I feel rather indifferent about wallpaper. I like some wallpapers and in small doses. But then we bought our big old house and virtually every room was wallpapered with the most tacky, nausea inducing wallpaper I have ever laid my eyes upon. But even as we were pulling down, scraping, and cursing at the wallpaper that the previous owners apparently glued with crazy glue to the walls, it didn't stop us from buying a red toile wallpaper for our foyer.

I especially love it at Christmas because the red sets off the green tree nicely.

According to this article in the New York Times:

Unlike many painted finishes, wallpaper provides a little something extra: pattern. But there is a fine line between coziness and claustrophobia, and when you’re on a wallpapering roll, it can be difficult to know when to stop.

We knew to stop. One room of wallpaper is enough for us.

Our Old New House writes about her experiences with removing multiple rooms worth of wallpaper, and at times multiple layers of wallpaper in a single room.

Here’s why having wallpaper in the bathroom (anything more than a border or a trim) is a bad idea. See those water spots over the window and over the woodwork behind the shower? There was mold growing on that paper. The mold was hidden behind a layer of “bathroom ready” wallpaper. Wallpaper in the bathroom? Just don’t do it.

We had this exact issue in one of our bathrooms. The mold and water damage behind the wallpaper was disgusting. And can I just add to this wall to wall carpeting in the bathroom? Just don't do it. Please.

Our Old House writes about their wallpaper removal efforts.

Wallpaper - when is it ever a good idea? It doesn’t matter what the pattern is - it’s going to go out of style and, even when in style, it’s such a matter of personal taste. What I dislike about it most is that removal is no small task. Best case, it’s hours of tedious mind-numbing work. Worst case, it’s hours of tedious mind-numbing work followed by the dilemma of what to do with permanently scarred walls. I just hate it. And yet, we just purchased a house with several rooms of floor to ceiling wallpaper that coordinates beautifully, but still wouldn’t be my pick.

This is why we limited ourselves to just one room. Although we can't imagine anyone not liking the simple red toile wallpaper, undoubtedly there will be someone who will hate it. We hope that any future homeowners will appreciate the fact that we properly prepared the walls so the wallpaper should come right off. At least it has in a couple of spots where small children decided to pick at it. But then I used white Elmer's glue to stick those small pieces back on the wall. The next owners of the house will love that I am sure.

Reforming Dutchie is saving scraps of wallpaper she finds hidden away in nooks and under trim as clues to the past lives of her home. She found a wallpaper that was completely hand painted. I am not sure that I have ever heard of such a thing, and of course it makes you wonder where it came from, if the homeowner painted it herself.

There has also been a surge of new interest from restoration homeowners who are looking for wallpapers that resemble what might have been in their homes originally. Bradbury and Bradbury is one of those wall paper manufacturers.

1951 Ranch Redo is looking at some of these wallpapers for her house, in the Art Deco style of course. .

The wallpapers really are quite beautiful and I can see how easy it would be to get carried away. But in the case of my house I am sticking with the less is more adage.

When Chris isn't blogging about her life at Notes from the Trenches, she is working to rescue her house from a century of neglect and bad taste. She can also be found blogging about home improvement design at DIY This N'That