The question we get asked most often, right after "what pattern would suit my room" — is which finish to actually order. It's a fair question, and the honest answer is: it depends less on the pattern and more on the wall, the room, and how long you plan to live with it.
Traditional paste-the-wall, non-woven
This is the finish most designers reach for by default, and for good reason. Non-woven, paste-the-wall wallpaper is dimensionally stable — it won't stretch or shrink as it dries — which matters enormously with dense geometric repeat patterns like ours, where even a millimetre of drift becomes visible at the seam. It's also the more durable option long-term: expect 10–15 years on a well-hung wall, and it stands up better to the kind of large-scale, full-room installations that boutique hotels and design-led homes tend to want.
Best suited to: feature walls you plan to live with for years, full-room wraps, and any pattern with a large, precise repeat — like Alhambra Geometric or Mughal Jungle, where pattern alignment across multiple drops needs to be exact.
Peel-and-stick
Peel-and-stick trades some of that long-term durability for speed and reversibility. No paste, no drying time, and — critically for renters or anyone not ready to commit to a permanent wall — it comes off cleanly without damaging plaster underneath. The tradeoff is that it's a better fit for smaller, contained applications: a single accent wall, a stairwell landing, or a rental property, rather than a full commercial installation.
Best suited to: rental properties, smaller feature areas, and anyone who wants to try a bold pattern like Artisanal Zellige without a multi-year commitment.
A quick way to decide
- Owned property, full room or feature wall you'll keep for years → traditional non-woven, paste-the-wall.
- Rental, temporary space, or a smaller accent area → peel-and-stick.
- Commercial or hospitality installation → traditional non-woven, for durability and washability under regular use.
- Not sure yet → order the same sample in whichever finish you're leaning toward and test it against the actual wall before deciding.
Either way, start with a sample
Colour and scale never translate reliably from a product photo. Order a printed A4 sample, from £12 and credited toward your full order, and hold the real thing against your wall, in your own light, before deciding on pattern or finish.
The short version
Traditional non-woven wins on durability and precision for large or permanent installations; peel-and-stick wins on speed and reversibility for rentals and smaller accents. The pattern doesn't have to dictate the choice — your wall and your timeline should.
Order a sample in either finish to compare.
