Getting ready to remodel. I'm not seeing wallpaper like you used to. Is it totally "out" or can some be used?

I have zero interest in whether something's in- or out-of-style, but officially, wallpaper is in. Very in.

Apartment Therapy

It has definitely come back in and I can't say how sorry I am to see it. I have paper and re-papered so many times for so many people (friends and family), that I swore the last time - about 8 years ago - that I'd never do it again. I could probably get a wall paper license! LOL Oh well, trends come and go, so I guess I better go sharpen those razor blades so I can do some trimming...

It's kind of like pointy-toed high heels. When they came back, most of the women who had worn them the last time they were high-style items declared "You couldn't pay me to wear those ridiculous shoes again!!!" You can see those women wearing comfy track suits & cross trainers in front of Saks Fifth Avenue over on Michihgan Avenue just about every day.

Meanwhile, those women's granddaughters--who grew up in t-shirts & running shoes, and who started their careers during the all-black-all- pants-all-the-time period, look great as they stroll down the street in flouncy pastel skirts & high heels.

Everything's relative. When it's night here, it's daytime in Europe. What's out of fashion with one group is on it's way back in with another. It's called The Cycle of Life.

I think that some wallpapers are definetly in. Those with organic texture.

As with everything do what works for your house and the period of time you'll spend there.

Definitely IN! I just finished my dining room and grabbed a color from that and painted the walls up the stairs and in the upstairs hall.

I have wallpaper in several rooms and I love it.
Don't know if it's in or out but I have an old house so I can get away with a lot of stuff that's not popular at the moment, although I can't think of an example right off hand.
Go with what you like. The only thing I ask is that you not use foil backed paper like in the 70's. Ohhh...that is SO out.

They still seem to be using it in model homes in my neck of the woods, especially the lower to mid end homes. The higher end homes use more faux finishes to get the "Tuscan" and "French Country" or combos of both of these. I am not a fan of either wallpaper or faux finishes. I like the pure color best. I think it is a less distracting background. It all comes down to a matter of personal taste.

However, I am a child of the 70s and I like the look of grasscloth in some rooms. It can look so wonderful in the right setting, but it is a pain to hang and an even bigger pain to remove.

Having removed my share of it, and priced the expense of papering a room....it is way "out" with me anyway!
There are just so many great new paints with textures, metallics, glazes, venecian finishes, creative faux finishes, that can be fun to apply for a fraction of the cost of papering a room.
And the best thing is...you can just repaint over the top when you want to change.

In a word. YES

I don't think it really matters if it is "in" or "out".

Wallpaper is extremely personal. Plan on removing it, completely, before you ever think of putting your house up for sale.

So, it doesn't matter how odd or crazy your paper is, it will be gone before it becomes a problem.

I went through a period of not liking wallpaper myself. Now I like it again. I like wallpaper and pointy toed, high heels. Go figure. I've never been a fan of running shoes. My concession to my back is the kitten heel.Not that young & my mother never wore cross trainers in her life. Since I live in the land of the earth people (Seattle...an article in the newspaper once declared that everyone looked like they were going camping all the time), I get some disdainful looks. Who cares? Wear your lovely shoes and wallpaper if it suits you.

Sold a house in a week in a hot market that had wallpaper everywhere. That was not too long ago. Felt sorry for the people that had to remove it. I had a blast picking it out. The paper hanger had a bear of a time hanging it as I had 12 foot ceilings throughout the house. (up & down the ladder). One man actually quit in tears. He also hung my daughter's bathroom paper upside down. The second guy was a true pro & did a great job.

Paint is easier but sometimes the house goes better w/wallpaper. I had professionally finished walls and travertine floors 7 years ago. Now in a much different, more traditional house and regret having all the wallpaper taken out, especially in the masterbath where the tall barrel vaulted ceiling was even papered. Drove my MIL nuts. I wish I'd kept it if only for that. It was beautiful paper. Sometimes you don't know what you have until it's gone.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BD2,

I plan to paper the bedroom I just painted as soon as I get the money. I love wallpaper and can't wait to see it. I painted it because I couldn't afford the paper and needed to get the builder's flat off the walls.

When my 2 sons were small, I was home with them, Well, every few months, I would put up wallpaper in a room, easier for me to do then paint ! My husband would come home from work never knowing what he would find on the walls ! .....Of course I hated removing it, and would beg hubby to do it ! As the years passed, and as we saw less and less wallpapers around, I lost interest and just painted, but I am now looking at wallpaper again, for my 23 years old son's room (one wall only though) !

I love my wallpapered rooms. I think my dining room with the songbirds wallpaper and cardinal red paint under the chair rail and my bathroom with hydrangia and magnolia wallpaper are beautiful and both were done in the past year or so. I also know that if I wanted to put my house up for sale I would have to take it down and repaint before I even considered listing it. It is all realtive. If you like it, then it is in.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: handylady1,

I have done a 180 degree turn. I am in love with wallpaper again (after being a paint purist)and plan to add it to a few rooms in my new resale home. I was thunderstruck during a recent visit to a showroom at the incredible variety, sophisticated designs and textures that are now available.

It's pricey, but it adds a richness and a
"je ne sais quoi" to walls that are hard to duplicate in paint.

If the paper is put up correctly, it is easy to remove.

I love the idea of big quirky and graphically interesting patterns, whether they're painted on or glued on. I just painted my entire closet door with a HUGE graphic, abstract birch-leaf pattern in flat green on white. It looks really cool.

However, I do NOT like wall paper with dorky themes, or cutesy patterns that are weak and bland. If your wall paper doesn't make a statement, you might as well not use it.

My sister and her husband are renting a duplex with a landlady who has an unfortunate penchant for painfully boring and ugly wallpaper borders which she has used to accent painted walls. I just want to know why? In their bathroom is a continuous mid-wall border of mallard ducks. In the kitchen is a cheesy border along the ceiling with pastelly-blue and yellow floral prints. It is beyond bad. My sister is trying to think of ways to cover it up for the indefinite time period that they'll be living there.

We suggested that she get several yards of fabric, cutting them into long strips, and starching them with an ironing board & hot iron, and then pinning them up with thumbtacks or pushpins, or maybe even a staple gun which would leave virtually invisible and minimal holes in the existing wallpaper border when they take it down.

Wallpaper is such a broad topic. Some of it is out and some of it is in. Paint just doesn't give you the rich texture that wallpaper can, and so there are always going to be times when nothing but wallpaper will do.

I love wallpaper. I also love paint and paint finishes.

Wallpaper can be bold or subtle (the latter's more to my taste.) If you like it, go for it.

One of the few certainties in life (aside from death and taxes) is that whatever you like will be in - and out - and in again, probably at least a few times in your lifetime.

I figure if I just stick with what I like, eventually I'll look like a trendsetter!

I don't think wallpaper is totally "out" but it's not as popular as it used to be. Probably it's last big heyday was the 1980's when the country style was super popular--along with polka dots and flowery borders. I think there are two reasons why you never see designers using wallpaper on HGTV 1. It's more expensive than paint, so shows like Design On A Dime are less likely to use it and 2. Most high end projects involve huge rooms and/or houses with open floor plans. It either wouldn't look good or be impractical, so shows like "Designer's Challenge" wouldn't use it either. Actually, I've only seen wallpaper used on HGTV only once--on "Decorating Cents" several years ago, and I think the wallpaper ate up about 40% of their budget.

In spite of that, I always think wallpaper will always have it's place because it hides a multitude of sins (for those of us with banged-up walls that we don't have the time and/or ability to rip out and replace), and if you want a certain pattern on your walls, you're probably not going to get it unless you use wallpaper (unless you have the painting skills of Michelangelo and the patience of a saint or the money to hire someone like that).

Personally, I don't like wallpaper myself but I'm very glad I used it in my daughter's bedroom instead of using the sponging technique. We bought wallpaper with a sponging pattern on it and had the project done in a day. If we had decided to do the sponging technique ourselves it probably would have taken six weeks minimum (if we didn't give up before that) and who knows what it would have looked like (probably not very good). So, it definitely has it's place, and it's probably on its way to coming back in.

I darn near lost a battle with removing a border paper & suffered both physical and emotional damage...now Im paper free and proud of it. Though hubby swears he's trying to change my mind with one of the textured papers for the ceiling vs. tin tiles. LOL

The next project in the house is the removal of wallpaper! Through the years we have had wallpaper in various rooms--not all through the house. But, now, we are ready for the cleaner, uncluttered look of painted walls.