When planning for your next interior make-over and thinking of giving the walls some treatment and pop of color by covering them with a beautiful design wallpaper, you might wonder - should you choose traditional or self-adhesive wallpaper. It is often thought that the material only differs when it comes to application, however, our self adhesive and traditional wallpaper are slightly different when it comes to texture, color, pattern size and application. In this blog we will go through the main details of both materials and how they differ from each other.

Should you choose self adhesive or traditional wallpaper for your project?

As it is a peel and stick wallpaper, you can say that it works as a giant sticker. Our self-adhesive wallpaper is made of two parts - the wallpaper and the backing paper. When installing our peel and stick wallpaper, you have to pull back the backing paper from the top of the panel gradually while carefully applying the wallpaper to the wall and match the wallpaper panel design next to each other without an overlap, making the process quick and simple. In the photo above we can see a beautiful nursery interior design, created by Danielle with our self-adhesive wallpaper design - Black Delicate Herringbone Nursery Wallpaper.

For our traditional wallpaper installation you will need paste or glue for non-woven wallpaper. Instead of applying the glue to the wallpaper, to install our traditional wallpaper, you need to apply the glue or paste to the wall which makes it easier to slide the panel in position before the glue sets. As sliding the wallpaper in position makes it easier to match the pattern perfectly, it is a popular choice between DIY projects. Both of our wallpaper materials, even if traditional wallpaper requires glue for installation, are removable in one piece. Above we can see the work of art nursery interior design by Ciara, where she has added our traditional Modern Delicate Herringbone Removable Wallpaper to create an eye-catching accent wall.

Perks of Self Adhesive material

Let's now look at perks of both of our wallpaper materials. What makes our self-adhesive wallpaper different is that it's PVC and vinyl-free. It is water-resistant and can be gently cleaned with a soft sponge or damp cloth. It is also a suitable choice for commercial interiors with Class A/Class 1 fire rating. As our peel and stick wallpaper is made of polyester material it does have a textile texture giving a more high-end look to the interior because of its finish. And of course as it does work as a giant sticker, it is very quick and easy to install. Vinyl material self-adhesive wallpaper on the other hand would have a smoother finish and can also change shape over time and shrink. To learn more about our self-adhesive wallpaper and its installation procedures visit our Learn & How To page section on Self-Adhesive Wallpaper. 

Perks of Traditional material

Our traditional wallpaper is made of non-woven fiber material, making it different from paper based traditional wallpaper. It has a smooth finish with no texture and gives a professional look in the interior. As previously mentioned, to install our traditional wallpaper, the glue has to be applied on the wall, making it easier to slide the wallpaper in the position. However, paper based traditional wallpaper installation would require glue to be applied on the wallpaper, that can make the process slightly messier especially for a first time wallpaper installation project. Paper based wallpaper also has the possibility of changing its shape because of temperature changes, giving a less qualitative look. Another perk of our non-woven traditional wallpaper is that it can be removed in one piece, making the wallpaper removal process a lot easier and faster, while paper based traditional wallpaper can tear during the removal process. To learn more about our traditional wallpaper visit our Learn & How To page section on Traditional Wallpaper.

Texture, color and size differences

In the photo above, we can see the differences of both of our wallpaper materials up close. One of the features that is the same for both materials, is the matte finish. But looking closely, we can see the differences in color, texture and pattern size. As previously mentioned, our self-adhesive wallpaper has a fabric based texture that is visible from up close, while our traditional wallpaper will give a smoother finish.

When we look at the two wallpapers next to each other, we can see that the traditional wallpaper has a slightly bigger pattern than the self-adhesive wallpaper. This is because our self-adhesive wallpaper is printed on a 19" panel, but our traditional wallpaper is made to fit on a 25" panel, therefore, the same design is simply stretched to fit on a slightly wider panel, making it appear in a bigger scale.

If we would look at both wallpaper materials separately, chances are that we would see them both as just white. However, looking at them side by side, it is noticeable that the base of our self-adhesive wallpaper is more crisp white, but the traditional wallpaper has a more off-white warmer base color. The base color or the wallpaper material, however, can affect the look of the design on the wall, as each material, as seen above, does have a small difference in color.