Can fabric be used for wallcovering?
Yes and yes!
First yes: it can be done. Fabric offers great beauty, more interesting texture for your wall. At 54" wide, sometimes it's even cheaper than wallpaper (20-27" wide).
Before the introduction of paper wallcoverings from China, Europeans adorned their walls with woven tapestries and leather, both for their aesthetic appeal and insulation properties.
But these items were incredibly expensive and time-consuming to produce, which meant only the wealthiest could afford them.
During the Renaissance, wallpaper was developed as an alternative to these costly luxuries. The earliest wallpaper varieties mimicked fabrics like damask and were used on walls and as decorative liners for armoires and chests.
What kind of fabric is suitable for wallcovering?
Almost any that has enough body and weight. Most common are cotton or linen prints, but jacquard, velvet and embroidery too if cost is not a concern.
Two more advantage of fabric vs wallpaper:
- fabric provides better acoustic result. A room covered in fabric is instantly "quieter" than smooth wallpaper.
- Fabric can be uninstalled to repurpose after years on the wall, while wallpaper has no 2nd life.
How? A right installer can do it easily. Again, for hundreds of years, on the wall of rich Europeans, it was fabric, not paper.