There is a house that I previewed about twenty years ago, and every time I drive past it, I still get this image of the carnivorous wallpaper that previous owners hung on the dining room walls.

The background was jet black.  And there were colorful tropical plants depicted against the dark background – the kind that eat flies, and maybe mice or kittens.  It was intense, and it didn’t work for me.  Eating a meal in that room would make feel as though I could easily become the entrée.

Wallpaper is a highly personal thing.  With almost any pattern, you can love it or hate it.  You could go for paisley or tropical flowers, or maybe something more neutral, with beiges and pale blues in some sort of geometric pattern.  But other people, even in your immediate family, might not share your taste, whatever it might be.

It seems that whatever one chooses, it can become dated as quickly as the last decade’s favorite appliance color.  At that point, your choice is to remove it altogether or paint or paper over it.  

Anyone who is considering selling a house at any time in the near future, removing old wallpaper is probably the best choice - usually you have to steam it off.  If you do that and paint your walls your favorite shade of fuchsia, repainting when it’s time to sell is easy, and even if you leave it fuchsia, your buyers can change it inexpensively with a few cans of Benjamin Moore.

But the chances are that most of the people looking at your home will not be enamored of your wallpaper.  Their mental calculation of the costs of removing it, restoring the walls and then painting will probably far exceed the actual amount it will take to get rid of the stuff properly.

If you’re sloppy and just paint over old wallpaper, it will be evident to any discerning eye.  There will be telltale seam lines.  And slapping on a coat of paint will make the inevitable removal even more expensive.

So, if you’ve just purchased a home and are considering wallpaper, think long and hard before you actually hang it.  And if you are preparing your house for sale, don’t take it personally if your agent or stager recommends that you steam it off the paper you so lovingly chose and put up, and paint.  

Just do it.

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25 Comments on It's About That Wallpaper

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DEC
29
2007
567,604 Points 77 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master
From your blog to all sellers ears! This is a message that bears repeating....Remove the wallpaper!! :)
7:51pm • #6
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Patricia, you are giving GREAT advice!!  Wall paper is so personal and what one person likes another doesn't.  It is such a pain to re-do and buyers do think about that.  It is so much easier to pick up a paint brush!!!!
8:05pm • #7
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Dalia, bathrooms are where you find most of the wallpaper in a house - and you're right about seeming to be a mold breeding ground.

Hank, the little old lady who owned my house forever wallpapered the ceilings, then the next owners painted them.  I'm giving up and having them drywalled.  It's a mess.

Elizabeth, if it does make a comeback, I hope they make it easy to remove!

Sharon, I've always disliked grass-cloth, thinking it looks dated.  And I've seen some painted over that looks interesting.  I had a listing where the seller was trying to super-glue the stuff to the wall.  Yikes!

Norma, good advice!  I gave it to my mother when my parents sold their old place hurt her feelings.

Teri, I actually do give all of my clients this kind of information in writing (or I just make them read that part of my book).  That way they don't take it personally, like my mother did!

And Marchel, It's sort of a pain to do in the first place.  I would definitely have to hire a professional to hang wallpaper.  If I have the time, I can paint myself.   
8:47pm • #8
DEC
30
2007
9 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor
Patricia, well said!  I couldn't agree more about wallpaper.  I have told a few clients of mine, "Your wallpaper looks great, it really works with your personal style!  Unfortunately, buyers won't like it.  Can I tell you why?  Becuase it's your wallpaper, not their wallpaper.  They an see past a solid paint color.  They can't see past a patterned wallpaper, no matter how lovely it is." 
1:13am • #9
339,141 Points 52 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Patricia, I showed a home last year that had every room wallpapered.  EVERY room.  It was 3000 sq feet of wallpaper.  Now, the home itself was lovely and everything my clients wished for, but the work involved removing it all kept them from purchasing the home.  There is always that fear also "What's behind the wallpaper?  Will the walls be in good shape?"  

I checked a few weeks ago, the home was still on the market.  

Nice post Patricia. 
4:11am • #10
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Gosh, I can't stand most wallpaper.  And removing it is such a pain!  We had to remove wallpaper from one small section of our master bedroom when we bought our condo and it took us over 3 hours to get it all off!  I showed some buyers a place last year that had wallpaper everywhere -- even the shelves in the closet were wallpapered!  We called it the "Wallpaper House!"
6:34am • #11
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Patricia...LOL. I had such a good laugh this AM with this post!

The background was jet black.  And there were colorful tropical plants depicted against the dark background – the kind that eat flies, and maybe mice or kittens.

Very descriptive. I can see it so well. Nicely done. Wallpaper is so passe (I don't know how to get the little thingy over the e) and we all hate it now. We just have to be direct and say "DON"T DO IT". 

I love to visit. The read is always good! Thanks for your work and Happy New Year! 
7:18am • #12
Very well written and a must for sellers to read...! Thanks for posting!
9:00am • #13
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When I sold my last house, my friends (Realtors, of course) all told me that the bathroom wallpaper had to go.  I was devastated, because I did love that wallpaper.  I never quite forgave them, but I guess I shouldn't complain... the house sold during Christmas week for $9,000 more than I expected.
1:19pm • #14
Having removed wallpaper in almost every house I've owned, I'd now have to REALLY love a house to even consider it again.  Of course, since I love and always seem to buy old houses, it may just be part of my life. 
1:52pm • #15
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I spent years helping my mother put up wallpaper in just about every room in our house.  Then when I inherited the house and started renovating I spent years taking it all down.   I still have the wallpaper steamer and supplies I have lent them to a few of my clients!
6:52pm • #16
1,938,370 Points 391 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Marlene, when my parents sold their old house, I had that conversation with my mother.  She picked out something that had little green hearts.  It was awful - me and the situation.  I made her cry.  I felt like a bad daughter, except they got a bunch more money with it gone.

Kris, I never thought about what was behind it, only how much it would cost to steam it off!  But to steam it off and find nastiness is really a scary thought!

Brian, my own dear house has wallpaper under about 7 coats of paint (lead-based, no doubt!) and the ceilings.  I totally hate the stuff.  

Jeanean, you are giving your clients wise advice!  I only hope they take it!

Kelly, thank you so much!

Margaret, I was thinking about wallpaper for my first floor powder room, and I'm thinking about asking my mother to do a mural instead. 

Gregory, so by now you must be a highly skilled wallpaper remover!  I need you at a house I'm trying to list!

Cindy, and, like Gregory, maybe some expertise!  But I think that real estate probably pays better!  I'm paying some guys to deal with my wallpapered ceilings!

8:30pm • #17
231,708 Points 13 Featured Posts Outside Blog
ATTENTION ALL SELLERS!  WALL PAPER IS OUT!!!!!!!  I just showed a home where they had wall paper on the ceiling and it was peeling, how horrible!
8:56pm • #18
1,938,370 Points 391 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master
Michael, mine is peeling off the ceiling with about 8 layers of lead paint on top of it! 
9:00pm • #19
258,493 Points 6 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Patricia I just loved wallpaper growing up. We had it in every room but the kitchen. Every self respecting home in Boston did. My mother had exquisite taste in choosing patterns, and she had the rooms updated frequently. My Godmother's home had a wallpapered dining room that thrilled me…It was so warm and classy.  My aunt’s home again had a lovely paper that I adored in her dining room. I can still visualize these walls today, and feel the corresponding emotions.

 

When I was first married we lived in a Manhattan Apt. Wallpaper in living areas was not in. But I just had to have paper so I decided to wallpaper the bathroom myself. It was going to be a surprise for my husband.  I fell in love with this paper and bought a coordinating shower curtain.  It was a simple pattern Laura Ashley style, nothing wild.  My husband, who was very easy going and not too opinionated, absolutely hated it to the point it nauseated him, so we took it down, and it was a nightmare to remove. That’s the last time I ever papered!

 

Point is yes it is a very personal thing.  And sets the tone of the whole house.  Vacant homes with wallpaper… even worse!

 

 
10:43pm • #20
199,479 Points 1 Featured Post Localism Sponsor
Patricia, you are absoutely right. I find that even when it is easy to remove, homeowners are resistant, becasue it has sentimental value... and believe it or not, kids are especially upset about the idea of removing wallpaper, especially in the kitchen!
10:48pm • #21
DEC
31
2007
1,938,370 Points 391 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Ginger, some men break out in hives around any Laura Ashley!  A lot of the new wallpaper is easier to remove, but they say it starts to come off on it's own.  And vacant will wallpaper?  Yuck!

Julianna, my own dear mother totally resisted.  Why her wallpaper had sentimental value, I'll never ever understand.  Sorry, Mom, but it was awful. 
7:26am • #22
1,948,825 Points 155 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Come on, I loved that 1979 safari wall paper that my grandparents had. It really did match the orange Formica counter tops.  If I could find it again, I would so put that up. I know others will love it just as much as I do! - ROFL
3:19pm • #23
JAN
03
2008
1,371,103 Points 71 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master
Patricia - In Germany we used to put white textured wallpaper up and paint over it - it really looked good!
8:52am • #24
APR
23
2010
134,793 Points Outside Blog

Most folks have very strong opinions about wallpaper. You can see it in their expression at the very mention of the word. It's just one of those things that goes by personal taste.
2:44pm • #25

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Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) Ambassador_large

Patricia Kennedy

Washington, DC

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Evers & Company Realtors

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Pat Kennedy -- author of The Irreverent Guide to Real Estate -- gives you a look at life on the streets as a real estate broker in our nation's capital. And her blog is peppered with great advice combined with humor!


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