance of your bedroom. Ultimately, it is up to you whether or not you want the wallpaper to be a subtle accent or a major element. Whichever way you choose to wallpaper your bedroom, it will quickly alter your living space.