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I'm Not Changing the Wallpaper!

By Beverly Carlson

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Carlson Properties 325-721-2429 0528582

September 03, 2011 06:03 PM

I'M NOT CHANGING THE WALLPAPER! As a Realtor or a homestager, have you ever heard that one?

Wallpaper is a wonderful decorating tool that swings in and out of vogue, but taste in wallpaper is really personal like fashion. Send two women to the mall for a new blouse and the odds are that they select two different styles, and two different colors. If you don't want to wear the same blouse as your friend, why do you think a new buyer is going to want the same wallpaper as you?

I grew up in a house with wallpaper and shared a room with my sister and she liked this bold pattern that I thought was really ugly, but somehow she got her way. I hated that wallpaper for years! Wallpaper is so personal there is not much chance your new buyer is going to fall in love with it even if it is in vogue this year. Here's 3 pattern from the Home Depot site that look current, but trust me in a year or so, they will be as exciting as yesterday's leftover oatmeal. (Sorry, Home Depot!) and whoever else in the world who likes wallpaper!

Wallpaper prints look fresh and colorful in the right space, but can you live with it for the next five years?

This next selection on the right, I don't think I could stand it more than a day!

The black and white below is more neutral but you really got to like those flowers.

Wallpaper is too personal. If you are selling your home stick to paint and neutral colors on the walls.

Select the wallpaper for your new house!!!

If you won't change the wallpaper, get ready to reduce your sales price!

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Ruby Lee Sweeting

Darville Wong Associates Realty Bahamas

Your Bahamas Agent for Relocations & Second Homes

Beverly these are beautiful print in picture frames - you're right, I don't think I could live with either in a big space for a long period of time. Good post - I love color.

Sep 03, 2011 06:26 PM

Terri Stephens

CIR REALTY - Calgary, AB

REALTOR, Calgary & Airdrie 403-827-4663

Wall paper - you're absolutely right - its a personal taste situation. I have folks with pink and blue wall - and don't want to RE-PAINT - NO ONE Is liking their home. They made it too personal and picked really dated colors.

The walls upstairs are all pink and the basement development is blue..even the ceiling. NOT one buyer can see past it...even though they offered to PAY to have it repainted in the buyers color choice.

NEUTRAL is the best choice when selling your home.

Sep 03, 2011 06:38 PM

Alan Adamo

Westline Real Estate - Huntington Beach, CA

Your Huntington Beach REALTOR®

Beverly, I agree. Sometimes I wonder what the home owner was thinking. Much better to stick with paint in neutral colors. I remember when my mom put striped wall paper in my room as a kid and I literally got sick looking at it. Fortunately it came right back down. :)

Sep 03, 2011 06:54 PM

Rosalie Evans

Meritus Group Real Estate - Sioux Falls, SD

The Evans Group, Sioux Falls, SD Homes For Sale

That is for sure! I know I am not a big wallpaper fan myself but in the right house I think it looks awesome! For instance I like wallpaper in a big old victorian house as long as the rest of the furnishings are not to busy.

Sep 03, 2011 07:01 PM

Marte Cliff

Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID

Your real estate writer

I like the wallpaper in many homes - but I agree, it is definitely a matter of personal taste. I remember looking at a house for sale years ago that had red and gold metallic flocked wallpaper in the entry hall. I wondered what kind of statement they were trying to make.

Sep 03, 2011 08:09 PM

Wallace S. Gibson, CPM

Gibson Management Group, Ltd. - Charlottesville, VA

LandlordWhisperer

I get nostalgic when I see homes with wallpaper and then as my residents move out of them, I gradually change them out. Removing ceiling borders is fairly easy - they REALLY make rooms seem smaller!

Sep 04, 2011 12:01 AM

Nancy Conner

Olympia, WA

Olympia/Thurston County WA

Such a matter of individual taste for sure! And I have to laugh(while cringing a little) when sellers say that if the buyers don't like their wallpaper they can just change it - but if I suggest THEY just go ahead and change it they say no, it would be way too much work!

Sep 04, 2011 04:54 AM

Beverly Carlson

Carlson Properties 325-721-2429 - Abilene, TX

Abilene's Staging Realtor

Ruby, I love color too, but printed wallpaper gets way too busy too fast. I just thought of it. I've seen it as a decorator tip, for a wall hanging - put wallpaper inside a frame and hang it on the wall over a couch or over a dresser. Then you can be s ure to take your wall paper with you just like the resto of your art.

Sep 04, 2011 06:10 AM

Terri, that is a dilemma when the buyers can't see past the color. Hope you can help the sellers see that paying for the paint now is a good investment in a sale.

Sep 04, 2011 06:18 AM

Oh, Alan, striped wallpaper, I am so sorry. I feel dizzy all ready. Glad it got changed out!

Sep 04, 2011 06:19 AM

Rosalie, You make a great point about the rest of the furnishings not be too busy. A good rule of thumb is have no more than three prints in a room and when you have wallpaper it counts as one of the prints!

Sep 04, 2011 06:23 AM

Marte, if the sellers leave red and gold metallic wall paper on the wall, they must want to live there forever!

Sep 04, 2011 06:25 AM

Wallace, you hit on something, wallpaper can evoke nostalgia, usually of a bygone era. Wallpaper is personal and can create an emotional response. When your house is on the market, the response you want to Yes! I like t his house!

Sep 04, 2011 06:27 AM

Nancy, buyers want to move in and NOT do any work. That is exactly the point. Wallpaper seems to look like it really needs to be changed out and that makes buyers want to look at MORE houses.

Sep 04, 2011 06:31 AM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Beverly--I love wallpaper and I am delighted that it is coming back into style. However, I do agree with you that you'd better think about how much you will love it in a few years. And I certainly tell every seller to take it down before listing. That is certainly the downside of installing it.

Sep 05, 2011 05:13 PM

I'm Not Changing the Wallpaper!

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