Wallpaper for a British Victorian row house: hallway and stairs

In a British Victorian row house, doorways, paneling, and stairs can divide the hallway into small wall sections. Decide whether a repeating pattern should connect the hallway and stairs or a larger mural should have a place of its own on the landing.

A repeating pattern can follow the hallway

For walls broken up by doors and stairs, we recommend starting with a repeating pattern. The design will appear in several places as you move through the house, even when each section of wall is quite small.

Fucus Seaweed, French Blue is one of our most ordered classic designs. Blue and blue-gray plant forms flow across a pale background. We'd use it when you want a botanical pattern to follow the entrance and stairs without needing space for one large picture.

A wallpaper sample is a small printed piece of wallpaper you can order to compare the color and pattern with your home's woodwork before choosing. For Fucus Seaweed, it shows the pattern at its actual size. Hold it against one of the narrow wall sections beside a door and check how it looks from the front entrance. That's where you'll first see how the wallpaper sits with the home's woodwork.

If you have paneling, choose for the wall above it

A dado rail, the horizontal molding that can divide a wall into lower and upper sections, gives the wallpaper a clear stopping point. If there's paneling below it, you can start the wallpaper above and keep the paneling color as part of the room's palette.

Look at how much pattern will show between the rail and the ceiling. A repeating design works well in this kind of band. If you want a mural, preview the proportions of that particular area to make sure the details you like are included.

Follow the rail's existing line when assessing the wallpaper area. If it continues up the stairs, the shape of the wall section changes. Look at the whole area before choosing a composition.

Decide whether a repeating pattern should connect the hallway and stairs or a larger mural should have a place of its own on the landing.

Give a larger design an open spot by the stairs

An uninterrupted wall on the landing can give a mural a place of its own. Overleaf Woodland, Cocoa has a symmetrical woodland composition, with light branches and leaves against a dark brown background. It's an option when you want a more detailed focal point farther into the house.

The sample for this mural shows the whole image at a reduced scale, helping you compare its colors with the room.

Look from both the bottom and the top of the stairs. A railing or the edge of a wall may obscure the design from one direction. Choose the placement for the view where you want to see most of the image, and try the composition in the preview.

For a wall with a sloping edge, follow our measuring guide . It explains how to measure the area the wallpaper will cover.

Compare with the hallway's floor and lighting

If the hallway has a patterned tile floor, hold the wallpaper sample where you can see the wall and floor together. A floor with lots of small shapes can work with wallpaper that has softer contrast. For a richer look, both can have distinct patterns, but try them together before deciding.

Compare the light at the entrance with the light on the landing, too. Fucus Seaweed's pale background and Overleaf Woodland's dark base will look different in those two settings.

Use a repeating pattern to connect the smaller wall sections when you want the same wallpaper through the hallway and stairs. If the landing has an open wall with a clear view of the image, a separate mural can become a focal point on the way upstairs.