PhotoWall Wallpaper Review

PhotoWall wallpaper takes wallpaper into the 21st century with modern wall murals made from professional artwork or your favorite photograph. The unique PhotoWall process is intended to update and simply the traditional wallpapering process. Their ordering system allows customers to choose from hundreds of wallpaper options or even their own photography. PhotoWall wallpaper selections include classic, bold, artistic, colorful, and neutral. You can choose to wallpaper an entire room or hang a canvas of your favorite print.

About PhotoWall Wallpaper

1. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
2. Free US Shipping 2-3 Days
3. Unique Designs
4. Wallpaper Paste Included
5. Wallpaper Kits for $20

Selecting PhotoWall Wallpaper

The PhotoWall website is very user-friendly, offering multiple ways to search for your ideal wallpaper. You can search by category, room, designer, or even color. I personally found searching by color and designer to be the simplest way to narrow down my choices. I could find a designer that suited my tastes and quickly search through their work. For example, Scandinavian Surface caught my eye and I found myself debating between the Mountain Birch Orange and May Magpie. I also enjoyed searching by color and ultimately made my decision by searching within “orange,” a color that I knew would pop on my walls. Be aware that this wallpaper will arrive on what looks and feels like photo paper.

My Tips

1. Remember that you will have to match this pattern along your surface. If you are inexperienced with wallpaper (like me), then consider choosing a surface that is relatively smooth and does not have many variations in size. For example, we selected our staircase entry wall, which includes a doorway and different heights. It also had previous wallpaper paste that had to be removed before applying new wallpaper. If I had to do this again, I would choose a much simpler surface.
2. For your first PhotoWall, I recommend ordering a mural or covering a bedroom wall. In retrospect, I sincerely wish we had ordered Hello London or a Map to brighten up one square wall of our family room. This experience would be more like the video.

Ordering PhotoWall Wallpaper

I confess that the ordering process intimidated me a bit. If you are not experienced with the metric system, be sure to go to the upper right hand side of the website and select the United States as your country. You will need to measure the width and height of your wall, then enter the dimensions for ordering.  You can choose to upload your own photograph or order a print from the website. If you want to make changes, you can even choose the “customize image” tab and ask for adjustments in color, etc.

My Tips

1. The more detailed your PhotoWall wallpaper, the more careful matching required. I did appreciate how the wallpaper we selected had a large print and relatively simple matching.
2. It’s a good idea to add a little extra height and width for ease in hanging your paper.
3. Be sure to view a close-up of your selection. We did not expect our paper to have such an abstract feel and initially thought it was blurry.
4. Remember that this pattern will be magnified on your wall. Will you like it up close, as well as from afar?
5. Unless you have the tools at home, order a Wallpaper Kit to make installation easier.

Hanging PhotoWall Wallpaper

Your PhotoWall wallpaper will arrive in large, numbered rolls. These need to be trimmed into sections before they are hung. This PhotoWall Instruction Video is very helpful for visualizing the process. Just know that if you select a more challenging surface, like we did, that a tall ladder and a great deal of trimming will be required. This is not a project I could complete with my children. but kudos to video dad for making it happen.

My Tips

1. Know that wall prep can take a great more time than shown in this video. We spent hours scraping wallpaper paste and trying to smooth out our wall before we could apply new wallpaper. This was especially challenging because scraping took a great deal of strength and energy, so my husband completed most of the task on weeknights and weekends.
2. With tip 1 in mind, select a relatively smooth surface, especially for your first installation.
3. Mix your glue, then cut the strips during the 15 minute wait.
4. Ensure that your first strip is as straight and even as possible.
5. Enlist a partner. This is not a one person job.
6. Spread the glue thinly, but be sure to extend it a bit farther than the width of each strip.

Trimming and Cleaning PhotoWall Wallpaper

After you finish hanging and pasting your wallpaper, you will need to trip the top, side, and bottom edges to fit your wall. You will also need to make sure you remove excess glue (which will turn from pink to clear). found this process challenging and would recommend using a different exacto knife than the one provided in the PhotoWall kit. Folding this thick paper along the edges of doorways and molding is not easy and you only have one chance to trim.

My Tips

1. Consider having one person hold the tool against the edge of the wall while another trims.
2. If you are tired from hanging the paper, consider coming back to finish this task when you are re-energized.

Overall Experience

I think our wall selection made this a challenging experience. Had we selected a different surface that was already smooth and did not require so much prepping, ladder climbing, and trimming, the process would have looked much more like the PhotoWall video. Instead, we found ourselves perched on a high ladder, hands covered in glue, while we attempted to match patterns and trim excess. The paper is beautiful, but our application leaves much to be desired. Our entryway project definitely needed more experienced carpenters.

That being said, the wallpaper arrived in the promised 2 to 3 day window, customer service responded to our questions immediately, and the Photowall wallpaper proved to be high quality. If you are looking to add some creative design to your home, consider PhotoWall.

Disclaimer: I received product in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.