Can you paint over wallpaper, and how is it done?

Which wallpaper can actually be painted over

The wallpaper that takes paint well is usually paintable relief wallpaper, sold specifically for this purpose, or plain lining paper with a raised structure. It is thick, fibrous, and made to be painted more than once over its life. This is common in older Estonian flats where a previous owner or the building itself came with this type already fitted.

Vinyl wallpaper with a shiny or smooth surface is a different matter. Paint does not bond well to it, and even if it looks fine at first, it tends to peel later in sheets rather than flakes. Thin printed paper wallpaper is worse still, since it usually softens and bubbles the moment a water-based paint touches it.

If you are not sure what you have, press a fingernail gently into an inconspicuous corner. Relief paintable wallpaper feels dense and slightly spongy. Vinyl feels cool, smooth, and almost plasticky. Printed paper feels thin and gives way easily.

What condition the wallpaper needs to be in

Type aside, condition decides everything. The wallpaper has to be fully and firmly stuck down, with no lifting seams, no bubbles, and no patches where it has separated from the wall underneath. Any movement in the paper will show through the paint and get worse with time.

Run your hand across the whole wall, not just the parts at eye level. Corners near windows, areas behind radiators, and anywhere that has seen damp are the most likely places to find loose edges. Tap gently and listen for a hollow sound, which usually means an air pocket behind the paper.

Old glue that has dried out, or wallpaper that has been up for decades, often looks fine but has lost its grip. If more than a small area needs re-gluing or patching before you can even think about paint, that is already a sign the job is bigger than a simple repaint.

Preparing the surface before you paint

Start by washing the walls with a mild detergent solution to remove dust, grease, and nicotine staining, then let them dry fully. Fill any seams, tears, or small holes with a flexible filler suited to wallpaper rather than a rigid plaster filler, which can crack along the seam line later.

Sand lightly once the filler has dried, just enough to level the repairs, and wipe away the dust. Loose or lifting edges need to be stuck back down with wallpaper adhesive before you go any further; painting over a loose edge only glues it in the wrong position.

Finish with a coat of primer made for porous or absorbent surfaces. This seals the wallpaper, evens out how it absorbs paint, and stops colour from soaking in unevenly, which is especially noticeable with relief patterns under a single coat.

• Wash and dry the walls fully before inspecting them
• Fill seams and tears with flexible filler, not rigid plaster filler
• Re-glue any lifting edges and let the adhesive cure
• Sand lightly and remove all dust
• Prime with a product made for absorbent surfaces before painting

Choosing the paint and how the job goes

A water-based matt or silk emulsion suited to interior walls is the usual choice, applied in two coats with a medium-pile roller for texture and a brush for edges and corners. Matt finishes are more forgiving on relief wallpaper, since gloss and satin highlight every bump and seam under raking light.

Work one wall at a time, keeping a wet edge so you are not painting over a half-dried strip, which shows as a line once everything is dry. Let the first coat dry fully, usually overnight, before applying the second.

If the whole thing feels like more than you want to take on, our painting and decorating service starts from 12 € per job for smaller rooms, and it is worth getting a quote once you know the wallpaper is sound enough to paint.

The mistake almost everyone makes

The most common mistake is skipping the primer and painting directly onto the wallpaper because it looks clean and dry. Without a primer, the paper absorbs paint unevenly, patches dry a different shade, and the finish looks patchy even after two coats.

The second version of the same mistake is rushing straight to paint on wallpaper that has one or two loose seams, assuming the paint itself will hold things together. It will not. Paint adds weight rather than adhesion, and the loose section usually lifts further within weeks.

Both mistakes cost more to fix than doing the prep properly the first time, since by then the paint has to come off along with the wallpaper underneath it.

When stripping the wallpaper is the easier route

If more than a small portion of the wall has lifting seams, bubbles, or old glue that has failed, stripping the wallpaper is usually less work overall than patching it into paintable condition. The same applies to any vinyl or thin printed paper, which is not worth trying to paint regardless of its condition.

Stripping also makes sense if you are dealing with several old layers, which is common in Kalamaja and Nõmme wooden houses where wallpaper has been added over wallpaper across decades. Trying to paint over that only adds another layer to a wall that is already unstable.

Our wallpapering service, from 10 € per job, covers stripping old paper and rehanging new where that turns out to be the more sensible route. It is often worth a short site visit to decide, rather than guessing from a distance.