Your building’s corridors and lobby are the first thing someone sees when they come into your building. As the old saying goes, first impressions matter. So, what should you do with the walls? It comes down to paint or wallcovering, both have their benefits, and every building is different. This blog will walk you through your options.
Paint
Historically this has been a common and safe choice for corridor walls. Especially in situations where the walls are currently painted, and the board is looking for a low-cost option. There are millions of choices of color, sheen and texture to choose from that are readily available at most paint stores. However, the one major downside to paint is durability and maintenance, paint is easily scratched, scraped and scuffed and it’s difficult to clean and touch-up. Touchups are especially difficult in some corridors depending on how the lighting is in the damaged area. Also, paint will typically only last 5-7 years before it will need to be re-done and the cost of painting is about half the cost per square foot compared to wallcovering.
Wallcovering
For the reasons listed above, many boards and designers have chosen wallcovering as their go to application for corridor walls. Wallcovering, specifically vinyl, which is the most common style used today is very durable and easy to clean, in many cases, it can be simply wiped down if dirtied or scuffed. Wallcoverings aren’t indestructible, if a section of wallcovering is damaged it can be removed and a new piece can be spliced in quite easily. For these reasons alone, wallcovering has become the norm for condo corridors. Wallcovering also offers a designer or board unlimited options in terms of color, pattern, and texture, allowing for true transformations of the space to take place. As mentioned above, wallcovering is about double the price per square foot compared to paint. However, whereas paint can be expected to be redone every 5-7 years wallcoverings have a lifespan of around 15.
What’s the best choice for your space?
There’s no correct choice, every situation is different. However, in our opinion wall covering is the way to go. Over the past 10 years, we’ve used wallcovering in almost all the corridors we’ve refurbished. Mainly due to customers’ desire to have a durable product that they won’t have to worry about for over a decade. We’re also able to really make the corridors “pop” through the use of exciting patterns and accent walls in the elevator lobbies. We still use paint in a variety of areas such as washrooms and service corridors.
If you think it’s time to refresh your corridors, reach out to ArmourCo we would be happy to help!