Wallpapering
Transform Walls With Pattern and Texture
Wallpaper is back in a big way, adding pattern, texture, and personality that paint alone can't match. Whether it's a bold accent wall or a whole room, professional installation ensures crisp seams, matched patterns, and a smooth, bubble-free finish.
Good wallpapering is meticulous work. A good installer preps the walls, matches patterns precisely, and hangs the paper cleanly, and can remove old wallpaper without damaging the wall beneath. That precision is what separates a professional job from a frustrating DIY afternoon.
Abode connects you with local wallpaper pros. Compare specialists, understand the cost, and transform your walls.
Did You Know?
Pattern matching is where most DIY wallpaper jobs go wrong, since even a slight misalignment repeats and compounds across every seam in the room.
Wallpapering Cost. How Much Do Projects Cost?
Most projects run between $400 and $2,000. The average price is typically around $600. The $400 to $2,000 range is a project total for papering one standard room, walls only, at $4 to $10 per square foot installed for materials and labor; an accent wall is $150 to $600 and a small bathroom $450 to $1,800. The rows below are per-square-foot and per-roll rates rather than totals, so they sit far under that band, and two of them decide the estimate: paper is sold by the roll, so confirm whether a quoted price is a single roll (28-30 sq ft) or a double (56-60 sq ft), and removing old paper plus priming the wall is billed separately and can cost more than the hanging.
Typical duration: A few hours to 2 days
| Cost Factor | Typical Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Installation labor | $3-$8 per sq ft | Standard papers; grasscloth, murals, and pattern-heavy work run $6-$14 per sq ft, and many paperhangers quote per roll instead at $30-$80 a single roll or $60-$150 a double |
| Wallpaper material | $25-$100+ per double roll | A double roll is about 56 sq ft on the bolt, roughly 50 after pattern waste; a single roll covers 28-30 sq ft, and designer or hand-printed papers run $250-$1,200 per roll |
| Old wallpaper removal | $1-$4 per sq ft | Stripping and prepping walls first |
| Wall priming and repair | $50-$300 per wall | Or $1-$3 per sq ft as an underliner; on a damaged wall this and the removal above can exceed the cost of hanging the new paper |
| Peel-and-stick, DIY | $1-$6 per sq ft in materials | A 12 ft by 8 ft wall is $100-$300 done yourself against $400-$1,000 hung by a pro, plus $50-$150 in tools |
Cost data verified August 26, 2026. How we source cost data.
08/26/2026
Signs You Need Wallpapering
- Wanting pattern or texture on a wall
- A plain accent wall to elevate
- Dated or peeling existing wallpaper
- A design refresh
- Adding personality to a room
Is It Right For You?
Who It's For
- Homeowners adding wallpaper for style
- Anyone removing dated or damaged wallpaper
Who It's Not For
- Simple painting a homeowner prefers
- Small peel-and-stick projects
What to Watch Out For
Designer wallpaper can be expensive on top of labor
Old wallpaper is sometimes stubborn to strip
Alternatives to Consider
| Alternative | Better When | Worse When |
|---|---|---|
| Peel-and-stick wallpaper | DIY-friendly and cheaper | Less durable and harder to pattern-match well |
| Paint | Cheapest wall update | Lacks pattern and texture |
Frequently Asked Questions
Professionally installed, wallpaper runs $4 to $10 per square foot for materials and labor, which puts a standard room at $400 to $2,000, an accent wall at $150 to $600, and a small bathroom at $450 to $1,800. Labor on its own is $3 to $8 per square foot.
The main drivers are the labor to hang and match patterns, the wallpaper material chosen, and any removal and wall prep needed.
A pro ensures crisp seams, precise pattern matching, and a smooth, bubble-free finish that's hard to achieve DIY.
Wallpaper varies widely, from about $25 to over $100 for a double roll covering 56 to 60 square feet, with designer and hand-printed papers at $250 to $1,200 a roll. Check which roll a price refers to, since a single roll covers only 28 to 30 square feet.
Removal is usually a separate charge at $1 to $4 per square foot, and priming or repairing the wall underneath adds $50 to $300 per wall, so on an old surface the prep can cost more than hanging the new paper.
