WALLPAPER NIGHTMARE

[PaulBulos]

someone please help - we used a builder to do a one wall (feature) papered. It is in a new build room, and the lines quite true for ceiling and walls. He suggested not meeting the very edges of ceiling, think 2cm either side to each wall and 1/2cm to ceiling, to create a 'frame' for the feature wall, and complete symmetry on the paper pattern. He claimed gives beautiful clean, straight lines.

He convinced us, and we now think it looks unusual, almost not actually done properly.

I have searched high and low to see if this is ever done, and alas cannot find it...have we been had here and it is a lazy paperer, or have other done this / heard of this as a way of keeping clean lines and creature more of a feature of one wall which is papered??

 

[misterhelpful]

I can understand the concept of what he has done but I personally have never seen or done it. Surely, if there was to be a border/frame to make the wall even more of a feature, it would be better if it was the same width at the top and bottom as down the ends??

I'm wondering exactly when he suggested the idea to you. Was it before any work had started or is it possible that he had cut all the lengths of wallpaper ready to hang, had cut them all short, so came up with 'a plan'?

 

[PaulBulos]

No, he didn't cut the paper and come up with a plan, he actually said it from the get-go. God knows why we were persuaded, and now we said we don't like it, he said he will re-paper but we have to pay for it to be re-done. Had a barny but he not budging, says we will get used to it, and see he is right about it being perfect, problem is we have employed him to do other things and paid half the money and things a little uncomfortable. may have to live with it for now, and when he gone, get that wall re-done.

 

[dcdec]

That made me laugh Mr H, 10/10 for builder ingenuity if true!

For the record i've never seen it done either, other than wall murals.

 

[dcdec]

could you put a photo up? i'd like to see it.

 

[PaulBulos]

Sorry, no, no photo.... Just imagine two cms each side wall, about 1/2 cm at the ceiling join...

 

[misterhelpful]

could you put a photo up? i'd like to see it.

Me too...maybe it doesn't look as bad as you think it does. Has anyone else actually seen it and commented on it?

Sorry, no, no photo.... Just imagine two cms each side wall, about 1/2 cm at the ceiling join...

Oh, well I suppose we'll just have to let our imaginations run riot.
If you do get it repapered, please let us know if looks better.

 

[PaulBulos]

No, but does that matter really, if we don't like it . . . .

 

[misterhelpful]

Of course not, and you are entitled to have what you want, but it appears that the idea was agreed beforehand so there is little you can do other than bite the bullet and pay to have it repapered.

 

[Bosswhite]

Why is it that there are customers that always blame the decorator when they dont like the colour/pattern when the job is finished, then expect the decorator to "redo" the job free of charge.

 

[PaulBulos]

I am not 'blaming' really - I was interested to know what others thought of the idea of 'framing' on a feature wall as I described. I take the point about them re-doing, but I feel that I was very much pushed into having it done this way as the decorator convinced me this woudl look better than wallpapering clean to the edges - and it just doesn;t really look right to me. So yes, guess I shoudl have got agreement from him that we go his way, but if we don't like it then he will do it the way we had originally thought would be best at his cost. You live and learn eh!

 

[misterhelpful]

Just out of interest, and before you get the paper stripped and redone, would it be worth trying an actual frame around the perimeter of the wall? By that, I mean use some nice timber, maybe 2" or 3" wide, to produce something that actually looks like a frame rather than paper that has been cut short.. I suppose it would depend on the pattern of the paper, as you wouldn't want to be chopping the heads off a flower pattern or something, but it may be worth looking at. I'm sure a builder will have access to some architrave to test the idea and if you like the look you could use a better suited timber. It could look good and save a lot of work and money.

 

[Bosswhite]

A lot of this sort of problem stems from " Make Over" programmes shown on TV,
Some "trendy" so called "Interior Designer" comes up with an idea, which may look reasonable on a TV programme, but in reality is "C*ap" in the average domestic property.

 

[PaulBulos]

Totally, I am not sure my chap has actually brought the main seam together very well either - anwya, going to have to put it down to a bad job and find a better decorator to just peel it off and re-do it... irritating, lats time I get 'persuaded' with something 'new' or 'fancy' or 'correct' and go with old fashioned gut instinct and experience of what a wallpapered wall SHOULD look like.

 

[emilybronte]

What is covering the 2cm strip of wall either side of the paper? Is it bare plaster, or painted plaster, or what?

It sounds bizarre to me, especially as the framing strip is not the same size all round.