Can You Put Wallpaper on Textured Walls?

What Counts as a "Textured Wall"?

A textured wall is any interior wall surface that has visible relief, bumps, or roughness rather than a glass-smooth finish. Most North American homes built after 1960 have some texture. Drywall maker USG, in its "Sheetrock Wall and Ceiling Spray Textures" product line, sells spray textures specifically because builders use texture to hide minor drywall imperfections, soften echoes, and add visual depth. The most common types you will find on a residential textured wall are:

• Orange peel: looks like the surface of an orange, fine bumps. Light orange peel is the most common modern texture and the most wallpaper-friendly textured surface.
• Knockdown: heavier than orange peel, with flatter peaks where a trowel was dragged across spray texture. Common on ceilings and in homes built between 1990 and 2010.
• Popcorn: bumpy, dense, almost foam-like texture mostly seen on ceilings. Often contains acoustic material.
• Skip trowel: troweled-on plaster with deliberate skips and ridges. A craftsman texture, common in the southwest.
• Brick or stone: not a drywall texture, but a real surface. Includes brick veneer, exposed brick, and stacked stone.
• Plaster: older homes (pre-1960) have real plaster walls that may have hairline cracks and uneven sheen even when smooth.

The texture category sets everything that follows. If you do not know what you have, run your hand across the textured wall in raking light from a side window. If you can feel bumps, it is textured.

Why Wall Texture Matters for Wallpaper Install

Wallpaper bonds to a wall through one of two ways: a wet glue that cures into the surface (traditional non-woven and pre-pasted) or a pressure-sensitive adhesive that grips through brief contact (peel and stick wallpaper). Both fail when the textured surface is too rough.

On a smooth surface, the adhesive contacts the entire back of the paper. On a textured wall, the adhesive only contacts the bump peaks. The valleys between bumps hold no bond at all. Over time the unsupported areas form bubbles, the seams gap as the paper shrinks, and the edges curl. The wallpaper may peel from one edge first, then spread. This happens faster in humid rooms (the bathroom is the classic example) and in any wall that gets touched (kids' rooms, hallways, behind beds).

The fix is either changing the wall surface (skim coat, lining paper) or choosing a wallpaper backing that bridges minor texture without showing it through the front.

Light Texture vs Heavy Texture

The fastest way to know whether your textured wall will accept wallpaper is the bumpy-vs-flat test. If you can run a putty knife across your wall and the blade touches the surface continuously, the texture is light. Light texture is forgiving. The right wallpaper will bond across it without bubbling, and the texture will not telegraph through the finished surface.

If the putty knife rocks, skips, or finds gaps where it does not touch the wall, the texture is heavy. Heavy texture means the wallpaper will either show the bumps through the finish (an aesthetic problem) or fail to bond in the valleys (a structural problem). A bump-and-valley wall beyond a certain point needs prep before any wallpaper goes on it.

For most homes, light orange peel falls into the friendly category and a thicker wallpaper or removable wallpaper will work without significant prep. Knockdown and heavier textures fall into the unfriendly category and need work first. There is no in-between for wallpaper textured walls installs: either the wall is wallpaper-ready or it is not.

Best Wallpaper Types for Textured Walls

Not all wallpaper handles texture equally. From most forgiving to least:

1. Non-woven paste-the-wall. Bob Vila's "Can You Put Wallpaper on Textured Walls?" notes that "Non-pasted wallpaper may adhere better to textured walls, and thus last longer than other wallpaper types." When you apply paste directly to a textured wall, it fills the recesses, giving the dry strip something continuous to bond into.
2. Vinyl wallpaper with a heavy backing. The thicker the wallpaper, the better it bridges minor texture and hides bumps. Look for vinyl with a fabric or non-woven backing rather than thin paper.
3. Grasscloth and other natural-fiber wallpaper. The texture of the wallpaper itself camouflages light wall texture beneath. Grasscloth is unforgiving on seams but excellent at hiding minor wall imperfections.
4. Pre-pasted traditional wallpaper. Works on light texture, but the wet activation makes it harder to reposition if the first contact is uneven.
5. Peel and stick wallpaper. The least texture-tolerant type. The pressure-sensitive adhesive needs a smooth surface to bond fully. On any texture beyond very light orange peel, peel and stick wallpaper will bubble, lift at edges, or fail entirely within months.

If you have already chosen peel and stick wallpaper for a textured wall, the math is against you. Switch to non-woven, or smooth the wall first.

How to Prep a Textured Wall for Wallpaper

The standard prep is a skim coat: a thin layer of joint compound applied with a wide drywall knife, then sanded smooth once dry. The goal is a flat surface where wallpaper sticking issues do not arise at every bump or imperfection. A skim coat takes a weekend on a single wall: one day to apply two thin layers of joint compound, half a day to sand, and a primer coat to seal before the wallpaper goes up. This prep is especially worth doing in a bathroom, where any failure at a high spot lets humidity creep under the paper and start a tear.

Two real options, depending on how much work you want to do.

Option 1: Skim coat

The pro-grade approach. Apply joint compound across the wall in thin layers, sand between coats, and end up with a flat surface ready for primer. Plan one to two days per room for a competent DIYer, longer for a beginner. Materials: $30 to $80.

Skim coating brings the wall to what the drywall industry calls a Level 4 finish. Per Hyde Tools' "Drywall Finish Levels Explained": "If you plan to paint with a semi-gloss paint or apply wallpaper, you'll need at least this level of finish." Below Level 4, the texture telegraphs through.

Option 2: Lining paper

Hang a layer of plain lining paper (also called liner paper or blank stock) before your finish wallpaper. The lining paper smooths the surface and gives the finish paper a uniform layer to bond into. Faster than skim coating but adds a step and a material cost. Lining paper runs $40 to $100 per roll and covers one accent wall.

Both options need a primer coat after prep. Use a wallpaper primer (most paint primers do not have the right surface profile for wallpaper paste). Wait the primer's full cure time before hanging the finish paper.

How to Apply Wallpaper to a Textured Wall

Once your textured wall is properly prepped (or if you have confirmed the texture is light enough to skip prep), the install process is straightforward.

1. Clean the textured wall with a damp cloth and let it dry completely. Any debris, dust, or grease hurts the bond. This step matters more on a textured wall than a smooth one because debris collects in the valleys between bumps.
2. Apply wallpaper primer with a roller. Cover the full surface, including corners. Wait the maker's full cure time (usually 24 hours).
3. For non-woven paste-the-wall: apply paste to the wall in a strip slightly wider than the wallpaper. Hang the dry strip from top to bottom, smoothing as you go. The paste fills the recesses in the texture and creates a continuous bond.
4. For peel and stick wallpaper on light texture: peel the liner from the top 12 inches, position the strip, and smooth downward. Press firmly into any visible bumps. Do not pull and reapply more than twice. The adhesive degrades with each cycle.
5. Inspect after 48 hours. If you see any edge curl, bubbles, or seam gaps, the texture was beyond what the wallpaper can handle. Pull the strip and re-prep.

The single biggest predictor of success is the prep work, not the install technique. A wallpaper-for-textured-walls install fails because the wall was not ready, not because the install was bad.

The Drywall Finish Level Standard

Wallpaper install has an official surface requirement. The Gypsum Association defines six finish levels (Level 0 through Level 5). Level 4 is the wallpaper minimum: a smooth, primed surface ready for fine finishes. Level 5 (a full skim coat with primer) is what high-end interior designers spec for wallpaper, especially in rooms with raking light or when using thinner papers.

If your wall is currently at Level 3 (taped and mudded but with visible texture or bumps from the trowel) or below, the wallpaper will fail or look poor. Bring it to Level 4 first.

How Texture Hides (or Reveals) Imperfections

One legitimate reason builders use texture is to hide imperfections in the drywall taping work. A textured wall masks small dings, mud lines, and uneven seams that would jump out on a smooth wall. The trade-off: the same texture that hides imperfections from paint will telegraph through wallpaper if the wallpaper is too thin, the texture is too heavy, or the prep is rushed.

The right question is not whether the wall has texture. It is whether the textured surface is ready for wallpaper. A wall is wallpaper-ready when it has enough surface continuity for the adhesive to grip across the full back of the strip. If problems show up in the first 48 hours, the wall was not ready and no amount of pressing will fix it.

When to Skip Wallpaper on a Textured Surface

Some walls are not candidates no matter how much prep you are willing to do.

• Popcorn ceilings or popcorn walls. The texture often contains asbestos in homes built before 1980, which means removal is a regulated abatement process. Even if asbestos-free, popcorn needs a wet scraping and full refinish. Easier to leave alone or paint.
• Real brick or stone. The surface variation is too extreme for wallpaper to bridge. The aesthetic call also weighs against covering brick.
• Walls with mold, water damage, or active moisture (most often a bathroom or kitchen wall). Address the underlying cause first. Wallpaper over a moisture problem traps the moisture against the wall and speeds up the damage.
• Very heavily textured plaster or stucco. The cost and time to skim coat may exceed the cost of new drywall.

In any of these cases, paint, paneling, or peel and stick wallpaper on a different (smooth) wall in the room makes more sense than fighting the surface.

Common Mistakes When You Wallpaper Textured Walls

• Skipping the sample test. Order a sample of your chosen wallpaper, stick it to the textured wall, and check it 48 hours later. If the edges curl or bubbles form, your texture is too heavy.
• Using paint primer instead of wallpaper primer. Wallpaper primer (sometimes called wallpaper sizing) provides the right tack and surface seal. Paint primer is too smooth for paste to grip.
• Over-sanding the skim coat. Light hand sanding between coats. Aggressive sanding gouges the joint compound and undoes the smoothing.
• Hanging on fresh primer. Most wallpaper primers need 24 hours to cure fully. Hanging early traps moisture and weakens the bond.
• Trying to make peel and stick wallpaper work on knockdown texture. It will not. Switch backings or smooth the wall.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if you put wallpaper on a textured wall?

On light texture with the right wallpaper (non-woven paste-the-wall), nothing bad happens. The paste fills the small valleys and the wallpaper bonds across the whole surface. On heavier texture, the wallpaper bonds only to the bump peaks. The valleys hold no glue, the wallpaper may bubble within weeks, and the texture telegraphs through the finish.

How do you get wallpaper to stick to textured walls?

The best way is to flatten the textured wall first. Skim coat with joint compound, or hang lining paper as an intermediate layer. Both bring the surface to Level 4 finish, which is what wallpaper needs. Once the wall is smooth, prime it with wallpaper primer and hang the paper as normal.

What kind of wallpaper can I use on a textured wall?

Non-woven paste-the-wall wallpaper is the best option for light textured walls. The paste fills small gaps. Vinyl wallpaper with a heavy backing is the second-best choice. Grasscloth hides minor texture in its own surface. Peel and stick wallpaper is the worst fit for textured surfaces.

Will peel and stick wallpaper stick to textured walls?

On very light orange peel, sometimes, with mixed results. On any heavier texture (knockdown, popcorn, plaster), no. Peel and stick wallpaper needs a smooth surface for the adhesive to bond fully.

Do you have to remove texture to wallpaper?

Not always. Light orange peel can accept non-woven paste-the-wall wallpaper without removal. Anything heavier than light orange peel, you either remove the texture (sand or scrape it flat, then skim coat) or hang lining paper as an intermediate layer.

Will the texture show through the wallpaper?

On light texture with thicker wallpaper, no. On heavy texture without prep, yes, especially in raking light. The bumpy surface beneath telegraphs through thinner papers within a week of install. Take a sample and tape it up to check before committing.

Is lining paper worth the extra step?

For walls with light to medium texture, lining paper is faster and cheaper than a full skim coat. For walls beyond medium texture or where you want a perfect Level 5 finish, skim coat first.

Our Take

Most homeowners assume "can I put wallpaper on textured walls" is a yes-or-no question. It is not. It is a question about which wallpaper, on which texture, and with how much prep. The honest answer for a typical light orange peel wall in a living room or bedroom: yes, with non-woven paste-the-wall and a quality primer. For anything heavier, plan for a skim coat or pick a different wall.

If you are still unsure after reading this, order a full-strip sample and stick it on your specific textured wall for a few days. The wall and the paper will tell you whether they are compatible faster than any guide can.

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Last updated: May 2026.