Although wallpaper has been making a comeback in the last couple years, it’s not the right choice for every room. If your home has outdated wallpaper, it might make the entire space look tired or stale. Wallpaper can overwhelm a room and completely change its atmosphere, so switching it up might be all that you need to revitalize the space.

Fortunately, you and your interior painters have several options when it comes to handling outdated wallpaper in your home. Some options are quick fixes, and others require a little more effort. The right choice for your house depends on how much time you can invest in the project as well as what type of style you want to achieve.

Here are some ideas for changing up outdated wallpaper in your Chesapeake VA home:

Take It Off

If you want to remove all evidence of the wallpaper in your home, removing it is your best option. This isn’t always easy, but with enough determination, your painting contractor may be able to free the wallpaper from the adhesive. Older wallpaper may give way more readily than newer wallpaper, but no matter what state the paper is in, it’s important to be careful. If you’re too rough as you remove the wallpaper, you might gouge the wall’s surface.

Getting the wallpaper off of your walls will require a strong adhesive remover and a scraper. Not only do you need to take the paper off, but you also need to carefully scrape away the adhesive left on the wall.

Paint Over It

If the wallpaper is firmly attached to the surface and you don’t want to go to the trouble of removing it, you could get great results by simply painting over it. This tends to work well if there are only one or two layers of wallpaper in the room. When there are several layers of wallpaper, painting over it might be difficult.

First, you’ll have to make sure the wallpaper is flawlessly attached to the wall. Loose edges or peeling corners will affect the paint job, so you should check every seam before you paint. Glue down any areas that look like they may come loose, and wait until the glue is completely dry before beginning the painting job. Depending on the color of the wallpaper and of your paint, you may need to apply additional coats of paint to fully cover the paper. Your inside house painters will probably apply one coat of primer and two or three coats of paint, so you should expect the job to take a little longer than usual.

Add New Wallpaper

Wallpaper is currently in style, so you could cover up the old paper with a trendy new coat. There are plenty of beautiful styles and patterns available that can completely transform your home. Not everyone likes wallpaper, but if you think a new style could work in your house, it’s a fairly easy way to revitalize the space.

Like with painting, though, careful prep work is critical before covering up the old wallpaper. You should remove or glue down any torn or peeling pieces so that you have a completely smooth surface to work with. Make sure the glue is completely dry before beginning the new wallpaper project. If you apply the new paper too soon, you may end up with bubbles or stains on the surface.

Use Beadboard

Beadboard is a stylish and flexible option for covering up wallpaper, especially when there are multiple layers of paper on the walls. It’s often used to cover the lower half of a wall, but you can also use it to cover the entire area. The material comes in sheets, so it’s fairly quick and easy to fix to the wall. It covers wallpaper flawlessly, and it’s easy to keep clean.

You can find a wide variety of colors and styles of beadboard. A mix of dark beadboard and light paint colors can be striking in any room. Some homeowners choose to add a beadboard accent wall while painting or wallpapering the other three walls. No matter how you use beadboard, it’s a reliable option for covering old wallpaper.

Wallpaper can be a great addition to a room, but styles change quickly. If you’re not happy with the wallpaper in your home, you do have options. Removing wallpaper can be tiresome, but the results are worth the effort. When your house is painted, papered, or decorated exactly how you’d like, you’ll feel much more at home.

Hughes Painting offers painting services for homeowners in Chesapeake VA. Our interior painters are reliable, experienced, and happy to assist with any painting job you need. If you’re looking for a painting contractor in Virginia, call us today for a consultation.