A small room can very easily be ruined by using the wrong wallpaper: therefore, it is important to choose the right wall decoration. Perhaps in any apartment or house there is a room whose area you would like to increase. But such a radical solution, taken to increase the space of small rooms, such as the demolition of interior walls or partitions, cannot always find its application in one case or another. Therefore, experts advise resorting to some tricks when creating the overall interior design, in particular, choosing the right wallpaper for a small room.
What wallpaper color visually expands the room?
Every person knows that different colors can visually evoke different sensations, therefore, in order to create the necessary effects in the interiors of rooms, it is important to know the purposes of the colors used. For example, light colors visually enlarge an object, while dark objects appear smaller than their actual size.
That is why, in order to achieve the effect of visually increasing the area of the room, you must adhere to several rules when choosing wallpaper for the interior of a small room.
The best option would be to wallpaper in neutral and light colors: they will not attract attention to themselves and, accordingly, to the size of the room
Rules:
- You can increase the space of the room using wallpaper in light shades of various colors in combination with furniture that is several tones darker than the walls.
- For small rooms, you should choose wallpaper in pastel neutral shades, such as light beige, sand, cream, blue, pink, peach and many others.
- If wallpaper with shine, for example with silk-screen printing, is to your taste, then it can be used as an excellent alternative to matte wallpaper for decorating small rooms to visually increase the distance between opposite walls.
- The choice of wallpaper colors for decorating a room also depends on its illumination: for rooms filled with sunlight or artificial light in large quantities, wallpaper in cold shades may be suitable, for dark rooms - only warm colors.
- When choosing between smooth wallpaper and textured canvases, you should give preference to the latter, on which differences in volume and play of shadows will be visible. They will increase visual space and help create more interesting interiors.
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A smart solution would be to use wallpaper with a reflective surface: they visually increase the size of the room
You should not wallpaper small rooms with wallpaper of bright or dark colors, which not only distract attention to themselves, but also visually reduce the space.
Design principles for small rooms
Wallpaper used in a living space, which will be constantly visited not only by your loved ones, but also by guests, must be of the highest quality and wear-resistant.
Of course, you can neglect some characteristics that are mandatory for rooms with more difficult conditions (for example, resistance to moisture), but even in this room there are risks of accidental damage to the appearance of the wallpaper.
Replacing one canvas with a similar one is not so easy: most likely, you will have to change the entire finish, so we advise you to play it safe and immediately invest in better material.
To ensure that your living room design remains bright and updated for a long time, choose wallpaper that can withstand mechanical damage. It is desirable that the outer layer of the material does not wear out, and that random scratches do not stand out against the background of the overall pattern.
Tip: Wallpaper with a relief texture, as well as materials with small prints in rich colors, help hide damage on the walls.
Wallpaper should not fade under the influence of the sun : in a small living room, almost all the walls will be located close to the window, and constant contact with the rays will affect the durability of the shades.
Take care of your health: choose wallpaper that promotes air circulation and does not attract dust.
If you plan to gather guests in this particular room, select a suitable area in advance and decorate it with stain-resistant wallpaper. It is advisable to choose wallpaper with a washable coating that can be easily cleaned even from stubborn stains.
Taking into account all the characteristics necessary to preserve the appearance of the walls, the best options for decorating a small living room will be vinyl, silk-screen printing, non-woven and textile materials. Textiles require more careful care, but thanks to their pleasant design they will create a cozy atmosphere in the living room interior, conducive to relaxation.
Another feature that you need to pay attention to when choosing wallpaper for a small room is its effect on the perception of space.
The following finishing principles will help you make the room more spacious and comfortable:
- Wallpaper in light shades has the property of expanding the size of the room, so this color must be present. Light wallpaper can be combined with bright and dark inserts to enliven the interior and emphasize the desired style;
- dark and bright wallpapers are not used as a background in cramped rooms. But when glued to one of the walls or on two opposite surfaces, they will emphasize the desired effect: the walls will visually move away and free up space;
- large patterns on the walls will “eat up” the free space in the room. Replace such wallpaper with coverings with small images of calm shades;
- To correct imperfections in the shape or size of the interior, you can use wallpaper with stripes of different widths. A vertical line will raise the ceiling level, but can also reduce the area of the room, so use such wallpaper with caution . Wallpaper in a horizontal line is a universal option that allows you to correct the shortcomings of the room associated with the presence of small-width walls;
- if the room is well lit, you can choose wallpaper of a cold palette for the background. Such shades are especially popular in modern interiors: for example, gray and blue will fit perfectly into the calm design of the living room and set the mood for relaxation.
Please note that the design of wallpaper for the walls must match the style of the furniture and the purpose of the living room .
Some additional effects will help to emphasize the solemnity of this interior, as well as influence the feeling of space: shimmer, glitter patterns, glossy wallpaper surface, 3-D images.
Choosing wallpaper for a small room: wallpaper with a pattern
Of course, light and plain wallpaper will greatly visually expand the space of the room, but at the same time give it a very boring and conservative look.
The use of patterns and ornaments on wallpaper will add a more colorful and positive mood to the interior, but not all of them are suitable for small rooms.
For a small room, photo wallpaper is not the best option: in extreme cases, it is permissible to hang photo wallpaper with a small pattern
How to choose patterned wallpaper for small rooms:
- Firstly, wallpaper with a small, non-contrasting pattern can completely replace plain wallpaper, while a large pattern, even with a slight contrast, can significantly spoil the decision to visually increase the volume of the room. The correct option for using wallpaper with a large pattern in a non-contrasting color would be to paste it on one wall of the room, against which low furniture such as a sofa or bed is placed. For example, using wallpaper with a floral print will look spectacular in the bedroom at the head of the bed.
- Secondly, for small rooms, wallpaper with a rare contrasting pattern of small or medium size is suitable, which will enliven the interior of the room and will not reduce the space. For example, in children's bedrooms, wallpaper with small images of cars for boys, or characters from the animated series “My Little Pony” for girls will look effective. But you should completely abandon the use of large contrasting patterns on wallpaper, as they can eat up a large volume of the room.
- Thirdly, you should not consider decorating small rooms with wallpaper with high contrast and pattern density. Even a room with a small amount of furniture will visually seem too cluttered and uncomfortable. Therefore, you should either completely abandon this type of wallpaper, or allocate only one wall of the room for it.
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Concluding our discussion about the use of wallpaper from drawings to decorate small rooms, it is worth mentioning once again that it is worth focusing on light shades of color, which visually increase the space of small rooms.
Possible design options
Having decided on the general requirements for the quality and design of materials for a small living room, you can begin to plan the design of your interior, taking into account its features.
We have selected for you three of the brightest and most stylish design options that are trending this year.
Laconic style
The design of a modern living room is not overloaded with unnecessary details and chaotic accents : as a rule, wallpaper in a bright or rich shade, used as an accent on one wall, is enough to create a dynamic but cozy interior. This wall design is typical for the modern, high-tech, loft and minimalist trends.
Background decoration of walls with wallpaper with a neutral design is practically never found in such interiors.
If you can't create an accent wall in your living room, create niches or create vertical combinations using lighter, more saturated colors.
In modern interiors, you can use almost any shade, but it is better not to give preference to dull colors (mustard, pistachio, pale green).
For modern living rooms with a small area, wallpaper with designs on the following themes is suitable:
- plain . Such materials should stand out against a light background: don't be afraid to use bright colors like brown, red or purple. The interior should contain details of similar shades;
- geometry _ Squares, rhombuses, circles and other geometric elements create dynamics, but look quite strict, so the laconicism of modern design will remain even with this design of one of the walls;
- abstraction _ Such wallpapers can have a wide variety of designs and even include contrasting shades that are not in harmony with each other. However, with the right selection of colors and shapes throughout the living room, you can create not only a stylish, but also a cozy interior;
- One of the most fashionable new products in the decoration of residential premises is wallpaper with imitation properties . Decorate one of the walls with stone, brick or other materials: this way you will not only create an accent, but also emphasize the naturalness of the design;
- Photo wallpapers on a natural or urban theme can become the main accent of your interior, and you don’t have to complement the design with additional accessories. Please note that photo wallpaper with a panoramic effect is an excellent option for visually increasing the size of a room;
- One of the traditional options is striped wallpaper . Depending on how you want to transform your accent wall, choose wallpaper with vertical or horizontal stripes.
This type of design is suitable for those who do not like to sit still. With the busy pace of life, even in your home interior you want to feel energy and orderliness.
The laconic design of modern interiors is one of the simplest and most popular ways to decorate a living room, even if it is significantly limited in size.
Home comfort and romance
Lovers of comfort often choose natural motifs for the design of their living room. The naturalness of interior design, which manifests itself in textures, shades and themes of patterns, is characteristic of country and Provence styles.
Unlike modern living rooms, in such interiors you can create patterned backgrounds without worrying about their psychological and aesthetic impact. Delicate floral motifs, on the contrary, will emphasize the homeliness of your room.
Attention! For interiors of this type, choose wallpaper of a light or warm palette: more saturated shades should be present in minimal quantities, for example, on flowers.
Wallpaper for a small living room of this type can also depict vertical or horizontal lines. But it is better to dilute the severity of this design with more delicate natural scenes , so do not be afraid to combine wallpaper of similar colors.
If you want to bring your interior closer to modernity, but maintain the warmth and comfort of the interior, use wide-format wallpaper as an accent. They can depict any subjects on a natural theme, starting with landscapes (fields, forests, sea spaces) and ending with individual flowers or plants.
Such wallpaper is glued in one of the zones: behind the sofa or opposite (where the fireplace or TV is usually located). If your room has a non-standard shape, you can use photo wallpaper to correct its shortcomings (for example, stick it on two walls at once or highlight the area of the front door).
In interiors of this type, you can use plain wallpaper in warm shades : yellow, soft pink, light green, lavender, blue and others. Another option for wall decoration, which looks quite strict, but creates a light and relaxed atmosphere, is a cage.
Try not to use checkered wallpaper in saturated colors: let it be light and perfectly fulfill its purpose as a background.
A living room in country or Provence style can also be decorated by horizontally combining wall materials. But most often, not two types of wallpaper are used for these purposes, but wallpaper is combined with other coatings.
Plastic or wood panels will protect your walls and will feel like a stylish and natural addition to your room's design.
Wallpaper for a small room: photo wallpaper
One of the most successful solutions to increase the space of a room with the help of wallpaper is the use of photo wallpaper in the interior.
But not all photographic images printed on wallpaper are capable of achieving the desired effect.
It is best to use photographs with perspective, the drawing on which goes deep into the image, for example: a forest path, a metropolis street or underwater expanses, or any other that suits your liking.
Photo wallpapers should be chosen in light shades, without a large number of small details
To use photo wallpaper as an assistant when increasing the space of a room, it is important to adhere to some general recommendations:
- For gluing photo wallpaper with perspective, walls or parts thereof without windows or doorways are suitable.
- It is not recommended to place tall furniture against the background of photo wallpaper; it is best to place a sofa, bed or coffee table.
- For very small rooms, you should opt for light-colored photo wallpaper.
- Photo wallpaper with a vertical pattern, for example, a forest thicket, is suitable for rooms with low ceilings, helping to visually raise it.
It is worth remembering the rule that in rooms with a lot of light you can use photo wallpapers in cool colors (images of the depths of the sea or high mountains), and for poorly lit rooms, pictures of warm colors (autumn landscapes, sandy sea beaches) are suitable.
Combined wallpaper for the bedroom: design photos for 2022
Modern fashion trends suggest combining wallpaper with each other. Let's look at the photo on how best to do this in the bedroom.
You can even highlight different functional areas using combinations or emphasize the sleeping area
If you want to draw the attention of someone in the room to a certain point, a successful combination solution will allow you to do this without interference
Combination allows you to hide some defects in the renovation, place geometric accents using contrasts or neutral or similar tones, and create a special decor in the room.
Ideas for vertical and horizontal combinations of wallpaper in the bedroom with photo examples
To combine vertical wallpaper, combine matte and glossy canvases, prints and plain options, light and dark.
Verticals seem to make the bedroom taller
Horizontal division involves covering the lower part of the room with darker or striped wallpaper, and the upper part can be decorated with other canvases: floral or simply a lighter coating.
Ideal classic option
Borders divide the room into two halves
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Combined wallpaper for the living room. In the publication you will find criteria for the correct choice of canvases, rules for combining colors, basic nuances and rules for gluing when combining, and advice from experts.
Contrasting inserts in frames and niches
We suggest using a combination of wallpaper of two colors in the bedroom. Judging by the photo, you can understand that contrasts can be played out in a very interesting way with the help of textured or shaped frames and niches.
Contrast highlights the difference in depth
Gray and white are already becoming classics
Combined wallpaper companions for the bedroom from manufacturers' catalogs with photos in the interior
What is companion wallpaper? Let's look at photos with examples for the bedroom and find out how you can make an interesting design. Modern manufacturers are betting big on companion wallpaper, and for good reason.
Originality goes hand in hand with sophistication
Need an accent? You should not cover the entire bedroom with one pattern or a single-color canvas. Modern wallpaper catalogs offer excellent solutions for lovers of accents and non-boring solutions, such as a combination of texture and texture
Even in the bedroom you need to show originality. This solution turns out to be quite easy with negative wallpaper.
Whatever wallpaper you choose, don’t forget that first of all you should like it - there is no place for psychological discomfort in your own bedroom!
Wallpaper that increases the space of a room: how to use it
Having chosen wallpaper in light shades with the right pattern, which helps to increase the space of a small room, it is important to use them correctly when decorating, because otherwise you may not only not achieve the desired result, but also get the opposite effect.
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The best solution would be to wallpaper without a pattern or just with a minimal pattern.
We list the main points when decorating the walls of a small room with wallpaper.:
- Decorating two opposite walls with wallpaper in cool and lighter shades will help expand and lengthen the room. This option will visually stretch the room in the direction of the light walls.
- When decorating long rooms, it is important to remember that wallpaper with a small pattern is best placed on long walls, while a large pattern is used to decorate short walls.
- A long and narrow room can be decorated with wallpaper with a pattern of horizontal stripes, and you can also use wallpaper in a darker warm shade on short walls.
- Wallpaper with a pattern, hung not as usual, but diagonally, will help to significantly increase the space of the room.
- For small rooms, it will be effective to use wallpaper of the same color of different saturations. Wallpaper of darker shades is glued to the lower part of the walls, and lighter shades to the upper parts. This option will help expand the area of rooms with low ceilings.
- The technique of alternating well-matched wallpaper with and without a pattern is perfect for small rooms. But it is worth remembering that the interval of wallpaper without a pattern should be less than the interval of wallpaper without. For example, you can alternate two pieces of plain wallpaper with one piece of patterned wallpaper that expands a small room.
Glossy wallpaper is also suitable for small spaces, visually increasing the area due to the partial reflection of objects opposite.
Little tricks
And a few more life hacks for your repair:
- Combining regular wallpaper and silk-screen printing of a related color will make the room visually larger.
- Avoid heavy and oppressive colors (dark blue, brown, purple, red). Well, if they are so dear to your heart, use them in the maximum dosage, use them only in detail.
- When choosing wallpaper, focus on the color of the furniture. Golden rule: ideal wallpaper is 2-3 shades lighter than the furniture.
- In a small room, both wallpaper with glitter and silk-screen printing feel great, the main thing is that there is not much of all this “splendor”.
- For dimly lit rooms, shades of white are used. And bright colors are used as spectacular accents.
- Photo wallpaper in a small room looks decent only on a perfectly flat wall. If in your case you cannot achieve this effect, opt for wallpaper with a pattern.
- Don't neglect textured wallpaper. Due to the appearance of a small shadow from the volume, the room visually appears larger.
- When combining different wallpapers, remember that their thickness should be the same. Otherwise, the joints will be very noticeable, and this will spoil the impression of the interior.
Contrasting combination of wallpaper on opposite walls of the room
Highlighting an accent wall in the bedroom with bright wallpaper
Combining different wallpapers to horizontally divide a wall
- Color combination is a science, the main rule of which is: “don’t overdo it.” Remember that you can combine no more than 3 colors and a maximum of 2 pattern options.
- If you like to use double wallpaper, then the top part should be lighter than the bottom, and the dividing border should not be placed exactly in the middle of the wall.
- And one more life hack for those who like to change their interior every six months: choose wallpaper for painting, only this will save your budget and give you the opportunity to make your dreams come true.
A popular solution for a room with a low ceiling is three walls with paintable wallpaper and one accent wall with striped wallpaper.
Wallpaper is a “powerful” finishing material. With their help, you can easily adjust the shape of the room, its dimensions and even the degree of illumination. And don't be afraid to experiment!