Timber wallpaper and timber look wallpaper: What’s the difference, and which one do you need for your project

The term ‘timber wallpaper’ gets used interchangeably across the industry, but at Elton Group, it can actually describe two distinct products. The first is a genuine timber veneer wallpaper – a real wood product, sliced to a thin sheet and bonded to a paper backing, then installed exactly like a wallcovering.

The second is timber look wallpaper – a high-quality printed and embossed wallpaper designed to replicate the appearance of timber, using paper made of long fibre timber pulp and finished with a polyurethane coating just like timber veneer.

Both have a clear and legitimate place in commercial and residential interiors. Understanding which one suits your project and budget is the key.

Eveneer WoodWall: Real timber veneer wallpaper, applied like wallpaper

If you’ve been searching for timber veneer wallpaper, wood veneer wallpaper, or timber panelling without the bulk and expense of heavy timber substrates and framing, Eveneer WoodWall is exactly what you’re looking for.

Eveneer WoodWall is a prefinished real timber veneer, sliced to between 0.2 and 0.4-millimetres, and pressed onto a paper backing to create a wallcovering that is installed using the same techniques and tools as traditional commercial wallpaper. It’s a genuine innovation: the warmth, grain, and beauty and tactility of real timber, applied directly to plasterboard, plaster, MDF, metal, or other surfaces with standard wallcovering adhesive.

The product is supplied in sequential, numbered sheets measuring 930mm wide by up to 4000mm long – each one sliced from the same log in order – so that when installed, the grain flows continuously across an entire wall or ceiling, much like a large-format mural. It arrives prefinished with two coats of polyurethane so there’s no messy or time-consuming on-site finishing required.

Its flexibility is one of its most outstanding qualities. Eveneer WoodWall can bend around curved surfaces and even fold around corners with a radius greater than one-millimetre – parallel to the grain – enabling seamless, shadow-free corners that would be impossible with rigid timber panelling.

An environmentally responsible choice

For designers and specifiers with sustainability on the brief, Eveneer WoodWall is a compelling choice. The patented slicing process increases a log’s yield by approximately 300 per cent. Eveneer WoodWall uses less than 5 per cent of the timber required for traditional panelling, and it is available sourced from FSC® certified forests and plantations.

Not every project calls for real timber veneer. Budget constraints, substrate limitations, or simply a preference for the versatility and consistency and uninterrupted longer lengths of a printed finish – there are many legitimate reasons why a designer might specify timber look wallpaper instead. This is where Evenex PaperWall comes in.

Evenex PaperWall is Elton Group’s premium timber effect wallpaper range, made from long fibre wood pulp processed into a dense fine finished paper and engineered to deliver a hyper-realistic timber appearance through a combination of high-definition digital printing techniques and synchronised grain embossing. The embossing is aligned precisely to match the printed grain pattern, which means the surface not only looks like timber, but it also feels like it.

For projects where timber look wall panelling is the goal, but real veneer isn’t the solution, Evenex PaperWall offers a solution that delivers on performance and aesthetics. The synchronised grain technology sets it apart from ordinary timber effect wallpaper, which typically relies on print alone and can appear flat or unconvincing.

Evenex PaperWall is suitable for the same broad range of interior applications as WoodWall – walls, feature walls, ceilings, joinery wrapping – and installs cleanly and efficiently using standard commercial wallcovering methods.

Both of these products have been extensively tested, with holistic colour and grain ranges developed for each, so the final decision really comes down to the specific requirements of your project.

Choose Eveneer WoodWall when:

The specification calls for real, natural timber. WoodWall is genuine wood – it has grain variation, natural warmth, and a tactile quality that no printed product can fully replicate. It’s the right choice for high-end commercial interiors, luxury hospitality, premium retail, or any project where authenticity is non-negotiable. It’s also ideal where long sequential grain runs are needed, or where curved and cornered surfaces need to be wrapped seamlessly. And it’s a useful complement when matching it to the veneer joinery or panelling in other areas of the project.

Choose Evenex PaperWall when:

The brief calls for a consistent, repeatable timber aesthetic within a tighter budget, or where the specification requires a broader range of colour and pattern options than natural veneer can provide. PaperWall is also well suited to applications where the substrate or environmental conditions would make veneer installation more complex, and wherever a high-quality rustic timber wallpaper or wallpaper that looks like timber is the desired outcome rather than the real material itself.

One of the most common surprises for designers and joiners encountering Eveneer WoodWall for the first time is how approachable the installation process is. Because the product is designed to be installed like a wallcovering, it doesn’t require the specialist joinery skills or site preparation that traditional timber panelling demands.

Both Eveneer WoodWall and Evenex PaperWall are installed by qualified wallcovering professionals using standard tools – adhesive, a roller, smoothing tools, and a straight edge. Surfaces must be properly prepared, primed with an appropriate primer, and maintained at a stable temperature between 18°C and 30°C with relative humidity below 50 per cent during and after installation. The factory pre-finish means there’s no sanding, staining, or coating required on site.

Full installation documentation is available from Elton Group website. Both products are installed quickly, efficiently and mess-free once the construction trades have finished on site.

Whether you’re searching for timber cladding wallpaper, wood veneer wallpaper, or simply wallpaper that looks like timber, Elton Group has a product designed to meet that brief with integrity and craft. Eveneer WoodWall and Evenex PaperWall represent two different solutions to the same design challenge – bringing the warmth and character of timber into interior spaces efficiently, beautifully, and with a finish that lasts.

We’re always happy to talk through your project and help you determine which product is the right fit. Contact our team or explore the full Eveneer WoodWall and Evenex PaperWall ranges.

To understand more about how timber veneer is produced and what makes it unique, we recommend reading our article What Is Timber Veneer? Benefits, Uses and Myths Explained, and our Designer’s Guide to Timber Veneer Cuts and Matching Techniques.