How to Choose Wallpaper for a Nursery or Child's Room
Which paper to use, when to decorate before a baby arrives, and how to choose a design that still looks right when they are five
Use our traditional 150gsm paper for a nursery that will stay as it is, or the removable paper if the room will change again in a couple of years. Decorate well before the baby arrives, at least a fortnight, and let the room dry and air properly with the door open and a window cracked during the day.
Which paper
Traditional, 150gsm. The usual choice. A fine, flat finish and easy to hang.
Heavy-grade, 300gsm. Worth considering for a toddler's or older child's room rather than a nursery, because it is vinyl-coated and copes with being wiped, which matters once the occupant is mobile and holding a pen.
Removable, 180gsm. For a rented home, or a room you know will be redecorated when they start school.
Timing
Decorate early rather than in the last fortnight. Wallpaper needs 24 to 48 hours to dry, and a freshly decorated room benefits from being aired for a while after that with the door open and a window on the latch during the day.
If the walls need painting out to a neutral base first, remember that paint should cure for thirty days before papering, so a nursery that needs a dark wall covering is a two-month plan, not a two-week one. Start earlier than feels necessary.
Choosing a design that lasts
The most common regret in a nursery is a design chosen for a newborn and outgrown by a three-year-old.
Choose the room, not the age. A botanical, a meadow, birds, a fine stripe: these read as a beautiful room at every age, where a cartoon reads as a baby's room for eighteen months.
Think about the view from the cot. The wall opposite is what they will look at most.
Consider papering one wall rather than four. A nursery is a small room and it takes very little to change it.
Colour is where to be brave, not scale. Any of our designs can be recoloured to something soft, warm or deep to suit the room's light.
Practicalities
Keep the cot away from the papered wall once the baby can reach. A picked-at seam is the commonest damage in a child's room.
Keep an offcut. More important in this room than any other.
Plan fixings before you paper. Shelves, a monitor, blackout blind brackets.
Check the radiator wall. Nursery radiators run more than most, so paper behind them carefully and keep the heating off while it dries.
Papering a room that already has furniture in it
Move everything out if you can. If the cot is already built and cannot be dismantled, move it to the centre of the room, cover it completely, and vacuum the room thoroughly afterwards, because sanding dust settles everywhere, and a covered cot is easier than a cleaned one.
What is the best wallpaper for a nursery?
Our traditional 150gsm paper for a room that will stay as it is; heavy-grade for a toddler's room that will need wiping; removable for a rental or a room that will change soon.
How far in advance should I decorate a nursery?
At least a fortnight, and longer if walls need painting first, because new paint should cure for thirty days before papering.
Should I paper one wall or the whole room?
One wall is usually enough in a room this size, and it is the least expensive way to change it completely.
Will it survive a toddler?
Heavy-grade will take more. Whatever you choose, keep an offcut, because a patch repair is invisible and takes twenty minutes.
What design should I choose?
Something that suits the room rather than the age, so it still looks right when they are five.
Can I wallpaper a rented nursery?
With your landlord's agreement, using the removable paper.
Love this wallpaper. It’s just enough to show a statement but not so loud that it overpowers the space. Being able to pick the color is such a great thing also. You’re not stuck with 5 options so it can match your style and colors of your space. Would recommend to anyone looking for wallpaper. Very happy and my installer said its super easy to install this pattern.
This wallpaper is thick and sturdy. It’s very easy to work with and easy to apply. It was my first time hanging wallpaper and this paper was very forgiving. Great product!
I love how everything turned out and the price point was great. It was a bit challenging to piece together. Being from the USA, it was kind of a challenge to convert all the measurements to figure out how many rolls I needed and then where to cut the rolls to line up the images based on the design repetition. Luckily, I had plenty of wallpaper to work with on the roll.
Absolutely beautiful design and texture. Got the heavy duty wallpaper and put it up without any previous wallpaper experience and it went up very easily and beautifully. Definitely recommend.
Extremely helpful and supportive when I needed advice on measurements, with fast delivery too. The quality of the wallpaper is excellent, and I’m really pleased with the overall service. Highly recommended!
Gorgeous wallpaper, but the measuring option on the website left us short by 1 roll. Had to order another one but when it came the colour match was perfect. Thankfully I wasn’t paying for a decorator, otherwise would have been disappointed in having to pay for them to return. Otherwise great quality wallpaper and design compared to other similar products available.
First purchase from claret and key and truly impressed. Beautiful quality wallpaper. Pretty yet not too fussy. Easy to hang, cut and match. Would work in any room
Good tracking and delivery service too.
Definitely recommend and would reuse for future projects.
Everything went really good. Apart from the quality of the wallpaper which is fantastic, the staff were exemplary in their communications, friendliness and professionalism. They really did go the extra mile to help me.
A great experience all round.
Thank you.
Patrick
Lovely pattern and paper quality.
However, I wish that I had paid more attention to the roll width measurement.
For some strange reason your paper is narrower than a standard roll. This caused me a great deal of problems when papering my lobby, a small area but that made it more difficult because I was left with a narrow space to fill on 3 walls with a very long drop.
Although I love the paper I probably wouldn't use it again just for this reason.
Why you would produce paper not of a standard width is for you to know and me to wonder but it has made my small project very difficult.
Used this paper to make a dark study cosier. Absolutely loved the colour - the background is a perfect match to our existing panelling painted in Farrow and Ball Old White. First time using paste the wall and it was a revelation so easy and much less mess. Quality of the paper is great but noted the rolls are slightly narrower than most wallpapers. Loved the pattern match which meant little waste what we had left we used to recover some old box files which was easy. I thoroughly recommend.
Great quality wallpaper! The print is beautiful, the wallpaper is thick, and fairly easy to install. Our small area took about an hour and a half because we had a lot of of awkward cuts.
Will definitely be using this brand again!
The paper was just hung and we are thrilled.
The quality of the paper, ease of working with it, (per the paper hangers), your customer service, all were exceptional. We will be ordering again. Thank you!!
