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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,809
Registered: ‎12-24-2010

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

Retained wallpaper in the rooms where it already existed when we bought - but my choice no pattern (flowers, etc)  kitchen has a fabric weave tan - bathrooms and foyer have a very plain tan tint too.  Painted walls elsewhere.  I think some wallpaper offers warmth vs all painted walls.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,934
Registered: ‎05-09-2014

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

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About 10 years ago I still had “scrubbable” wall paper in my kitchen. I had picked it and had it hung up a long while ago, but I got to hate it, eventually.  The paper was in surprisingly good condition, not peeling or any seams lifting. My professional painter said it mIght be a nightmare to pull it down, hoping to get it all off, get rid of the glue residue,  and then perhaps have to smooth off the walls well enough for a painted surface.  So he painted it over with a good white kitchen primer and that wiped out the pattern into a solid look. Then he painted the same walls right over the primer in the medium gray semigloss latex I selected. As it got rolled on, I got happier by the minute. He put clean white semigloss latex paint over the old fashioned wooden cabinets, stiles, soffets, and crown moldings. Ceiling remained white. 

 

I went from busy, vivid green ivy vine-on-white wallpaper everywhere, to a solid quiet gray and white kitchen in a day and a half of his work. I had a 7 inch vinyl plank floor in a kind of driftwood gray and white wood grain put down right over the old vinyl sheet flooring, and that is the best floor I’ve ever owned. It took the installer nearly a full day to put the planks down in a random look and the kitchen was finally finished.

 

The house is more than 90 years old. My kitchen needed freshening without a major overhaul. I keep only white appliances. Now it is chic, practical and, unless you look really, REALLY close for the seams under the paint, it’s wallpaper-free!  Still looking good after 10 years! Colored kitchen towels and placemats break the gray and white calm as desired. 

 

If the paper is in good condition without curling or open seams, painting over it to say goodbye to a pattern you’ve tired of might be a good method to consider. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,798
Registered: ‎07-24-2013

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

No. Back when we had a two-family the walls were bad.  The house was built in 1924 and the walls were horsehair plaster and there were bumps and imperfections. we could never get them smooth. Every room but the bath was papered.  The patterns were subtle but I'd not do paper now. Too limiting.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,519
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

No wallpaper here.   When we built the house, I put wallpaper on a short wall in my galley kitchen as an accent.  It was a very cheerful print and looked nice, but I tired of it quickly.   

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,930
Registered: ‎06-30-2014

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

Every room in my home is wallpapered, by choice! 

So ironic to see this post as I've spent the afternoon on my ipad browsing some Schumacher wallpaper for my bathroom : )

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,891
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

My bathroom and downstairs powder room are both papered.  I love the look of both rooms.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,278
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

Yes, in the kitchen because it hides a multitude of sins over a krappy sheet rock job.

 

Unless we feel like tearing out all the sheet rock and starting over, the kitchen will always have wallpaper. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,102
Registered: ‎03-20-2010

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

My house had a different pattern of wallpaper in every room including hallways.  The dining room had 2 diff patterns! 

Over several years I  have removed wallpaper from 10 large rooms in my house. It was painstakingly difficult because walls were never prepared properly.

 I do not have a good opinion of wallpaper (duh). The reason is that  Eventually, and inevitably, it gets dated and looks bad, and has to be removed.  That’s why, to me, it’s never a good decorating choice.

On the other hand, Paint is easy to update. Nuff said! Just my painful experience! 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,747
Registered: ‎11-02-2014

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

The builder of our house had wallpaper on the bathroom walls when we first looked at this house 10 1/2 years ago and we’ve kept it. We really like it!

Regular Contributor
Posts: 152
Registered: ‎11-21-2010

Re: Wallpaper.....does anyone still have it in their home?

Yes. I do and I love wallpaper!  It adds so much warmth, design and texture to your rooms and home.  I just rewallpapered my kitchen two years ago and had a ceramic tile back splash installed.  

 

For a few years wallpaper was not as popular as it once was but it is making a come back.  There are a lot more books out there than there used to be.  I don't care for stark, cold painted walls.

 

And I don't think wallpaper is old fashioned either.  There is a lot of cool stuff out there!!