What Is the Best Wallpaper to Cover Bad Walls?

If you’re battling badly damaged walls, you may feel confused about the best way to cover them. From deep cracks to crumbling, it can be notoriously difficult to hide textural flaws – with many people simply opting to replaster. Fortunately, there are alternative wall coverings out there that could give you the blank canvas you’re after without the cost and hassle of replastering.

Whether you’re struggling with surface marks or structural flaws, wallpaper can be an excellent way to hide signs of damage and prepare your walls for paint. When searching for the best wallpaper to cover bad walls, it’s important to consider several factors, including how damaged your walls are and the overall finish you’re hoping to achieve.

In this post, we’ll explain how you can choose the best wallpaper to cover your walls – whatever your style and budget.

Why use wallpaper to cover bad walls?

There are a number of options out there if you’re wondering how to cover bad walls. From applying drywall mud to stick-on tiles – the right decision for you will ultimately depend on the type of wall you’re covering as well as your personal style. But while solutions like tiles might work well in a kitchen or bathroom, wallpaper is suitable for any room of the house (and it’s a lot less messy than drywall).

Even better, unlike tiles, wallpaper can be painted over. As well as covering imperfections, the right kind of wallpaper can provide a smooth surface for painting – giving you a bit more flexibility going forward.

Paintable textured wallpaper is an excellent way to disguise damage, boost longevity, and create a striking finish. If you’re wondering what’s the best wallpaper to cover bad walls, let’s take a look at why textured wallpaper could be the perfect choice for your home.

How does paintable textured wallpaper work?

When it comes to covering bad walls, paintable textured wallpaper is a great solution. This wallpaper features a textured (raised) design, which makes it highly effective at covering uneven surfaces and imperfections in your walls. From subtle striped textures to bold geometric designs, we stock a wide range of paintable textured wallpaper at Cover Your Wall, making it easy for you to find your favourite.

Once you have applied your wallpaper as per the instructions, and the paper is completely dry, it’s ready to be painted. Because textured wallpaper is thicker and more durable than most standard lining papers, it’s suitable for repainting again and again. This means that if you’re tired of your current colour, there’s no need to strip off your paper and start again. With that in mind, it’s a long-term but low hassle solution to covering bad walls.

What is paintable textured wallpaper made of?

At Cover Your Wall, our paintable textured anaglypta wallpaper is available in a variety of materials. The best material for you will depend on your chosen pattern and finish, but all will provide you with a perfect surface for your favourite paint.

• Vinyl

Vinyl is a common material for paintable textured wallpaper, and it delivers a number of important benefits. First and foremost, it’s easy to clean – simply wipe down with a damp cloth or sponge. Although vinyl wallpaper is much less porous than paper or woodchip, paintable textured vinyl wallpaper (as its name suggests) is also easy to paint. It’s highly durable and can withstand frequent repainting, meaning you can update the look of your home regularly while maintaining the striking textural design on your walls.

• Pure paper

This type of paintable textured wallpaper is usually made up of two or three layers of paper in order to create an embossed look. (Wallpaper with two layers is known as duplex, whereas paper with three layers is known as triplex). These layers help to increase the longevity of the textured pattern. The material is also incredibly breathable because there is no PVC content.

• Woodchip

Woodchip wallpaper is similar to duplex paper wallpaper, except there is a layer of wood chips in between the paper layers. Woodchip is typically cheaper than other types of wallpaper and became incredibly popular in the 1970s.

Thanks to its thick texture and porous material, woodchip is an excellent – and hard-wearing – surface for paint.

How to cover bad walls with paintable textured wallpaper

The exact process of applying your paintable textured wallpaper will depend on the type of wallpaper you have bought. Conventional wallpaper requires you to paste the paper and wait the right amount of time before applying to the wall. Alternatively, paste-the-wall wallpapers simply require you to apply paste to the wall before hanging the paper.

Once the wallpaper is applied, it’s time to apply the paint…

1. Once you have finished papering your wall, you need to wait until the paper is completely dry before starting to paint.
2. Next, you may need to prime your walls to prepare them for the paint. This will depend on the product you’re using, so be sure to follow the manufacturers’ instructions.
3. Now it’s time to paint over the top. At Cover Your Wall, all of our paintable textured wallpaper is produced in a plain white shade. This makes it ideal for adding your favourite colour paint on top.
4. As with the primer, you may need to touch up the wallpaper with a small brush if any areas aren’t fully covered.
5. After the first coat of paint has dried, check that the finish is even and apply a second coat to make the colour pop.

Which paintable textured wallpaper should you choose?

Cover Your Wall stocks a wide range of paintable textured wallpapers. From intricate floral designs to stand-out tile prints, we have patterns to suit any style and budget – and offer free delivery to UK mainland addresses on orders over £100.

Whether you’ve seen something you like or don’t know where to start, our team is always happy to help. Email us at info@coveryourwall.co.uk today.