Grasscloth Wallpaper Installation in Atlanta

Grasscloth punishes shortcuts. Natural fibers — sisal, jute, hemp, arrowroot, abaca — are woven onto a paper backing, so every roll is a slightly different object. There is no repeat to match, the seams are meant to be seen, and the surface will not tolerate being wiped or reworked once wet.

We install grasscloth and natural-fiber wallcoverings across metro Atlanta, in dining rooms, studies, bedrooms and powder rooms. The project portfolio gives a sense of how the material sits in a finished room.

Why grasscloth is unforgiving

Several of the things people call defects are simply what grasscloth is. Seams are visible by design: the fibers stop at the edge of each strip, so where two strips meet you see a line. A good installer makes those lines plumb and evenly spaced — nobody can make them disappear.

There is no pattern to match, so nothing tells you where a strip belongs and sequence has to be tracked from the first drop to the last. Dye-lot variation is the other half of it: fibers take dye unevenly, and color shifts between rolls and within a roll. It is water-sensitive too, and not washable — paste on the face can stain permanently and the fibers cannot be scrubbed.

How we install it

Walls are made flat and sound first, because the weave sits close to the surface and telegraphs anything underneath. We then prime with a pigmented wallcovering primer tinted close to the ground color of the material. That matters because of those visible seams: where two strips meet, a sliver of wall can show, and the pigment means what shows is a neutral tone rather than a stripe of the old paint color. It also makes the covering easier to strip later.

Strips are cut and sequenced in advance, with panels reversed so shading steps gradually across a wall rather than jumping at one seam. We follow the manufacturer's instruction on whether paste goes on the wall or on the back — many grasscloths are hung paste-the-wall precisely to keep adhesive away from the face.

Seams are butted, never overlapped, and not double-cut through the face on a material that cannot be reworked. We keep paste off the face throughout, because there is no washing it off afterwards. Trimming is done with blades changed often, since dull steel drags fiber instead of cutting it.

Where grasscloth works, and where it does not

It suits rooms that are looked at rather than lived in hard: dining rooms, studies, formal living rooms and bedrooms, where the texture softens the room and nothing rubs against the walls. Powder rooms are a favorite in Atlanta houses too, as long as the room is a genuine powder room rather than a full bath with a shower or tub.

We do paper bathrooms, sealing the edges and paying attention to the vanity and trim — but a room taking daily steam is the wrong home for a natural fiber, as are hallways at hand height and rooms with young children. There we would rather point you at a vinyl or printed non-woven that reads similarly and survives contact.

What affects the price

Grasscloth is quoted per room, and the material is usually the larger share of the cost — natural-fiber rolls span a very wide price range depending on fiber, weave and backing, so the roll you choose moves the total more than anything we do.

Waste is the second factor, and higher than with a printed paper: sequencing and panel-reversing mean strips cannot be cut from wherever is convenient, so overage has to be ordered up front from the same dye lot. After that it is wall condition, ceiling height, and how many corners break up the runs. Send photos and room dimensions with the wallcovering you are considering. More questions are on the FAQ page.

Removing old grasscloth

Taking grasscloth off is its own job. The fiber face tends to come away in pieces while the paper backing stays glued to the wall, so removal is usually two passes: the covering first, then the backing softened with steam or a removal solution and scraped. Where the wall was never primed, the drywall face often lifts with it and needs sealing and skim-coating. We take that work whether or not you are re-papering — detail is on the wallpaper removal page.

Grasscloth questions