🥳 Wallpaper party

Hello, Saturday! Today we're showing off your pretty wallpapered spaces.

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Designers were all about wrapping rooms in personality-packed wallpaper this year — and the trend is here to stay for 2025.

Zoom in: John Skrabec and his husband bought their Cheesman Park new-build townhouse back in 2019. When making the space their own, they started with wallpaper — which drove all the furniture and styling choices from there.

• They have 10 different papers throughout the house.

What they're saying: "It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but we consider it artwork," Skrabec tells Axios.

• Their interior designer, Ann Baumgartner, describes the vibe as "Palm Springs in its heyday, world cultures, and a touch of modern."

The big picture: Taskrabbit saw a 70% year-over-year increase in wallpapering bookings from January to May 2024 compared to the same period last year.

• Businesses selling wallpaper report lucrative sales, too. North Carolina-based House of Harris co-founder Charlotte Lucas tells Axios since their launch in 2017, the company's wallpaper sales have outdriven fabric sales and demand is still growing.

What we're hearing: "Granny chic" is still in style, but some may find those classic wallcoverings are too "old-timey or stuffy," according to interior designer Maggie Bratton Dillon.

• "It's all about the balance, though, and choosing complementary patterns, colors, furniture and more can really elevate a space," she says.

The intrigue: It's not just bedrooms and dining rooms. Nooks and crannies, closets, bookshelves and laundry rooms are all getting makeovers, too.

• These small spaces are a playground for bold colors and patterns that might be overwhelming in main living areas, experts say.

What's next: "Wallpaper borders have been and still are making a real comeback," Dillon shares with Axios.

• It's lower risk and more affordable than covering an entire wall, but still makes an impact, she says.
• Mural wallpapers have been and continue to be big, too, Lucas says.

The bottom line: Plain walls be gone.

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🛁 Grahame Harlow and his wife Marissa Yennie recently completed a bathroom remodel on their Hale home. They spent around $1,200 between labor, paint, new shelving and the wallpaper. They did most of the updates on their own, but hired a pro to install the wallpaper.

• "A little splash of color and a pop of pattern can go a long way," Harlow says.

🎨 Frannie Steinlage and her husband recently purchased a 1980s Cherry Creek home. The home's previous owners were artists who created and installed wallpaper art that's a lot like paper mache.

• "The texture is fascinating and we're still deciding how to properly honor their vision for this house they called home for so many years," Steinlage says.

Wallpapering a room can be pricey, especially if you're hiring a pro to hang your new wallcoverings.

By the numbers: Installation costs range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, depending on things like the complexity of your space and type of paper, according to home services platform Angi.

• For instance, installation for larger spaces like living, dining and bedrooms costs about $200-$1,500 on average, While smaller spaces like a laundry room may cost under $250, according to figures Angi shared with Axios.
• Meanwhile, some estimates show painting an entire home costs $3,500 on average.
• In some cases, professional installation costs upwards of $10 per square foot, according to Houzz, another home project platform.

Reality check: The cost of using wallpaper depends on your selection. "Using wallpaper doesn't always have to break the bank," Dillon says.

Skrabec says each roll of wallpaper for their Cheesman Park project was $75-$400 apiece and most rooms needed three to five rolls.

• Installation was around $400-$800 per room, and their designer charged an hourly fee for things like ordering the paper, measurements and project management.

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Our picks:

🤩 Bri is eyeing peel-and-stick grasscloth and maybe these framed panels for her walls.

🤨 Sami can't decide on art, let alone wallpaper.

Thanks to our editor Ashley May.