There was a moment in home design history when wallpaper was everywhere! Remember when we all started tearing it out and painting over our walls? Whether or not you like it, it's back, and I think we learned our lesson about throwing it out completely. Wallpaper can be a timeless design choice, and I am learning to lean less into trends and more into classic design that will stand the test of time. Unfortunately, wallpaper comes with a cost, though. Whether you're DIY-ing it or hiring it out, it's nice to know what to even budget for! So how much does it even cost to install wallpaper?
DIY-ing vs. Hiring Wallpaper Installation
We've done our fair share of DIY wallpaper installs, but now that we can hire out more, we do it as often as we can because the professionals are so much better and faster than we could ever be. Before even beginning to install the wallpaper, there's prep work involved, which involves priming and de-texturizing walls (exhausting). In our experience with hiring installers, they do the prep work! Thank you very much. However, if you're willing to put in the work, it could save you a nice chunk of change.
How much does it cost to hire installers?
Striped Back Hallway Wallpaper
According to this article on Angie's List, the normal range for hiring wallpaper installers in the US ranges from $312-$792. Most installers charge based on the square footage of wallpaper, the complexity of the space, and the wallpaper material. For example, grasscloth wallpaper is notoriously tricky to install. And for some reason, striped wallpaper is also challenging to get exactly right, so although our back hallway downstairs is a fairly small space, the cost of labor was $550. The same installer also did our powder bathroom, and he charged $400.
Shop the Powder Bath
Since the mural wallpaper in the study was a much bigger space, the cost of labor was $650.
Shop the Laundry Room
The laundry room wallpaper installation cost $500.
Shop Polly's Room
And Polly’s room was $550.
It's really validating to see that our numbers aren't all over the map and that they're right in the "normal" range! Have you ever hired out wallpaper installer or ever done it yourself?
Where do I find installers?
When we lived in Idaho and were looking for installers, we actually went to Sherwin Williams and asked if they could recommend anybody, and they had a whole list of installers! So start with your local paint store or home goods store because, more often than not, they know contractors who specialize in wallpaper! Another great place to check is your local Facebook group. Word of mouth means so much these days, so if you can find a few neighbors who would recommend somebody, chances are you'll be in good hands. I know other people have had good luck with apps like Thumbtack and TaskRabbit, although we haven't ever personally used them. You can also reference this post, "How do You Find a Contractor?"
For quick reference, here's all the wallpaper we've used (so far) in this house!
1. Farrow & Ball Block Print Stripe (Modern Colonial Powder Bath)
2. The Mural Source Derbyshire Antiqued (Modern Colonial Study)
3. Farrow & Ball Ranelagh (Modern Colonial Faye's Room)
4. Magnolia Home Black/Off White Floral (Modern Colonial Laundry)
5. Morris & Co. Owl & Willow (Modern Colonial Polly's Room)
6. Aegean Stripe Navy by Holli Zollinger (Modern Colonial Hallway off Kitchen)
While I don't have numbers to compare to, I still wanted to show all of the wallpaper installs from our last house. Some we did ourselves, and some we hired, but all of them we loved.
Girl's Office
Shop the Cottage Girl's Office
Playroom
Shop the Cottage Playroom
Faye's Room
Shop Faye's Cottage Room
Polly's Room
Shop Polly's Cottage Room
Greta's Room
Shop Greta's Cottage Room
Cottage Bathroom
Shop the Cottage Bathroom
1. Stripes Away (Modern Cottage Playroom)
2. Scalamandre Raphael Wallpaper (Modern Cottage Girls' Office)
3. Cole & Son Florencecourt Charcoal (Modern Cottage Master Bathroom)
4. Hawthorne Black Linen (Modern Cottage Faye's Room)
5. York Wallcoverings Meadowfield (Modern Cottage Greta's Room)
6. Farrow & Ball Brockhampton Star (Modern Cottage Polly's Room)
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This was so interesting to read and the push I needed to call installers about my McGee & Co wallpaper I bought a year ago. For our 11x14 dining room, I got one quote for $960 and one for $1200 in Baton Rouge. Both have decades of experience.
Thank you for sharing this! My hangup has been having to smooth the walls before we wallpaper. We have orange peel texture everywhere--ugh. 10 years ago, I got a bid to smooth walls and wallpaper our small guest bath that's under the stairs -- $1200. (We're in Austin.) So instead I hung all my estate sale art finds in there. I would still love to wallpaper though.
Thank you so much for this! I plan on adding wallpaper to my bedroom and was not sure what the best way to go about it was!
I would love to see the new Pottery Barn Kids mural (it is so gorgeous and such a good price too) styled for a guest bedroom or bedroom for an adult - it seems to me like it could work to do one wall in a smaller bedroom but would love to see how you might style that with a full sized bed and other decor -
Awesome tips. I'd guess it varies widely by area. West and South seen to have much lower labor costs, in general. I think for similar installs in my area it would be twice as much - just so folks are aware. Also, after wallpapering a kitchen (plaster walls) myself in the 90s and stripping it myself in the 2000s, watching a layer of plaster coming off with the paper, NEVER AGAIN. 100% Team Hire-It-Out, here. Worth every cent.
Your wallpaper person has done the most fantastic job! I live in your area of NC and am building a home if I sent you a private email, would you be willing to share who your local installer is, please?
This is so helpful!! Would love a roundup if a few of your favorite wall papers for different spaces. Dining rooms, bathrooms, boys rooms, girls rooms!
Whoever is installing your wallpaper there in NC is giving you a very good deal! We recently installed wallpaper in bathroom we added to our home and were charged over $800 by the very experienced professional we hired. And the installer insisted that our contractor come and resurface the walls before he would apply primer and paper. Most professional installers that I contacted here in Houston are so busy that they have a 3-6 month waitlist too.
I was just thinking the same. I’m in Dallas and starting is around $800, definitely cost can vary by location as well.
You forgot your current dining room!
I used to not think much of wallpaper until I started following your blog….now I have hopes of installing some gorgeous wallpaper one day!
Did you guys remove the wallpaper from the dining nook in your new house?!