Wall Mural or Traditional Wallpapers - What to Choose?

Any room restoration begins with its walls. Today, there are numerous materials available to generate a wide range of results, making it quite difficult to make a decision. This post will look at two alternative solutions and help you decide between a wall mural and traditional wallpaper.

Price

Before choosing any wall decor for your home, you should consider your budget as a starting point. Understanding your financial limits will cut unnecessary choices and ensure you find options that align with both your aesthetic goals and spending capacity.
Traditional wallpaper is usually less expensive than murals, especially for larger areas. However, considering not only their cost of purchase and installation, but also their appearance and endurance, they can become unsuitable under bad conditions and without attentive maintenance, forcing you to replace them again. This undoubtedly causes issues such as increased financial charges and repair time.

Ease of Application

Regardless of the material used, both alternatives require the same installation technique. In short, the installation process for both begins with laying out the roll on the floor and applying the water-soluble glue powder to the entire wall, followed by smoothing the wallpaper along the flat wall, trimming off any excess at the top, bottom, and sides, and ensuring that the pattern matches correctly. An exception could be if your wallpaper or mural has a self-adhesive backing. In this scenario, there will be no stage where glue is put to the wall; all that is required is to remove the protective film from the back and apply it to the wall panel by panel.

Materials

The sort of material used to manufacture wallpaper and murals is one of their main distinctions. Some of the materials, wallpaper and murals can be made of:

  • Paper
  • Vinyl
  • Non-woven
  • Canvas
  • Fabric

Everything about the product—from the cost to the quality of the printed design—will undoubtedly be influenced by the material it is made of. Most often you can find paper made wall murals and wallpapers. These are the cheapest and have proper print quality, but their wear resistance is quite weak. Vinyl products are often found in the higher-end segment. Those are more durable, have superior print quality, and are frequently self-adhesive. They can also be waterproof and suited for wet environments. Non-woven materials are now the finest option for wall murals. It has gathered the best elements from a variety of materials, but is not without its drawbacks. It is environmentally friendly, has excellent print quality, can be self-adhesive and much more durable than paper. However, it cannot be put in moist environments, limiting its application options.

Longevity and Maintenance 

With the same manufacturing material, wallpapers and wall murals have one common feature: they can last a long time if properly maintained. As established earlier, some materials are much more durable than others, but that’s not the only thing, when it comes to maintenance and durability. More durable materials like vinyl, in some cases can survive a complete water wash, so in the end it requires less cleaning time.

Environmental Friendliness 

Among all the materials used to make wallpaper or murals, you will not find materials that can be harmful to humans or the environment. Paper and fabric are frequently created from recycled materials, without compromising their quality or longevity. Non-toxic, eco-friendly inks are also utilized widely in the manufacturing process. Vinyl may be the only exception to the list, as low-cost versions may be improperly produced and contain phthalates, which are harmful to human health. When selecting such photo wallpaper, ensure that the company that produces it uses phthalate-free materials and has all required certifications.

Design Options 

The majority of the differences between the these two goods are related to their design. Wallpaper typically has smaller, recurring designs and is applied on numerous walls to create a unified design. Popular styles include stripes, florals, geometric patterns or simple plain surfaces. Also, wallpaper made from a material such as fabric or paper has a distinctive feature in the form of a certain embossing, which essentially makes the design appear more spacious.
Wall murals, on the other hand, are usually applied to a single wall and serve as a focus point, displaying large, high-resolution images or personalized artwork. However, this does not mean they cannot be used as wallpaper. Murals can depict portraits, landscapes, artwork, and plain abstract patterns and shapes. Furthermore, some companies may let you to select the design you want printed, thus an option like your photo printing can be a compelling selling point for some buyers.