Shop by Feeling:
A Different Way to Choose Wallpaper
Shop by Feeling: A Different Way to Choose Wallpaper
Last updated: August 2026
A practical guide from
La Muur WALLPAPER
SOUTH AFRICA
How to choose wallpaper based on the atmosphere you want to create,
rather than starting with colour or pattern.
Choosing wallpaper can become surprisingly difficult.
You start looking for something simple. An hour later, you’ve opened twenty browser tabs, saved dozens of images and somehow you’re no closer to knowing what you actually want.
There are too many colours. Too many patterns. Too many beautiful rooms.
And sometimes the problem is that you’re asking the wrong question.
Instead of asking “Which wallpaper do I like?”, try asking:
“How do I want this room to feel?”
It sounds like a small change, but it can make choosing wallpaper much easier.
Start With the Feeling, Not the Colour
Before looking at wallpaper, think about the room itself.
Is it somewhere you want to feel calm?
Warm?
Fresh?
Grounded?
A little dramatic?
Perhaps you want your bedroom to feel like somewhere you can switch off at the end of the day. Or you want an entrance hall to have a sense of arrival. Maybe your dining room should feel intimate in the evening rather than bright and energetic.
There isn’t a right answer.
The feeling you’re trying to create gives you a much better starting point than a colour chart.
If You Want a Calm Room
Calm doesn’t necessarily mean white, beige or grey.
Soft texture, quiet patterns and gentle variations in tone can create a much more interesting kind of calm.
Linen effects, plaster textures, subtle woven designs and wallpapers with very little contrast can give a room depth without making it feel busy.
This works particularly well in bedrooms and living spaces where you want the room to feel settled rather than decorated.
Look for:
Soft neutrals · Fine texture · Low contrast · Natural finishes · Subtle pattern
If You Want a Room to Feel Warm
A room can feel warm because of its texture, pattern and the way it responds to light.
Think about materials you naturally associate with warmth: timber, linen, woven fabrics, aged plaster, natural fibres.
Wallpaper that has some of these qualities can make a room feel more comfortable without needing to introduce a strong colour.
Look for:
Woven textures · Earthy neutrals · Soft browns · Warm creams · Organic patterns
If You Want Something Grounded
Some rooms can feel slightly disconnected from the materials around them, particularly when they contain lots of hard surfaces.
Grasscloth effects, stone-inspired finishes, plaster textures and earthy colours bring a sense of materiality to the walls.
They’re particularly beautiful with timber, natural fabrics, stone and older furniture.
The result doesn’t have to feel rustic.
It can be very contemporary.
Look for:
Natural textures · Mineral tones · Earthy colours · Plaster effects · Woven finishes
If You Want a Little Drama
Sometimes drama it’s simply about contrast.
A deep colour. A metallic thread. A large-scale pattern. A wall that catches the light differently in the evening.
The trick is deciding where you want the drama to come from.
If the furniture and artwork are already strong, a dramatic texture might be enough. If the room is relatively simple, you can afford to be more adventurous with pattern.
Look for:
Deep colours · Strong contrast · Metallic details · Large-scale pattern · Dark textures
If You Want a Room to Feel Fresh
It can come from lightness, simplicity and a sense of space.
Pale greens, soft blues, warm whites and delicate patterns can all create this feeling, particularly when combined with plenty of natural light.
But don’t forget texture.
A completely flat pale wall can sometimes feel cold. A little surface variation gives the eye something to find.
Look for:
Light colours · Soft greens and blues · Fine patterns · Subtle texture · Gentle contrast
If You Want Something Unexpected
Perhaps the rest of your home is fairly restrained, but you want the guest bathroom to have a moment of surprise.
Or perhaps there’s a small passage, entrance hall or bedroom that doesn’t need to follow the same rules as the main living areas.
These are often the rooms where you can take a chance.
Try something you wouldn’t necessarily choose for a large open-plan space.
A darker colour.
A strange pattern.
A strong texture.
Something that makes you smile when you walk through the door.
Look for:
Unexpected colour · Strong pattern · Dark tones · Unusual textures · Smaller-scale spaces
What About the Furniture?
This is where shopping by feeling becomes particularly useful.
Wallpaper doesn’t exist on its own.
The room already contains a floor, furniture, curtains, artwork, lighting and objects that you love.
Rather than trying to match everything exactly, think about the overall feeling you want those things to create together.
If you have a room full of beautiful furniture and artwork, a quiet textured wallpaper might be the right choice.
If the room is fairly minimal, the wall might be the place to introduce pattern.
You don’t need every element to make a statement.
Don’t Forget the Light
The same wallpaper can feel completely different in two rooms.
A warm neutral might feel soft and welcoming in a room with afternoon sunlight, but cooler in a north-facing room.
A dark wallpaper can feel cocooning in one space and heavy in another.
A metallic finish may barely show in the morning and suddenly come alive when the afternoon light reaches it.
This is why we always recommend ordering a sample and living with it for a while.
Put it on the actual wall.
Look at it in the morning.
Look at it at night.
See what happens when the weather changes.
Your room will tell you much more than a screen ever can.
A Simple Way to Start
If you’re overwhelmed by choice, don’t begin with hundreds of wallpapers.
Choose three words for your room.
For example:
Calm · Natural · Warm
or
Dark · Quiet · Dramatic
or
Fresh · Light · Relaxed
Then use those words to guide your search.
You don’t need to find a wallpaper that literally represents each word.
You’re looking for something that creates the same feeling.
Final Thought
Choosing wallpaper doesn’t have to start with colour.
Start with the room.
Think about how you want to feel when you’re sitting there, waking up there, having dinner there or walking through it every day.
Then look for the wallpaper that helps create that feeling.
Sometimes the right wallpaper isn’t the one you notice first.
It’s the one that makes the whole room feel right.
Ready to find yours?