Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
meowzer_gw

Is Wallpaper Coming Back In Style?

meowzer
12 years ago

Knowing that some of you hate HGTV, I will admit that that is where I've seen more and more decorating with wallpaper. Is it coming back into style?

Comments (46)

  • My3dogs ME zone 5A
    12 years ago

    Good wallpaper never went out of style at all.

  • blfenton
    12 years ago

    Not in my house. We took out so much of it last year during renos and I will never do wall paper again. Can't stand the stuff.
    But, yes there seems to be more of it showing up in magazines. I think it can really add a statement to a room. It does need to be counted as a decorating element (IMHO), something more than an accessory, and be taken into account when putting together an entire room. It's colours, texture and pattern need to work with the furniture, floor, lighting and window coverings.

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    I second that it never really went "out", but unless you use a pretty classic pattern, you can generally tell when it was put up, as opposed to paint. It's not for people who are into following trends unless you want to repaper often.

  • LuAnn_in_PA
    12 years ago

    While it never really went out...
    I'd NEVER have it in my house, or want it in a house I'd buy.

  • graywings123
    12 years ago

    you can generally tell when it was put up, as opposed to paint

    I think paint colors are getting increasingly trendy and thus able to be time/date stamped. Gray has peaked, golds have waned, beige may be making a comeback. And then there are age related colors - swimmy blues and greens for the over-40 crowd and neon versions of them for the under-30 set.

    But back on topic, newer wallpapers that are a snap to remove and the interest in a retro look have revived the industry.

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    I love wall paper! Would have some in most rooms of my house if I had ambition....
    Well I remember some 30 years ago when some felt the same way about Oriental rugs. "All that pattern?" I have had Orientals on my floors since...seems like forever....and I guess it is. I have 3 that have been on my floor since about 1960. Still fine....still love them.
    I guess wall paper is like natural brass....always good taste...weather clean lined Scandanavian or Colonial antiques. Good but only now and then "trendy".

  • tinycastles
    12 years ago

    In our new build, I used a wallpaper in 1 room- my daughter's bathroom. It is a bubble gum pink leopard print. The print is quite small and has no black; it incorporates lavender, soft pink, and the bubblegum color to create the "leopard" pattern. From a distance the bathroom actually looks like a solid color. It looks adorable with her white trim, blush mini crystal chandelier and blush vanity light. It's ridiculous and unapologetically girly...and I love it!

  • InteriorStylist
    12 years ago

    The tacky & difficult to remove wallpapers of yore really put a bad taste in most people's mouths for wallpaper.

    There are some really beautiful ones out there now though, & you can even design your own. (You can design your own fabrics now too, which I'm dying to do for SOMEONE) I haven't had any requests for wallpaper though, but in my next house I'm going to do grasscloth SOMEWHERE. I've always loved the texture.

    ~Jeana

    Here is a link that might be useful: Custom Wallpaper

  • meowzer
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Speaking of grasscloth, we had it in a large family room of a home that was built in the early 1980s and was original to the home. When we sold it in 2006, a couple of realtors said we should remove the grasscloth for resale, but I was seeing it again in some decorating magazines. Thankfully, we left it because the buyer loved it. She painted it, but she loved the texture.

    tinycastles, your daughter will undoubtedly have very fond memories of her girlhood bathroom.

    Thanks for everyone's input!

  • Oakley
    12 years ago

    I agree with those who said wallpaper has never gone out of style. I also agree about some wallpaper being dated.

    The majority of paint used these days will definitely be dated. On this particular board almost everyone has either green or gray. Newly built homes have green.

    I think those who are afraid of wallpaper haven't seen rooms with beautiful paper in them which will never be dated.

    I think the cutesy-country wallpaper from the 80s scared a lot of people off, and I can't blame them either!

    I still dream of wallpapering my bedroom though.

  • rafor
    12 years ago

    I hope it is since every room in the old colonial I bought almost 2 years ago is papered!!! So I already took it down in the kitchen and one bath. Thankfully the other bath had already been redone and was not papered. Oh no, it has corrugated metal on the walls instead!!!! Recently painted both the upstairs and downstairs hallways and along the stair wall. Only really love the paper in the dining room, but can live with the one in the living room since at least it goes with my furniture. Master bedroom and guest bedroom have got to go. Ugly girly 70's/80's floral prints. Will work on them next. Other guest room (we call it Jessica's room for my daughter when she visits!) also has acceptable paper as does the den (which my parents use as their bedroom). So those 2 rooms can also stay. Good thing since it is horrible getting the wallpaper off the plaster walls.

    All that being said, I did recently see and buy some gorgeous paper to use on the stair wall between the rail and the baseboard :)

  • chocolatebunny
    12 years ago

    There is a new subdivision very close to me and several of the model homes have rooms with wallpaper. I noticed it is in the more "formal" spaces like dining rooms and dens. The wallpaper is more tone on tone and very textured and doesn't look trendy at all.

    That said, after growing up in a home where my mom liked to wallpaper every 3-5 years (remember the Thomas Kinkaid borders?), I don't want it in my own home :)

  • prairiegirlz5
    12 years ago

    I think borders are what looks dated, not good, well-applied wallpaper. I love wallpaper. I always have and always will! :o)

  • lisa_mocha
    12 years ago

    I bought wallpaper several months ago to do 1 wall in my home office and by the time I actually get around to putting it up, it'll be out of style again,lol.

  • haley_comet
    12 years ago

    I definately think that decorating with wallpaper fell by the wayside for several years and that more ppl and decorators are using it more often lately.

    I personally love love the look of paper more as an accent wall then anything but I do not have any in my home as it is really a commitment to a look with it being such a big job to put up (which I am terrible at) and also to take down. Being someone who paints most rooms in my house yearly (yes its an odd obsession) paper doesn't work well for me but maybe that will change :)

  • biochem101
    12 years ago

    I enjoy browsing expensive MLS listings online and wallpaper is all over in estate homes. Never went out for those who can afford to hire paperhangers. Those who have to DIY are a little less interested.

    Also noticed quite a bit in bathrooms I've been browsing on Houzz for ideas. Not that it's going in mine. Maybe Decorators are using it more?

    I'm taking it down in every room (some yet to go). Only place it was put back is below the chair rail in the DR. For some reason formal DR's just call out for wallpaper. :)

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    I think the real problem is that a lot of people pick ugly wallpaper. The few units in my complex that have wallpaper--it was pretty tasteless the day it was put up, and now its tasteless and out of date. imo.

  • kswl2
    12 years ago

    I agree, good quality wallpaper has never gone out of style. I love beautiful wallpaper and am currently considering a William Morris print in the library.

  • InteriorStylist
    12 years ago

    OMG I almost spit out my coffee on my laptop!!! THOMAS KINCAID!!!! I had to live through the Thomas Kincaid Collection at La-Z-Boy & the Todd Oldham Collection of fabrics & other crap. It was torture!!! LOL!!!

    Just the thought of borders almost makes me wretch.

    And I also very much enjoy the MLS listings.

    ~Jeana

  • dakota01
    12 years ago

    I LOVE wallpaper...Though, I have never had to install or remove so I guess I am lucky from that point.
    I do plan on having my powder room and laundry room papered, it's so easy to wipe down the walls when they are papered and those rooms typically need washed down.
    I may also do 1 wall in my FR as an accent wall, maybe with something geometic and bold..I'm getting brave in my old age....

  • sergeantcuff
    12 years ago

    I still really like the wallpaper I chose over 10 years ago for my up- and downstairs hallways. I either chose very wisely or am seriously deluded.

  • lala girl
    12 years ago

    I agree that terrific wallpaper has never gone out of style - I am a little hesitant to use it only because it is a little harder to change my mind once it is up whereas paint is a little more forgiving. I did wallpaper my stair risers with some Anthropologie wallpaper this year - and I have really enjoyed it.

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    If you chose well....why not! I still love the sofa I bought 25 years ago....but it needs recovering....and I love my kitchen wall paper even though it's been here for 24 years.
    Check the link for swoon worthy wall coverings.
    Linda C

    Here is a link that might be useful: schumacher

  • Carol_from_ny
    12 years ago

    I don't think wallpaper has ever really gone out of style. The real problem with wallpaper isn't the paper it's the person or persons applying it and not doing the proper prep work. It makes it a terror to tear down for the next person. If it's put up properly it's a breeze to take down if it's not it's a nightmare. Nobody I know wants to fight with their walls to get the look they want. SO if you are going to put the paper up do it right if not for yourself for the next person otherwise stick to paint.

  • nancybee_2010
    12 years ago

    lindac, those are beautiful wallpapers at schumacher!

  • sis2two
    12 years ago

    I have found a F & B wallpaper that I am considering for an accent wall in my bedroom. I have been seeing more wallpaper it seems in magazines and decorating shows. For me, it encouraged me to consider using it on my headboard wall to give it a little punch. It's easier for me to use it on one wall rather than commit to it all over.

  • lynxe
    12 years ago

    "Almost everything by Thibaut and Schumacher are so classic and gorgeous they will never go out of style. I have removed the paper in my kitchen and 2 of the bathrooms and painted, but the Pierre Deux toile in my dining room is staying and only will be changed to a traditional Thibaut or Schumacher sometime down the road possibly."

    I chose a Thibaut document paper in a contemporary color palette for a bathroom in our former house. Had it hung by a professional and even a good 10-15 years later, it looked perfect. And timeless. It was a beautfiul, complex, subtle pattern of flowers and leaves that would have been appropriate to the period when our Victorian house was built yet still looked good (I think) in the latter part of the 20th C.

    The most extraordinary paper I've ever seen was in the third floor hall and in the stairwell to the third floor of a Victorian in the same town. This house had been lived in by only three generations, including the man who originally had had the house built. Very little had ever been done to change its interior. The paper undoubtedly would have seemed extremely gaudy, maybe even hideously so, to some eyes, but I was enthralled. Metallic golds and other bright colors and reds, an enormous floral pattern, highly embellished with many ornate details. Even the ceiling of that third floor hall was papered.

    The second most extraordinary paper I've seen was in fact silver leaf. This was on the ceiling in the entry hall of a house in Princeton, New Jersey. I was in that house during an open house probably 20 years ago, if not longer, and back then, the owner wanted about $850K for the place. I'd never seen silver leaf before. I thought it was gorgeous.

  • lavender_lass
    12 years ago

    I've never put up wallpaper, but I think the right design can be beautiful. If you've ever seen "Somewhere In Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, just look at the hotel room in the 'present' vs. the 'past' and it's amazing how much better it looks with wallpaper! :)

  • biochem101
    12 years ago

    Thibaut! Me too! Me too!

    Can we have a Thibaut club? :D

    Used Hampton Damask from the Picadilly collection in straw.

    (and yes, we *are* working on getting all the trim the same shade of white...)

  • dalmadarling
    12 years ago

    2800 reasons why it's still in style ;) http://www.houzz.com/photos/query/wallpaper

    I have been thinking about doing it in my bathroom -IMO I think it's best in smaller spaces.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Wallpaper inspiration

  • dianalo
    12 years ago

    It is funny, but the best 2 recent examples I have seen have both been in half baths. Maybe it is the smaller rooms or the particular patterns chosen.
    I think paper can be lovely, but it can also be hideous. It always need to be hung right and I think that unless one has exceptional skill, it should be left to the pros. Most laymen can paint if they go slowly and try hard enough, but I am afraid that hanging paper is a real skill.
    I was very tempted to do a paper in our bedroom, but instead did 2 accent walls in a large format repeating stencil. It was a major pain to execute, but looks like paper without the commitment.

    I'd do wallpaper in the right place if I could afford to have it done right and of course, if it was the right pattern/colors. As a DIY... never.

  • sheesh
    12 years ago

    Dianalo, I promise you, if I can do it, you can do it. I love wallpaper, always have. I started with a small bathroom in 1970 and have papered our bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, bathrooms, hallways ever since! I even papered a bathroom with an alcove and a sloped ceiling. That was a pain and took me forever, but it is still beautiful ten years later and I love it!

    I suggest sticking with simple, classic patterns. When walls are properly prepared, it is not difficult to remove wallpaper when you want a change. It is not really hard to apply it, either, but you do have to be precise. It is easier with a helper, but I usually do not have one; it is something I do myself.

    I am not a handy person, certainly not a DIYer like a lot of people here are. I do not decorate my home the way many people here do. I tend to like simple, classic furnishings, draperies, and patterns, and once I like a room am happy to leave it alone for several years. Heck, I almost never even rearrange the furniture, so I don't need or really even like change! For someone like me, wallpaper just seems to fit.

  • greenthumbfish
    12 years ago

    The tacky & difficult to remove wallpapers of yore really put a bad taste in most people's mouths for wallpaper.

    No, Stylist, it was the idiots who installed it, DIYers and builders alike!

    I think paper can be lovely, but it can also be hideous. It always need to be hung right and I think that unless one has exceptional skill, it should be left to the pros. Most laymen can paint if they go slowly and try hard enough, but I am afraid that hanging paper is a real skill.
    I was very tempted to do a paper in our bedroom, but instead did 2 accent walls in a large format repeating stencil. It was a major pain to execute, but looks like paper without the commitment.

    I'd do wallpaper in the right place if I could afford to have it done right and of course, if it was the right pattern/colors. As a DIY... never.

    I concur!

    I'm about to tackle my last room with idiot-builder installed wallpaper; it's the master bath (with today's paints, full bathrooms, unless they're ginormous and well fanned, should never be wallpapered), it's peeling next to all the trim and fake marble... but I bet you $$ it's stuck like crazy on the middle of the wall. Why? Because the BUILDER installed it right on top of the wallboard! Next to impossible to remove without damaging the wallboard and the aftermath of that is not fun, ugh.

    The very 1st home improvement project I did 20+ years ago (in our very first house) was re-papering our kitchen (also idiot-builder installed) - cathedral ceilings, huge bump-out over corner sink, above cabs, it was everywhere! Never again, EVER! Before we put that house up for sale, I hired out the re-papering of the master bath.

    Some of the most high dollar homes I've been treated to had stenciled or hand-painted embellishments to a painted wall instead of wallpaper. In most cases, it was hired out and less expensive. This is something I can and have done, just finished a stained glass mural at my Dad's place, he loves it! And I've done others here in my home.

    Thinking on this just now, I have decided to stencil the current master bath project (was waffling on painting subtle stripes). So, thanks, for making me think about this!

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    {{!gwi}}

    {{!gwi}}

  • runninginplace
    12 years ago

    No. (trying to refrain from adding ...for the love of g*d, no)

    Ann
    not a wallpaper fan

  • jockewing
    12 years ago

    I would kill to have something papered in one of those Quadrille or Cowan and Tout bamboo trellis style wallpapers. And I love the classic Manuel Canovas trellis pattern. Not so hot on the Kelly Wearstler Trellis pattern for some reason.

    Anyway, I also love grasscloth and would love to try it. I just hate to go to the trouble of having to hire someone to hang it because I always have such horrible luck hiring tradespeople. I would rather paint because I can do that myself and make sure it'd done right. Anyway, here are some beautiful, timeless wallpapers:

  • loribee
    12 years ago

    "Thibaut! Me too! Me too!" Ditto!
    And...I covet My3dogs DR wallpaper~~~

  • Oakley
    12 years ago

    Years ago I did all the wallpapering in my kitchen, DR, down the hallway, and bathroom and it lasted forever.

    When we re-modeled, the person who put in the new paper on just ONE wall in the DR, did a horrible job.

    I'm ready to rip it out, but I just don't have the energy anymore to do it myself.

  • barbcollins
    12 years ago

    Spotted this house on an auction website. Wow, I have never seen so much wallpaper in one house.

    Here is a link that might be useful: WV House

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    You really think it's wall paper that makes that house ugly? That's just a symptom....not the cause!

  • pharaoh
    12 years ago

    Never liked it before. Recently I have seen some gorgeous modern patterns but I would not put wallpaper in my home. Too scarred from the hideous wallpaper age we went through..

  • kswl2
    12 years ago

    That house for sale needs a total makeover, not just the wallpaper. Personally, I'd start with the sky blue moldings everywhere. Never seen that before and hope I never do again!

  • barbcollins
    12 years ago

    But the yellow bedroom.....

    We don't have the $$$ right now to buy another house (or the time for another project). If this was coming on the auction block this time next year, hopefully I would be in a position to bid on it. I think someone will get a great deal.

    A little paint will go a long way.

    While some of the wallpaper isn't bad, I think it's just overwhelming to have it in every room. And yes the blue molding doesn't help.

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    Somebody liked colonial Williamsburg. Actually I think think some of the rooms with the wallpaper look more complete than they would with painted walls. Some of it is a bit intense, but I've seen much worse.

  • sergeantcuff
    12 years ago

    They certainly found a look they loved and stuck to it! But I like many things about that house.

    My 1930s house had the same-colored trim at one time. I think most of the rooms were wallpapered too, as there's hardly any layers of paint on the walls.