Get the Trend: Wallpaper on Ceiling

Wallpaper is always a classic design choice and it seems to be making a bigger comeback in 2020 with new trends like installing wallpaper on the ceiling! Here’s how you can get the look and how I decided which Milton and King wallpaper to get for my son’s room.

Let’s roll back a few months when I was working on the design for Zaki’s big boy room – it started with two big inspirational photos. One was the Black beadboard wall Angela Rose did for her office nook, and the other big inspiration was Homme Boy’s and the Cranes Wallpaper on their bedroom ceiling. I loved the look so much, I knew I was going to pick a bold pattern and install wallpaper on the ceiling. I went through several designs and then came across this gorgeous tropical wallpaper by Milton and King. Moody, painterly, and a stunning large-leaf design, I instantly knew the Kingdom Palms wallpaper was perfect for Zaki’s room!

Before I decided on the color (it comes in several) I ordered a few samples in different colors. Eventually, it was Del Rio that was just right – especially with the Alabaster white on the walls. The samples arrived in less than a week and I was able to make a better decision on the color with the sample laid against the wall. I highly recommend doing this with any wallpaper – make sure to get a few samples and put them together with other elements in your room. It should all go together and gel as a design.

Because I picked such a bold tropical pattern I wanted the rest of the room to be complimentary to that, rather than competing with the wallpaper design on the ceiling. I have a few paint colors narrowed down for the beadboard but I’m going to wait until the wallpaper goes up before I make the final decision! Since the wallpaper on the ceiling is going to have such a big impact on how the whole room looks, it’s a good idea to hold off on painting the beadboard until that is installed.

Another question I wanted to address, something I’ve been answering in my DM’s on Instagram, is about traditional versus peel and stick wallpaper. I decided to go with traditional wallpaper because peel and stick wallpaper requires a fairly smooth surface to adhere to and our ceiling has a decent amount of texure on it. I did not want to go through the extra step of skim coating the ceiling (removing texture) and from all my research, I gathered that it’s easier to manipulate traditional unpasted wallpaper than a sticky peel and stick variety.

If you haven’t already, check out the full room reveal and let me know what you think!