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| | | Wallpaper enhances a room's decor with textures, colors and patterns that would be nearly impossible to create with paint, and the images can range from a simple repeated pattern to a complex mural or a blend of patterns and borders. Wallpaper installation can last 15 to 25 years or more. | | |
| Typical costs: | - Good, basic wallpaper sells for an average of $25 -$50 a single roll, depending on material and style. Papering a typical 16-by-20-foot room requires 16 to 20 rolls, at a cost of $400 -$1,000.
- Designer wallpapers run anywhere from $60 -$250 or more per roll, or $960 -$5,000 for just the paper for a typical 16-by-20-foot room.
- Professional paperhangers charge $30 -$60 to hang a single roll, or $480 -$1,200 for just the labor in a 16x20-foot room, making the total cost $880 -$2,200 for hiring someone to hang basic wallpaper in a 16x20-foot room. Rates for hanging expensive "designer" papers (where mistakes are costly) are often priced at 75 percent or more of the wallpaper's cost, or a total of $1,680 -$8,800 or more for a 16x20-foot room, depending on the paper used.
- A large wallpaper mural starts around $200 -$800 but can run $1,000 -$2,000 or more, depending on size, design and subject matter. Professional installation of an eight-panel mural starts around $200 -$300 and goes up depending on complexity.
What should be included: | - Wallpaper can be surface-printed, screen-printed, vinyl, vinyl-coated, custom colored or made with metals, cement or glass. The National Guild of Professional Paperhangers provides a glossary of terms.
- Most manufacturers recommend removing any existing wallpaper and priming the walls with a wallcovering primer/sealer before hanging new wallpaper. The National Guild of Professional Paperhangers gives a detailed overview of what should be done to prepare a wall for wallpaper installation.
- ThisOldHouse.com provides and easy-to-follow do-it-yourself video. The site estimates it takes a do-it-yourselfer 6-8 hours to paper an average-sized room, and rates the project as "challenging."
Additional costs: | - Extra-tall ceiling, stairwells and other challenges will bump the costs to the higher end of the price scale and perhaps beyond.
Discounts: | - Wallpaper and home improvement stores often sell discontinued patterns for as little as $2 -$5 a roll; but what's on the discount table might be all that's available. Be sure there's enough to do the job and keep a bit for future repairs.
Shopping for wallpaper: | |
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Article updated February 2008 |
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