Painting Over Wallpaper: Is it a Good Idea?

Brief 

Painting over wallpaper is a quick solution when stripping it back is not an option. Our expert offers his top tips to get the best results for your walls.

Insight

Painting over wallpaper is a quick solution for refreshing your walls, especially if you’re fed up of looking at dated wallpaper in your home or if you hate the style and colours left behind by the previous occupants. But is it a good idea?

Stripping wallpaper can be a real hassle, but painting a wall over existing wallpaper can come with its own challenges in getting a quality finish to your paint job.Follow our pro guide on how to get the best finish and determine whether painting over wallpaper is the best choice.

Is Painting Over Wallpaper a Good Idea?

There is no doubt that painting over wallpaper is much easier than removing it. But if you are a perfectionist and want the best possible finish then removing wallpaper and starting from scratch is the best choice.

However, if you have good condition wallpaper in place and just want a change of colour then painting over wallpaper is the obvious choice. You can do this several times before you will finally need to get back to the bare wall and re-paper and paint.

Personally, I would always start again, but it is very much a personal judgement call. If you are happy with the finish after painting then stick with it.

Pros

• It’s quicker and easier to paint over wallpaper than to remove it.
• You won’t make as much mess as you would stripping wallpaper
• You don’t have to worry about the condition of the walls just the wallpape