Playroom wallpaper ideas

1. Which playroom wall to paper.

A playroom has toys, shelves and a rug competing for attention. One papered wall gives the room a focus without adding to the noise.

• The wall behind the shelves or reading corner. It frames the books and baskets, and it is the wall children sit facing.
• The wall you see from the door. In a shared family room, it marks out the play corner.
• The lower wall. Paper below a chair rail or a painted line and the pattern sits at a child’s eye level.

All of the designs below come from our kids’ collections.

2. Letters to find and name.

Letters are the classic playroom wall: something to point at, sound out and find the first letter of a name.

• Alphabet: hand-drawn beige letters and numbers overlapping in a busy white-ground print. Lots to find, in a soft palette.
• Animal alphabet: a pastel animal alphabet with soft green accents. Letters and animals together, and it still makes sense in a homework corner later.

For letters in a nursery, see the alphabet nursery wallpaper guide. Animal alphabet also sits on our safari and animal nursery wallpaper page, with more animal designs.

3. Oceans, roads and a map to color.

• Ocean life: watercolor fish and sea plants in easy blues and greens. Calm enough for a room that is also a nap spot.
• Toy car: cheerful little cars with sunny yellow accents on white, for counting and lining up toy cars against.
• Fairytale map paintable: a black-and-white fairytale map made to be colored in by little artists. We have not tested which crayons, pens or paints work on it, so try yours on a sample first.

For dinosaurs and planets, see our dinosaur and space wallpaper guide.

4. A lighter wall for a busy room.

If the toys already bring plenty of color, a quieter wall balances them.

• Neutral rainbow: quiet beige rainbows with small hearts and clouds, on a light ground. It suits a playroom that doubles as a guest room or a family room.

Sharing the space between two ages? The shared kids’ room guide covers one wall for a baby and an older sibling. For a bedroom update, see the toddler room refresh guide.

5. Hands, crayons and wear.

A playroom wall gets touched. The panels are peel-and-stick, with no paste. We have not tested how they hold up to cleaning, scuffs or crayon, so we make no promises there. Plan around that:

• Keep the busiest zone in mind. Behind a craft table or a play kitchen is where hands land most.
• Try the upper wall. Paper above a chair rail or shelf line if the lower wall takes the most wear.
• Test a sample. Put one on your wall where play happens and see how it fares before you order panels.

How cleanly panels come off depends on the wall, the paint and the material, and we have not yet completed our own removal tests. Read the removal guide before you plan around it.

6. Plan the wall and the panels.

Every kids’ design comes in 30-inch-wide panels in nine heights, priced $90 to $180 per panel. Divide the wall width by 30 and round up for the panel count. Add 4 inches to the wall height for trim and alignment, then choose the shortest panel height that covers it. Our shortest panels are 48 inches tall, which cover a lower wall up to 44 inches.

Prices are before tax, with free US shipping. The nursery wallpaper calculator does the same math for your own walls. More kids’ designs are on our nursery and kids’ wallpaper page.

7. Start with a $15 sample.

A sample is the one way to see a design at playroom scale and try it where play happens. Order a sample of each finalist from our samples page, or straight from a design: Alphabet sample, Animal alphabet sample, Ocean life sample or Fairytale map paintable sample. Each is $15 with free US shipping.

Compare three playroom designs with the Playful safari pack:

More designs are on our kids’ page.

• Tape the samples where the panels will go, at a child’s eye level as well as yours.
• Look at them next to the toy shelves and the rug.
• For the map, try the crayons or pens you plan to use on the sample, not the wall.

Ordering your wall after the sample? Use code SAMPLE15 for $15 off orders of $300 or more (one use per customer).

Questions

What wallpaper works in a playroom?

A design with something to find and name. Alphabet and Animal alphabet put letters on the wall, Ocean life and Toy car give children something to count, and Fairytale map paintable is a black-and-white map made to be colored in. Neutral rainbow keeps a busy room lighter.

Can kids color on the fairytale map wallpaper?

Fairytale map paintable is made to be colored in, but we have not tested which crayons, pens or paints work on it or how they come off. Try what you plan to use on a $15 sample first.

Can I wipe peel-and-stick wallpaper in a playroom?

We have not tested how the panels hold up to cleaning or scuffs, so we make no promises there. If you expect sticky hands, paper the wall above a play table or the upper wall, and test a sample before you commit.

How many panels does a playroom wall take?

Divide the wall width in inches by 30 and round up. A 14-foot wall on an 8-foot ceiling takes six 108-inch panels at $120 each, $720 for our kids' designs. A lower wall up to 44 inches high on a 12-foot wall takes five 48-inch panels, $450.