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How Do I Choose the Best Foil Wallpaper?

By Alex Newth
Updated May 17, 2024
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Foil wallpaper often is made from vinyl or thin metal, giving it a different look from conventional paper wallpaper. When selecting foil wallpaper, you should get a color that matches the rest of your room, unless you intend to match the rest of the room to the wallpaper color. Most foil wallpapers have a design, such as flowers or damask, from which you can choose when selecting wallpaper. Along with a design, some foils also have a texture that can make the wallpaper look completely different and, in turn, can change how the room looks. Some foil wallpapers also are self-adhering, and this can make it easier to hang such wallpaper, which often is a little harder to put up than regular wallpaper.

One of the first considerations with foil wallpaper is its color. Unlike regular wallpaper, which often comes in matte and pastel colors, the majority of foil wallpapers come in shiny and bright colors such as gold, silver and bronze. This makes the wallpaper better suited for ornate rooms, and you should select the color based on the items within the room or the aesthetic you want to convey.

Much like paper wallpaper, foil wallpaper also can have a design printed on it. The design normally is ornate, such as damask or stylized leaves, but there also are simpler designs, along with bare wallpaper that makes do with just the foil’s color. This likely will be a major consideration, because the design can change how the wallpaper integrates with the room.

Not only can foil wallpaper have a design, but some also have a texture. The background rarely is textured, but this is not entirely unheard off. Textures that are common to find are slightly fuzzy and raised textures. This texture often will change the appearance of the wallpaper, which can help you achieve a unique aesthetic.

When selecting foil wallpaper, you have the option of choosing wallpaper that you have to manually adhere or that is considered self-adhering. The manual version usually is cheaper, but it may be hard to hang it, while the self-adhering variety allows you to set the wallpaper against the wall and have it stick. One problem with self-adhering wallpaper is that, if the wallpaper is creased or otherwise imperfect, then it may be difficult to fix the crease if you do not remove it quickly. To apply self-adhering you normally have to remove a backing, which may be difficult to remove on large pieces, but this also enables you to test out the wallpaper before actually applying it.

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