Wallpaper Guides for Seattle Homeowners: Planning, Older Homes, Removal, and More

These guides come from the work itself: hanging, repairing, and removing wallpaper in Seattle and Eastside homes, from early-1900s plaster to newer drywall. They’re written to answer the questions people ask before a project starts, and to be honest about where the answer depends on your specific wall, room, or building. Seattle’s damp climate and older housing stock come up often, because they change the right answer more than most generic advice admits.

Start Here: Planning and Choosing

If you’re at the beginning of a project, these cover the practical decisions in the order most people face them.

Rooms and Whole-Home Planning

Older Homes, Plaster, and Historic Districts

A large share of Seattle’s housing was built before drywall became standard, and original plaster behaves differently at nearly every stage of a wallpaper project. These guides explain how.

Removing Old Wallpaper

Commercial Spaces

Browse by Need

If you’re dealing with a specific problem, start with our wallpaper problems hub. If a life event is driving your project, see the events hub. If you’re planning around the holidays or a season, see the festivals and seasons hub.

How We Write These Guides

We write from direct experience on Seattle walls and say plainly when advice depends on conditions we can’t see from here. Where numbers appear, such as our standard pricing ranges, they’re ours and they reflect typical projects, not guarantees. Where something is a general rule of thumb, we say so. If a guide points toward a professional assessment, it’s because your wall’s actual condition changes the answer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I start if I’m planning my first wallpaper project?

Start with how much you’ll need and how to choose colors and patterns, then read about your wall type. If your home is older, the plaster guides are worth reading before you order anything.

Are these guides specific to Seattle?

Most are written with Seattle’s climate and housing in mind, including damp seasons, older plaster homes, and neighborhood differences. The general principles apply elsewhere, but local conditions often change the details.

How do I know whether my walls are plaster or drywall?

Homes built before roughly the 1950s often have original plaster, though additions can mix both. A hollow sound when tapped and fine cracking are common signs. A short assessment confirms it for certain.

Do you update these guides?

We revise them when our practice, pricing, or the underlying facts change. If you spot something that no longer matches what you’re seeing in your home, tell us.