Wallpaper is back—and it's not just flowers and berries

Wallpaper is making a big comeback.

Recently, I felt the urge to refresh and update our dining room, whose furniture is from the 1990s. So I turned to Los Angeles designer Christopher Grubb. This meant I sent him photos, he gave the decorating instructions, and I did the research. It saved us hours of indigestion.

Technically, it's an alcove just off the front door, but it's the first room people see when they walk in, so I want it to shine. Grubb gave me a list of things to do: add two long mirrors, give the chandelier a black lampshade, and wallpaper the back wall and ceiling in a rich, medium blue grasscloth to distinguish the dining area from the foyer.

I requested six wallpaper samples, lived with the wallpaper for a few days, chose one, and hired a handyman to trim the walls and ceiling and smooth out any uneven surfaces.

“Wallpaper used to be just for high-end homes, but now social media and increased competition between brands have made it more affordable for the middle class,” says Katie Skelton, an Orlando wallpaper installer who owns Element Wallcoverings with her brother, Tim. “Plus, customers are realizing that their wallpaper doesn't have to have little flowers and strawberries on it. There are thousands of bold patterns, textures and contemporary prints to choose from.”

That's right: My daughter and her husband, also fashion-forward millennials, recently wallpapered their nursery (!) in preparation for the arrival of their newborn baby next month.

“We looked at lots of photos for inspiration,” their daughter said. “Almost all the kids' rooms had walls painted or wallpapered in fun colors.” The girls chose peel-and-stick paper with cute illustrations of woodland creatures, which their son-in-law did himself.

Though it's more expensive and takes more work than paint, if done right, wallpaper can give a room a richness and charm that paint alone just can't provide. “It's easy to update a room with a paint color, but if you really want to upgrade a room, wallpaper is the way to go,” says Grubb.

The wallpaper was hung this weekend, a fantastic step forward, so now that I'm up with the times, I'm going to ask Grubb and Skelton to tell me more about the wallpaper revival and what more homeowners should know about.

The unexpected happens. Wallpaper isn't just for living rooms and powder bathrooms: For one Los Angeles couple, Grubb covered the walls of their laundry room in a vibrant, graphic wallpaper. “It completely transformed the feel of this utility space.”

Do not line them up in a floating position. Many walls in homes have irregularities that make it impossible to apply wallpaper smoothly, so Tim Skelton recommends “floating” the wall, which involves skim-coating the wall with drywall mud to fill in any gaps.

Don't neglect the installation. Grubb says that if the paper has complex repeats that require special alignment, or if the room has many angles, you should hire a professional to install it and get multiple quotes. “I've had clients try to save money by hiring someone inexperienced or doing the work themselves, only to run into alignment issues that outweigh the aesthetics of the material.”

Consider new vinyl. Today's vinyl wallpapers often look like grasscloth or silk, but are much less fragile, more durable, and easier to clean with soap and water.

Enjoy the sound effects. Wallpaper will muffle some outside noise, but wallpapers made from linen, silk, cotton and grasscloth are particularly good at cushioning sound, making them a good choice for a home office or bedroom.