“Oh no, not wallpaper! Anything but wallpaper,” my client spoke in obvious horror. Apparently I had just made a horrible faux-pas in even uttering the distasteful word wallpaper. I must say, I fear putting the reputation of my own established interior design business at risk in writing this article. It’s a chance I must take.
There…I’ve said it. And I’m positively happy to say it’s true.
I remember my dear Grandmother doing her own wallpapering in her ancient farmhouse. The effect was instant gratification: the tired old walls came alive with clusters of fresh strawberries on a field of crisp white.
Floral Wallpaper adds spunk to this all white kitchen.
As a result, my mother was quite fond of wallpaper (perhaps too fond). She installed her own vinyl-coated masterpieces in our family home. I remember helping her slather the back of each strip with the sloppy mess of thick glue, before smacking it onto the wall and wiping it carefully into place. Later, I relished the opportunity of choosing wallpaper for my pre-teen boudoir. And so, history repeats itself once again. In hindsight, I attribute these early wallpaper-related activities to my eventual interest in interior design as a career.
Do you like wallpaper? I’ll explore more on this interesting and controversial topic in future posts.
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Kristine Robinson's Interiors (and so much more...) 
While I like the effect of wallpaper, I dislike the fact that it’s difficult and time consuming to remove it. I know folks who wallpaper over wallpaper, and I dislike that fact more. I have wallpaper in my bathroom that definitely needs to come down, but I hate chore of taking it down. Yes, I know there are chemicals to assist in the process, but who wants the fumes. Just some thoughts off the top of my head.
I totally agree, Cheryl! Removal is definitely a deterrent for people considering wallpaper. That’s just another reason to use it sparingly–it’s not as difficult to take down an accent wall or small powder room of wallpaper. When it’s a whole room, removal can be daunting!! I just went through that process in my living room and it wasn’t fun…but I still love wallpaper–in moderation.
I Have My Hesitation About Wallpaper As I Have removed Acres Of The Stuff In The Past. Having Just Moved To Palm Springs, The Style Is To Use It As An Accent, And The Bigger And Bolder The Better Even Bordering on Tacky.Having Big Walls With High Ceilings It Might Be Something I Will Try.God Help Me…….
You are right, Joseph, many of the current papers have very large scale repeats. In my 3rd post about wallpaper, which I’m posting this Friday, I’ll discuss placement and accent walls, etc. I think the big patterns are used best sparingly! Although there are some really pretty papers out there which are more subtle too and the finishes are amazing…check out the 2nd Wallpaper Redux post that just posted today.