Why Is Wallpaper So Expensive? (Top 9 Reasons)

 

Wallpaper is starting to come back in style.

For many years, the idea of wallpaper was outdated and not wanted by many people.

However, the idea of using wallpaper on an accent wall or to cover one room of the house is becoming increasingly popular.

If you have thought about adding some wallpaper to your home, you may be surprised by the total cost.

Wallpaper is certainly an expensive way to decorate your home, but many find it well worth the price you pay.

If you are curious as to why wallpaper costs so much, we have some answers to help you sort out why this is the case.

 

Why Is Wallpaper So Expensive? (Top 9 Reasons)

 

1. Installation

 

One of the significant reasons that wallpaper is so expensive is that the price of installing it is quite high.

If you can install wallpaper on your own, you may save some money, but overall, this will add quite a bit to the total cost of the project.

When you install wallpaper, there are quite a few steps involved.

To start with, all of the walls need to be perfectly even and capable of holding the wallpaper.

If there are bumps and areas where the wall is not smooth, there is a chance that you will be able to see this through the wallpaper.

When installing wallpaper, there is very strong precedence for making sure that the wallpaper is square on the wall.

If you are installing patterns or stripes and they are not lining up properly, the room will look ridiculous when you are finished.

Another difficult thing about installation is matching the pattern across the walls.

If your pattern has a design, you will very carefully have to line up the parts of the wallpaper to make it look like a unique and complete pattern.

The type of installation requires a qualified installer to make sure that the project comes out looking great.

Certified and professional installers are certainly going to be priced quite a bit higher than an amateur.

If you plan on taking on your own wallpaper installation process, make sure you start in a small area and see how the area looks prior to taking on the entire room.

 

2. Don’t Need as Much of It

 

Most people do not wallpaper their entire home.

Instead, the wallpaper is used for an accent wall or just a small area in a room.

Since you will not be using that much wallpaper, it is considered to be more of a premium material.

With material like this, you will pay more for a higher quality product with a more unique and impressive design.

When it comes to painting, there is nothing all that unique about it.

Although you will have a color selection, the rest of the project is going to be pretty standard.

Wallpaper manufacturers know that people are going to be purchasing the product in small quantities, and therefore, they will sometimes raise the price of the product.

Anytime something gets a more unique or high-end feel, it will likely end up costing you quite a bit more money.

If you are planning to wallpaper large spaces, it is a good idea to speak to a wallpaper supply company and see if they will do a bulk discount.

Mostly, they are used to working in smaller quantities and don’t come across this issue all that often.

The fact that you only need a small amount of wallpaper to complete a project certainly helps some people to justify the money spent on the paper.

 

3. Patterns and Design

 

The patterns and design of wallpaper are much more involved and unique than paint.

Some wallpaper manufacturers are very small businesses that have an artist on staff who is creating these designs.

When it comes to wallpaper patterns, people are not going to want something in their home that matches their neighbors’ and friends’ homes.

This is a place where you can show off your unique design ideas and interests, and that is one of the benefits of wallpaper.

Of course, because of this, the pricing of wallpaper goes up.

You have to imagine that before you get the product in your hand, not only was it made with materials that are higher in quality, it was also uniquely designed.

Someone had to come up with the color scheme and the pattern for the wallpaper, and this certainly makes it cost considerably more money than other wall coverings.

If you want a simpler wallpaper pattern, you may save yourself a bit of money.

 

4. Glue

 

Wallpaper needs to be installed with glue so that it will stick to the walls.

Although the glue will be relatively affordable, people will want to consider the type they choose to make sure it is long-lasting.

If the proper glue is not used, you will see corners start to peel over time.

The paper itself can be quite heavy at times.

If you don’t use the proper amount of glue or the right type, you are going to see your wallpaper start to separate from the wall rather quickly.

This is an important step of the process that needs to be considered and handled carefully.

If you are purchasing high-end wallpaper, you can’t cheap out when it comes to glue.

Although this glue is going to add an extra expense to your project, you will likely be glad you invested in the better type.

 

5. Durability

 

Wallcoverings need to be durable.

There are times when kids, pets, food, and dirt will come into contact with the wallpaper.

If you are installing your wallpaper in the kitchen or the bathroom of a home, you will need to consider the durability.

If you have never felt the strength of wallpaper, you may be a bit surprised by its durability.

The wallpaper is very thick, and it will remain durable on the walls.

Even as people walk past and touch or bump into the wallpaper, it will not peel away from the walls.

Overall, this type of durability is what makes the wallpaper more expensive.

The durability is not just to protect your walls, but it is also going to make sure that the wallpaper itself holds up for a very long time.

When wallpaper is used in areas that have high moisture, make sure that you purchase certain types of paper that can handle these environments.

As with most home improvement products, there are both cheap and expensive options for wallpaper.

The lower-priced options are nice in low-traffic areas like a guest bedroom.

However, you would never want to put the cheaper wallpaper in a place like the main bathroom or the living room where people spend the most amount of time.

Remember that the higher upfront costs of wallpaper could very well lead to lower costs long term.

 

6. Longevity

 

Most people expect that wallpaper is going to last them about 15 years.

This is a good indication of the average amount of time that wallpaper will make it on the walls.

If you are concerned about longevity, it does make more sense to purchase the higher-priced wallpapers.

If, however, you think that you will change your design options in the next few years, then you may go with the lower-cost paper.

Overall, the fact that wallpaper is built to last is going to increase the price that you pay for it.

Any time a product has a longer lifespan, the initial upfront cost is going to be quite a bit higher.

When determining the price you pay for your wallpaper, try to consider how long the product will last you.

If the product is going to make it for at least ten years, try to divide your cost up, so you have a cost per year.

Most will consider wallpaper to last just as long and sometimes longer than paint on the walls, and therefore, the initial price is going to be quite high.

 

7. Peel-and-Stick Option

 

Wallpaper sometimes comes in a peel-and-stick option.

This peel-and-stick material has a tendency to be much more costly than typical wallpaper.

As you can imagine, the reasoning behind this comes down to the installation process.

When home improvement projects are made to be more convenient, they are priced higher.

This has everything to do with time and money being related.

If you spend more time, it is likely going to cost you more money.

Peel-and-stick options can go on the wall within a matter of minutes.

In addition, you are not going to have to deal with any of the messy glue and the cleaning of this glue when your project is finished.

It seems a bit easier to line up the peel-and-stick options as you won’t have to worry about using the proper amount of glue and having the paper slide or move on the wall.

As you can see, there are some good reasons the peel-and-stick wallpaper is going to be expensive, but the price may prove to be not worth it for the average homeowner.

We really like the peel-and-stick option when doing a small accent wall.

Your project will be quite a bit simpler, and it can be completed much more quickly when you use the peel-and-stick wallpaper.

Regardless of what type of wallpaper you go with, the pricing is going to be higher than other choices for wall covering.

 

8. Shipping

 

Even though wallpaper is made out of lightweight material, when it is combined into a roll, it gets to be quite heavy.

Many people will look for online manufacturers of wallpaper to find a unique pattern and material that they want for their home.

This means that there will be shipping costs involved with getting the wallpaper to your home.

In addition, if the wallpaper is shipped from the manufacturer to a local distributor, there will be additional shipping costs involved.

These will get added to the overall pricing that you pay for the wallpaper.

Overhead expenses of small wallpaper supply houses can get relatively high.

Between the shipping, the rent, and the labor, the prices of the wallpaper are going to need to increase to accommodate this overhead.

One thing that you should keep in mind about these overhead expenses is that many wallpaper manufacturers have to assume quite a bit of risk.

They can produce large amounts of a pattern, only to find out that it was not a hit with consumers.

This leaves quite a bit of waste and lost revenue as well.

In the end, this will all come back to the consumers who are purchasing the products.

 

9. Pattern Matching

 

One of the most difficult parts of the wallpaper installation process is getting the patterns to match.

If you use wallpaper with a stripe or ornate pattern, it will take a lot of time to get the areas of the paper to line up with each other.

If you cannot line the paper up, it will be very obvious on the wall.

Sometimes, because of pattern matching, you will end up wasting quite a bit of wallpaper.

You have to cut and patch the areas so that they are going to match, and this requires both time and patience.

If a roll that you are using is almost finished, but your pattern needs to be repeated, you are going to have to buy additional paper.

It can sometimes be hard to plan out how these patterns are going to match up in the room.

Because of this, you will want to always purchase an extra amount of wallpaper.

Sometimes it is impossible to find the same paper twice, and you could find yourself in a bad situation.

Talk to an expert about the exact amount of paper that you will need for your space.

 

Is It Cheaper to Paint or Wallpaper a Room?

 

With the price of wallpaper being so high, many people wonder whether it would be more expensive to wallpaper or paint their walls.

When you add up the cost to paint, you will find that it is also quite expensive.

One of the things that make people think paint is so expensive is that it is used in every room of the house.

With wallpaper, you most likely won’t have to worry about this.

Wallpapering small sections of a room is entirely possible and relatively easy to do.

Overall, you will find that the cost per square foot of wallpapering a room will be higher than the price to paint.

The paint will cover a large area for a relatively low price.

When it comes to the amount of time to paint versus the amount of time to wallpaper, you may find that the wallpaper time can be lower.

If you use peel-and-stick wallpaper, you can get it installed rather quickly.

The only problem you will run into with wallpaper is getting the corners and edges to match up properly.

This can take a bit of work and make the process more difficult.

Wallpaper is expensive, but most feel as though it is worth the price that you pay.

Your home will have a unique look that will make it truly stand out from other homes in your area.