Can You Paint Over Wallpaper? Here's What You Should Consider First

While modern wallpaper has definitely had a resurgence as a trend in the past couple of years, that doesn't mitigate the potential aesthetic issue of wallpaper that is already present in your home. Although some wallpaper styles may allow for some workarounds if you're creative enough, sometimes you just want a clean slate. With wallpaper, however, getting that slate clean can take some serious elbow grease. But what if you could paint over wallpaper instead of removing it and spending hours heating, scraping, and cursing the gods of home decor?

Well it turns out that if you take the proper preparatory steps, you can successfully paint over your wallpaper, leaving your uninformed guests none the wiser. Now it should be noted that you can't paint over just any wallpaper. You will want it to be in relatively good condition — the smoother and less damage it has, the better. But if you take the time to make sure that your surface is smooth, flat, and clean, you can save on some significant time and effort without sacrificing quality.

To begin prepping your walls, you'll want to clean them effectively with a damp cloth. Make sure that the cloth is only barely wet, as you don't want to saturate the wallpaper. Then, be sure that the area is completely dry before moving on to the next step. Next, repair any damage to the wall or lifting of the adhesive where the wallpaper is. Either reapply more adhesive over any lifted areas, or carefully cut out them out and spackle over any uneven edges. When the adhesive or spackle is dry, sand the walls down until they are smooth to the touch, then clean them once again with a damp cloth.

Now you are ready to prepare to paint. Start by removing wall plates, and tape up the room, including any baseboards or trim that you want to protect from the new paint. Then paint on a coat of oil-based primer. It is important to use an oil-based primer here, as using a water-based one can soak into the wallpaper and loosen the adhesive underneath — something you definitely don't want to run into after all that work. 

Once the primer has fully dried, cover it with your paint of choice. Depending on the color and pattern of your wallpaper, you may need to apply multiple coats of paint to ensure that none of the wallpaper shows through. Since you primed, you're free to use any paint that is compatible with your primer, though latex paint is a common choice.

So you can paint over wallpaper, but should you? The biggest issue that tends to arise from painting over wallpaper comes down to longevity. Even if you take all of the precautions to ensure that your paint and walls are completely dry, the wallpaper underneath is still susceptible to moisture, so this can ultimately lead to lifting if the wallpaper gets wet.

Even with the spackling, patching, and sanding, leaving the wallpaper on the wall can lead to a more textured surface when it comes time to paint. That said, however, sometimes you will run into a particularly stubborn bout of wallpaper that you cannot remove without causing damage to the wall. 

If you are finding that your wallpaper is giving you a particularly hard time, take this as a sign to cut your losses — and loose edges — and prepare it to be painted the best you can. Removing wallpaper can also get quite expensive — even more so if you hire someone to do it for you. The good news is that once you paint over wallpaper once, it's much easier to do so again if you need to make any touch-ups.