Grasscloth is the wallpaper people fall in love with from across a room and then worry about up close. The texture is warm and real. The seams are also real. If you go in knowing both, you will love it for years. If you go in expecting it to look like printed vinyl, you will be disappointed the first afternoon.
This guide sets those expectations plainly. It covers the three kinds of "grasscloth," why seams show, how dye lots work, where the material belongs, how to care for it, what the install costs, and one thing specific to Utah: our dry air. For the install process itself, see our wallpaper installation page, and for current ranges the pricing page.
Three things people call grasscloth
Tempaper organizes its grasscloth line into three buckets, and the whole industry roughly follows the same split.
| Type | What it is | Seams | Cleanable | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authentic grasscloth | Natural grasses (arrowroot, sisal, jute, hemp, seagrass) hand-woven and glued to a paper backing | Always visible; color shifts strip to strip | No; dust only | Dining rooms, bedrooms, offices, ceilings |
| Paperweave | Twisted paper strands woven on a loom; a more uniform natural material | Visible but subtler; more even color | No; dust only | Same rooms, when you want texture with less variation |
| Faux grasscloth | Vinyl or non-woven paper printed and embossed to look like grass | Nearly invisible; pattern matches | Yes, wipeable | Bathrooms, kitchens, hallways, kids' rooms, rentals |
The faux category is not a lesser choice. It is the right choice for any wall that gets wet, touched, or scrubbed. Phillip Jeffries, the trade leader in natural wallcoverings, publishes hundreds of product-specific hanging instructions for its grasscloths, hemps, raffias, and other natural materials, because each behaves differently on the wall.
Why grasscloth seams always show
Here is the sentence we say to every grasscloth client before they order: the seams will be visible, and that is not a defect.
Printed wallpaper has a pattern that repeats, so each strip can be matched to the next and the seam disappears into the design. Natural grasscloth has no repeat. Each strip is a separate piece of woven grass, dyed in a batch. The fibers at the left edge of one strip do not line up with the fibers at the right edge of the next. The color is a little lighter or darker from strip to strip because plant fibers take dye unevenly. The result is a wall that reads as a series of panels, like boards in a fence.
Designers call this "paneling" and they like it. It is part of why the material looks handmade. But you should see it in your head before you see it on your wall.
What a good installer does about it:
- Reverse-hangs alternating strips. Flipping every other strip top to bottom puts like edges next to like edges and softens the color shift.
- Double-cuts the seams. We overlap two strips and cut through both with one blade stroke so the edges meet perfectly with no gap and no overlap.
- Plans the layout. Seams land where they look intentional: centered on a focal wall, tucked behind a door swing, never a two-inch sliver at a corner.
- Keeps paste off the face. Natural grasscloth stains if paste touches the front. There is no wiping it clean afterward.
A homeowner blogger at Chris Loves Julia, who has hired installers for several rooms, flagged striped paper and grasscloth as the two hardest materials to hang. That matches our experience. It is slow work with no second chances.
Dye lots, and why you order everything at once
Grasscloth is dyed in batches called dye lots. Two rolls from different lots can be noticeably different in color, even with the same pattern number. This is true of printed paper too, but on grasscloth the difference shows more because there is no pattern to distract the eye.
Rules we follow:
- Order every roll for the room at the same time, and ask the supplier to confirm one dye lot.
- Check the lot number on every roll when the shipment arrives, before install day.
- Order one extra roll from the same lot and keep it. A repair five years from now will not match otherwise.
- Unroll and inspect each roll in daylight. Natural material has knots and color streaks; we sort strips so the variation looks planned.
Where grasscloth belongs, and where it does not
Yes: dining rooms, primary bedrooms, home offices, libraries, a den, a bedroom ceiling, the back of built-in shelves. Rooms where hands do not touch the wall much and nothing splashes.
Careful: entryways, stairwells, and living rooms with kids and dogs. Consider paperweave, which is a little tougher, or hang natural grasscloth above a chair rail with paint or faux below.
No: full bathrooms with a shower, kitchens near the range or sink, laundry rooms, mudrooms. Use faux grasscloth there. It looks 90 percent the same and you can wipe it.
Trend-wise, grasscloth is having a moment. Good Housekeeping's 2026 wallpaper trend roundup named grasscloth with metallic threads; Elle Decor's June 2026 piece led with "more texture." The 1stDibs survey of 468 designers (released Nov. 17, 2025) found 39 percent calling maximalism the most requested look, and layered texture is a big part of that.
Caring for grasscloth
Dust it with a soft brush or the brush attachment on a vacuum, top to bottom, a few times a year. Do not use water. Do not use cleaners. If something splashes on it, blot immediately with a dry white cloth and stop. Rubbing spreads the mark. Keep it out of direct sun where you can, because natural fibers fade unevenly.
Faux grasscloth is the opposite: damp cloth, mild soap, done.
What grasscloth costs
Two premiums stack here: the material and the labor.
| Item | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Grasscloth material | $5–$12 per sq ft | Angi (May 30, 2026) |
| Grasscloth material, per roll | $75–$120 | HomeGuide (Sept. 2, 2025) |
| Premium designer grasscloth, per roll | Up to $1,230 | Milton & King product pricing |
| Pro labor per 200 sq ft of grasscloth | $500–$800 | HomeAdvisor (June 20, 2026) |
| Specialty installer labor | $7–$12 per sq ft | The Wallpaper Company, Miami (July 30, 2026) |
| SwiftHand starting range (ballpark) | $10–$15 per sq ft labor | Confirmed after photos or site visit |
Our band is higher than our $7–$10 standard range because grasscloth takes longer at every step: layout, reverse-hanging, double-cutting, keeping paste off the face, and working with material that cannot be repositioned once it touches the wall. A 12-by-12 dining room with about 400 square feet of wall runs roughly $2,800–$4,800 in labor as a ballpark, plus the paper, plus skim coating at $2–$4.50 per square foot if the walls are textured. Grasscloth shows every bump underneath it, so textured Utah walls almost always need smoothing first.
Utah's dry air and acclimation
Northern Utah is high desert. Indoor humidity in winter gets very low, and Park City and Midway add altitude on top of that. Both matter for grasscloth.
Natural fibers pick up and release moisture. A roll that has been in a warm truck and then a dry house will shrink slightly after it goes up if it was not acclimated first. Mancini Wallpapers, the Park City installer, builds a 24-hour material acclimation step into its process and publishes high-altitude protocols for the same reason. We do the same: rolls sit in the room, unwrapped, for at least a day before we hang them.
Dry air also shortens paste "open time," the window when the paste is wet enough to work. We adjust paste, work in smaller sections, and sometimes run a humidifier in the room during install and for a day or two after. If you keep a humidifier running in winter anyway, your grasscloth will thank you.
FAQ
Will the seams in grasscloth be visible? Yes, always, on authentic grasscloth and paperweave. It is the nature of a natural, unpatterned material. Faux grasscloth hides its seams like any printed paper.
Can grasscloth go in a bathroom? Not in a bathroom with a shower or tub. It cannot be wiped and it absorbs moisture. Faux grasscloth is the right call there, and a powder room without a shower is usually fine for the real thing with a good exhaust fan.
Why does grasscloth cost more to install? It cannot be repositioned, cannot be cleaned if paste touches the front, and every seam is cut by hand. Our ballpark labor range is $10–$15 per square foot versus $7–$10 for standard paper.
Can I hang grasscloth on textured walls? Not without smoothing them. Grasscloth is thin and shows texture through it. We skim coat first at a ballpark $2–$4.50 per square foot.
How much extra should I order? Plan on 15 percent over the strip count, plus one full spare roll from the same dye lot. We calculate the exact count during a Design Session or from your dimensions.
Thinking about grasscloth?
Send us three photos and your wall dimensions, and tell us which type you are considering. We will send a written ballpark and let you know whether your walls need smoothing first. Or book a route-friendly time online for a Design Session, where we bring real grasscloth samples so you can see the seams before you commit. Call or text 801-895-3794. Serving Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden, Park City, Midway, and Tooele.
Sources
- Tempaper, grasscloth collections (authentic, paperweave, faux) — https://www.tempaper.com/
- Phillip Jeffries, hanging instructions library — https://www.phillipjeffries.com/hanging-instructions
- Chris Loves Julia, "How Much Does It Cost to Install Wallpaper?" (updated Oct. 14, 2025) — https://chrislovesjulia.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-install-wallpaper/
- Good Housekeeping, 2026 wallpaper trends (via AOL) — https://www.aol.com/articles/wallpaper-trends-everywhere-2026-according-180600634.html
- Elle Decor, 2026 wallpaper trends (via Yahoo, June 29, 2026) — https://shopping.yahoo.com/home-garden/home-decor/articles/wallpaper-trends-taking-over-2026-174800132.html
- 1stDibs, "2026 Interior Design Trends Survey" (Nov. 17, 2025) — https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251117050937/en/2026-Interior-Design-Trends-1stDibs-Survey-Identifies-Maximalism-Chocolate-Brown-and-Vintage-Antiques-as-Top-Designer-Choices
- Angi, "How Much Does It Cost to Hang Wallpaper?" (May 30, 2026) — https://www.angi.com/articles/how-much-does-it-cost-hang-wallpaper.htm
- HomeGuide, "Wallpaper Installation Cost" (Sept. 2, 2025) — https://homeguide.com/costs/wallpaper-installation-cost
- HomeAdvisor, "How Much Does It Cost to Install Wallpaper?" (June 20, 2026) — https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/home-design-and-decor/install-wallpaper
- Milton & King, product pricing — https://www.miltonandking.com/
- The Wallpaper Company, "2026 Pricing Guide" (July 30, 2026) — https://www.thewallpapercompany.com/post/breaking-down-wallpaper-installation-costs-the-ultimate-2026-pricing-guide
- Mancini Wallpapers, process and FAQ (Park City) — https://manciniwallpapers.com/