22 Oct 2003 | Lance Osborne said...

I read an article in a local paper last week that was talking about that very same thing.

22 Oct 2003 | Tibloto said...

My mom will be happy. She never stopped wallpapering.

22 Oct 2003 | Don Schenck said...

I'm holding out for paneling! HA HA

22 Oct 2003 | Matthew Oliphant said...

My house has wallpaper on every wall except the office which has wood panelling (and not the good kind of panelling).

We bought it that way, and are in the process of stripping it all off. We will be painting with colors, so I suppose we will be living in the 90s. I hate wall paper and panelling, so I suppose I will only be trendy once every third trend change.

But, given that our house is coming up on 100 years old I am sure it has see it's share of wall design solutions over the years.

22 Oct 2003 | Sonia said...

Are you sure you're not trying to start a trend to duck out of trying to peel that stuff off?

22 Oct 2003 | Brad Hurley said...

Ugh, I find painting a room much easier than wallpapering it. Wallpaper is so unwieldy, and there's all that cutting to do around windows and doors.

What I'd love to see is a return to real plaster walls. I hate sheetrock, it feels so cheap and temporary. The house I grew up in had plaster walls that had been subtly textured by patting a sea sponge over them while the plaster was still wet, and it was a lovely effect. A carpenter friend of mine built his own timber-frame house about 10 years ago and did plaster walls...they're solid and sturdy, and there's a feeling of craftmanship about them.

22 Oct 2003 | Dan said...

Some of my most traumatic childhood memories involve spending what felt like days in the wallpaper store, while my mother flipped through sample books.

If I'm ever diagnosed with a terminal illness, I'm getting a job at a wallpaper store. An hour feels like an eternity.

22 Oct 2003 | Stefanie Noble said...

We had a bunch of wallpaper books at home (I think they came from the family hardware store?) that my sister and I used to use all the time when we were playing. Sort of like multi-colored construction paper. I kind of miss those.

22 Oct 2003 | Benjy said...

Some of my most traumatic childhood memories involve spending what felt like days in the wallpaper store, while my mother flipped through sample books.

If I'm ever diagnosed with a terminal illness, I'm getting a job at a wallpaper store. An hour feels like an eternity.

Woah! Major childhood flashback. I remember having to spend an eternity in wallpaper stores while my mom looked, too. Which if kind of odd since I can't remember wallpaper in our house growning up except for one small powder room... I hated that vinyl smell the stores always had.

If they're going to bring wallpaper back, I hope it's that cool foil paisley stuff :)

22 Oct 2003 | pb said...

The magazine?

22 Oct 2003 | Jay said...

I can't stand wallpaper. My mother is excellent at hanging it, and loves the stuff, so I grew up (late 70's and 80's - is that when it was trendy last?) with it all around.

When my wife and I bought our house, it had been built in the 1970's, and the hallway and dining room were covered in this horribly busy blue wallpaper. Which, of course, matched the yellow and green tile (which we've discovered was laid throughout the ENTIRE home and later covered by carpet) beautifully. It took us days to pull it all down (I swear they used some super-secret ultra-sticky glue to put it up), and I would never do that to a future purchaser of my home. Paint, baby.

On the other hand, I hate to paint, too, so I have no real leg to stand on here. I guess I would dig the white walls.

22 Oct 2003 | Lijm Doos said...

Uhmmm, wallpapers were considered fashionable two years ago...

22 Oct 2003 | Adam said...

My decisions aren't permanent enough to use wallpaper. If I could I would repaint my bedroom at least twice a year.

22 Oct 2003 | andrew said...

The former owners of my aunt and uncle's house had a wallpaper problem. They've lived there for a year and a half now and they're STILL peeling. The small bathroom off the kitchen was completely wallpapered, including the ceiling. It felt like you were taking a piss inside a giant wrapped present.

22 Oct 2003 | Matthew Oliphant said...

Our place has wall paper on the back of the cupboards! In the built-in china hutch!

And most rooms have 2 different types of wall paper. Luckily we only have half the dining room and the living room to go. Then we can start painting our wonderful plaster walls.:)

On another note: What's up with the 15 minutes link? What's the relationship between SVN, Coudal and The Morning News? This may be well known, but as should be obvious with this thread, I am often out of the trend loop.

22 Oct 2003 | jerel said...

My mother was a wallpaper fanatic. Thus I spent eternities in those shops as well. However, as a kid I enjoyed the wallpaper she chose for my room because it was Shazam, Superman, Batman and other DC superheros in action. While I've left that wallpaper behind, mom is still actively pursuing her papering dreams. But now there's Decoupage. Not even the outside of the cabinets are safe in her new world order.

22 Oct 2003 | kageki said...

the overarching trend of all design over the last 1000 years has been from complexity to simplicity. i don't think interior decor choices are going to reverse, or alter that trend.

22 Oct 2003 | Benjy said...

the overarching trend of all design over the last 1000 years has been from complexity to simplicity. i don't think interior decor choices are going to reverse, or alter that trend.

I agree this is the case, but that doesn't preclude wallpaper from making a return to trendiness. We just may see more subtle pattern, tone-on-tone or textured wallpaper rather than the wild patterns, flowers, foil, etc. of days past.

Does anybody know if there are natural material wallcoverings, such as sisal or bamboo? That could be a nice look, maybe...

22 Oct 2003 | joetrip said...

When I was younger my Dad wallpapered all our bedrooms. My sister chose a floral pattern for her room and my Dad did an excellent job, seams and all. He was so proud that we did not have the heart to tell him that it was upside down.

Also, shouldn't we say cycle instead of trend?

22 Oct 2003 | Brad Hurley said...

Does anybody know if there are natural material wallcoverings, such as sisal or bamboo?

I used to work in a "green building" where the tenants decided to install sisal wallcovering in one of the offices as an experiment. It was pretty much a disaster: it's heavy stuff and didn't stick to the wall. It looked nice, though.

23 Oct 2003 | Ro said...

It's funny that I just assumed you were talking about tiling background images.

People like this have rekindled that flame for me.

23 Oct 2003 | Grumpy said...

My wife absolutely hates wallpaper. She has decided to strip all traces off w-paper from our house. Unfortunately, while stripping the w-paper, she finds other things that she wants to replace. Every w-paper removal project ends up costing much, much more in additional enhancements. Sigh!

23 Oct 2003 | Darrel said...

the overarching trend of all design over the last 1000 years has been from complexity to simplicity.

You, obviously, have not stepped into an American 'burb lately, eh?

Methinks Jason has some floundering wall-paper industry stock in his portfolio. ;o)

23 Oct 2003 | Benjy said...

That's because their interior decorators (not interior designers) simply fulfill the wishes of those with the checkbook.

24 Oct 2003 | polly said...

I have been saying the same thing to people I know for a year now.

While I think the trend in lifestyles is toward more simplicity, I believe that wallpaper represents a simpler time. I think everything about it is like a comforting ritual - from choosing the patterns to installing it.

I have removed tons of wallpaper in my day and I agree, it's a pain. But maybe that's for the next generation to deal with when wallpaper goes out of fashion again.

05 Nov 2003 | tommy said...

it's gonna be very tired right