Kitchen Wallpaper Ideas: How to Bring Pattern to the Heart of the Home
The Kitchen Deserves Some Character
The kitchen is the heart of the home, yet it's so often left as bare units and blank walls. Wallpaper is the quickest way to give it soul — to turn a functional room into a warm, characterful space you actually want to gather in. From a soft floral above a dresser to a cheerful gingham in a breakfast nook, the right design brings a kitchen personality without a full renovation. Here's how to do it well.
At Claret & Key, every design is drawn in-house and printed to order in your chosen colour way, so your kitchen feels exactly as characterful as you'd like, made especially for you in our Cheshire studio.
Where wallpaper works in a kitchen
The trick is choosing the right walls. Wallpaper is happiest away from the wettest, hottest zones — so rather than directly behind the hob or sink, think about a dining end, a breakfast nook, a chimney breast, a chunk of wall above a dresser, or a pantry and utility. In these spots, pattern brings warmth and character while staying well away from splashes and steam. Behind a glass splashback, a design can even sit safely near a worktop.
Designs that suit a kitchen
Kitchens love a cheerful, homely pattern. A soft floral brings country-kitchen warmth. Fruit and orchard designs feel appetising and characterful. A gingham or check is fresh and classic. And a botanical or a fine stripe keeps things calm and considered. Because we print to order, you can match the colour to your cabinetry and worktops exactly, rather than settling for the nearest shade.
Choose a hard-wearing finish
Kitchens are busy, so the finish matters. Our Heavy-Grade paper (300gsm) is a vinyl-coated non-woven, which makes it tougher and more wipeable — the sensible choice for a hard-working kitchen wall. Traditional (150gsm, super-matte) suits calmer dining ends and pantries, and Removable peel-and-stick (180gsm) is ideal for renters. All are printed to order on FSC-approved, PVC- and VOC-free paper.
Order a sample and hold it against your cabinets and worktop before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions About Kitchen Wallpaper
Can you use wallpaper in a kitchen?
Yes — the key is choosing the right walls. Wallpaper works beautifully away from the wettest, hottest zones: a dining end, breakfast nook, chimney breast, above a dresser, or in a pantry. A hard-wearing, wipeable finish makes it even more practical.
Where should you not put wallpaper in a kitchen?
Avoid papering directly behind the hob or sink, where heat, steam and splashes are greatest — unless it sits behind a glass splashback. Everywhere else, from dining ends to pantries, is fair game.
What is the best wallpaper finish for a kitchen?
Our Heavy-Grade paper (300gsm) is a vinyl-coated non-woven, which makes it tougher and more wipeable — the sensible choice for a busy kitchen wall. Traditional paper suits calmer dining ends and pantries.
What wallpaper designs suit a kitchen?
Cheerful, homely patterns work best — soft florals, fruit and orchard designs, gingham and check, botanicals and fine stripes. Because we print to order, you can match the colour to your cabinetry exactly.
Can I get kitchen wallpaper in a custom colour?
Yes — every design is printed to order in your chosen colour way and scale, so it suits your kitchen exactly, made especially for you
This wallpaper is just gorgeous! I used the one that requires glue and it was super easy to i stall. One roll was enough for a 6’ wide laundry closet with 7’5” ceilings. Even on our orange peel walls it set beautifully. I did this behind our new washer dryer set up in our laundry closet with white oak cabinets and it’s perfect! Highly recommend!
Truly love this wallpaper. Looks amazing in both our bathroom (the original project) and as an accent in the back of a cabinet (what we did with the extra). Everyone who sees it comments on how classy and beautiful it is. For these reasons five stars!
However I do want to call out two concerns:
1. The online "calculator" on the site recommend nine roles, which seemed excessive for our less than 100 sq ft bathroom. I even reached out to support to double check and they said to go by the calculator. I'm glad I didn't because I ended up ordering five roles and only needing 4. I will say returning the 5th role was a pretty smooth process, so kudus to Claret and Key for that.
2. Strangely the "autumn" color with pale nutmeg background reads more green than brown in certain light. With bright overhead light it comes across as the soft brown we intended, but in natural light it reads much more green. Not anything to terrible just unexpected.
Beautiful paper! Our decorator commented on its quality and how nice and easy it was to work with compared to other wallpaper he had used in the past. Thank you.
So in love with this wallpaper. We wanted a cosy cottage bedroom vibe so we chose the Eloise. It’s such a pretty design that completely transformed the space. The wallpaper is such great quality .We have very uneven walls but didn’t have any issues. Hanging it was a joy. Highly recommend.
We used Blanche to paper some built in wardrobes that double up as room dividers. It was brilliant to be able to sample several background colour options and we are delighted with the finished result
Thank you. Fabulous Wallpaper.
Great quality paper and easy to hang.
The design is so rich in colour and adds such decadence to my dressing area. Now for the finishing touches.
Poor customer service - rolls are only available as one off 10m runs, so if you need 11m.. unfortunately you’ll be paying double for a second roll! Unless your walls are 8m or less, I’d avoid. Wrongly assumed Claret & Key would be slightly more compassionate about the situation and even help with a slightly discounted second roll, considering we only needed 1m. How wrong we were!
Store owner replied:
Hi Emily,
I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the service.
We sell our wallpaper by the roll, and we are unable to manufacture shorter rolls. This will be the same for most manufacturers as 10m rolls are standard, and most rooms require more than 1 roll to complete the job.
Thanks,
Claret & Key
I really loved this paper and thought it would look nice in my attic space. Delighted with the end result. Great service, excellent quality of paper and it really transforms the room. The eves are very low so the space was not utilised so making a feature with the wallpaper has created a cosy space to relax in. Thank you. M
Love this wallpaper. It’s just enough to show a statement but not so loud that it overpowers the space. Being able to pick the color is such a great thing also. You’re not stuck with 5 options so it can match your style and colors of your space. Would recommend to anyone looking for wallpaper. Very happy and my installer said its super easy to install this pattern.
This wallpaper is thick and sturdy. It’s very easy to work with and easy to apply. It was my first time hanging wallpaper and this paper was very forgiving. Great product!
