Wallpaper varies greatly in its material content, which helps determine how a paper looks and how it handles. Vinyl wallpaper are popular because they are durable, fairly easy to install, and easy to maintain. There are fabric-backed vinyl, paper-backed vinyl, and ones designed to look like a three dimensional surface, such as plaster, granite, or grass cloth, which are suitable for walls that aren't perfectly smooth.

Fabric wallpaper is usually made of cotton, linen, or other natural plant fibers, such as grass-cloth, hemp, or burlap. Most textiles fray easily and are not washable. Solid paper wall coverings include hand-screened papers, foils, flocked papers with textured patterns, and murals. Both textile and paper wallpapers should be installed by professionals. Thinking beyond wallpaper covering, the possibility of stone, ceramic tile, wood, and metal is different materials that can cover walls too.

To determine how much wallpaper to buy, measure the height and width of each wall using a steel tape measure. Round up to the nearest foot. Multiply the height and width of each wall, and then add the figures together to get the rough square footage. How a room is used will help you determine what wall coverings are most suitable. Get a sample or one rolls and looks at it in the room with your other furnishings and samples to compare there different pattern and texture.

When it comes to wall-coverings choices, you may want to think outside the box, as they say, and consider new materials as well as traditional materials used in new and different ways. Think about new places to use them, such as decorative tile in the dining room or wood in the bathroom. You might choose an elegant linen or flocked paper for the living room. Either kind of paper texture will add richness to a room.