In this month’s Expert View, Mona Menon, Director at Marshalls Wallcoverings, offers her perspective on the growing role of wallcoverings in restaurant design. Drawing on her industry expertise, she highlights how today’s wallpapers combine aesthetics, durability, and customisation to create impactful dining environments.
In today’s hospitality landscape, diners aren’t just buying a meal — they’re buying an experience. The mood of a space can elevate a simple dish, set the tone for the evening, and turn walk-ins into loyal patrons. As restaurants compete for attention in an experience-driven, social media–fuelled world, interiors have become as significant as the culinary offering itself. Within this shift, wallpaper has emerged as one of the most transformative, commercially smart, and designforward wall décor solutions available today. Far superior to paint or conventional surface finishes, modern wallpapers deliver flexibility, longevity, speed, and unmatched branding potential — making them a favourite among designers and restaurateurs alike.
The restaurant industry thrives on reinvention. Seasonal menus, pop-up chef takeovers, festive themes, global cuisine introductions — change is constant. Wallpaper allows restaurants to embrace this dynamism without disruption. Entire spaces can be refreshed in just a day or two, with no drilling, dust, civil work, or lingering paint fumes. It’s a seamless, fuss-free process that keeps businesses running even as the interiors transform. For owners, it eliminates costly downtime; for designers, it delivers immediate impact.
Where Walls Become Brand Storytellers
A restaurant’s interiors should reflect its cuisine, culture, and character. Wallpaper enables this connection with precision. Whether it’s the quiet elegance of Japandi textures for a sushi bar, nostalgic florals for a retro café, bold geometrics for a highenergy bar, or rich metallics for a fine-dining setting, wallpaper provides the depth and nuance needed to articulate a brand’s story. With more than 10,000 design possibilities, it becomes a canvas of identity, emotion, and narrative — something paint can never replicate.
Engineered for the Demands of High-Traffic Dining
Restaurant walls endure more activity than any residential space ever could. Chairs scrape, crowds move, spills happen, cleaning is frequent, and humidity near kitchens is unavoidable. Commercial-grade wallpapers — particularly those from leading brands like Marshalls — are built to rise to these challenges. Washable, stain-resistant, fade-proof, and crafted for long-term performance, they retain their beauty for eight to twelve years. Paint, by comparison, fades, cracks, and requires repeated annual touch-ups. Wallpaper, instead, becomes a durable partner in daily operations.
Creating A Visual Identity
In a digital-first era, a restaurant’s visual appeal extends far beyond its four walls — it lives on social feeds, stories, and reels. Wallpaper makes it effortless to create photo-worthy corners that capture attention and spark conversations. Statement selfie walls, food photography backdrops, brand-coloured accents, and thoughtfully designed nooks turn diners into content creators. Every shared image becomes organic promotion, boosting visibility, footfalls, and recall — at no additional cost.
Acoustics That Elevate Guest Comfort
Ambience isn’t just visual — it’s auditory. Hard surfaces and tiled walls often create unwanted echo and chatter bounce, making conversations difficult. Wallpaper, especially textured or fabric-backed varieties, absorbs sound and softens the acoustic environment. The result is a warmer, more intimate dining experience where guests linger longer, engage more, and ultimately spend more.
Hygiene That Meets Hospitality Standards
Modern wallpapers are crafted with hospitality-grade performance in mind. Anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, moisture-resistant, and wipe-clean finishes ensure that hygiene never takes a back seat. Unlike paint, they don’t attract dust or emit harmful fumes, making them ideal even for wash zones, buffet areas, restrooms, and delivery kitchens. Maintenance becomes simpler, faster, and more cost-effective.
Unlimited Creative Freedom
As restaurants increasingly seek signature elements that distinguish their spaces, the customisation potential of wallpaper becomes invaluable. Designers can craft bespoke murals, brandled typography, food illustrations, cultural graphics, abstract compositions, or logo-integrated concepts. The possibilities are expansive and offer a level of personalisation that no other material can match — making every restaurant truly one of a kind.
A Long-Term, Cost-Efficient Choice
Although often perceived as a premium option, wallpaper proves to be more economical in the long run. With its extended lifespan, negligible maintenance, and elimination of civil work, the cost per year becomes significantly lower than paint or panelling. Add to this its role in enhancing brand value, attracting customers, and elevating the experience, and the return on investment becomes undeniable.
Overall, wallpaper enhances aesthetics, strengthens branding, improves acoustics, boosts social media visibility, increases customer retention, and lowers long-term costs. For restaurants looking to elevate their identity, accelerate renovation timelines, and create memorable experiences, wallpaper is no longer just a décor choice — it’s a strategic advantage.
(With Marshalls Wallcoverings, you can get access to an end-to-end ecosystem: personalised design consultation, custom themes, quick installation, over 10,000 designs, commercial-grade durability, and a trusted Supply–Apply–Warranty assurance. In an era where ambience shapes perception and design drives loyalty, wallpaper doesn’t just decorate walls — it defines the experience.)
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