Horizontal wallpaper - levelling

[jackpot]

Im thinking of putting up the wallpaper horizontally. Its a striped pattern with 4 stripes across per width.
I have done a level line with a light pencil a couple of inch above skirting on the feature wall chimney breast.
The left hand side it 2 inch approx and the right side only 1 inch.
Will this look stupid? Im guessing for the whole wall (6m) finishing at the skirting may result in different colours.

Will this stick out like a sore thumb?

 

[emilybronte]

Yes, it will, I'm afraid. Unless you have a perfectly level floor and ceiling, the stripes won't be consistent at the skirting. it is presumably designed to be hung vertically so that you can adjust for non-perfect walls at every corner. If you hang horizontally you won't have that luxury and the eye will be drawn to the discrepancy,especially on a feature wall.

Horizontal stripes are every ennervating, too. What kind of room is it?

 

[misterhelpful]

I tend to agree that it will stand out to a degree but, being four stripes wide should mean each stripe is at least 5" wide (assuming they are all the same width) which could make it a little less noticeable.

However, if one of the stripes is the same colour as the skirting, and you can work the paper so that this stripe can be trimmed at skirting level, then it will probably blend in a lot better.
I've had to do this with a 3" wide white stripe against wonky coving and nobody could notice.

 

[vibrobullit407]

A lot of properties will have floors, ceiling and walls off level and sometimes if its the look you are after you may just have to compromise on the pattern running out at these points. All you can do is try and make it less noticeable by measuring out and hanging the paper taking the pattern and edges into account.

 

[emilybronte]

Yes, useful suggestions, I agree.

However... FWIW, in my many years as a teacher who had to visit parents of appallingly behaved pupils in their homes, I can offer you two observations concerning the links between decor and behaviour in children .

One is that these parents almost invariably painted their walls some shade of red or bright purple. The other is that they went in for loud stripey wallpaper. Or both. The correlation may be merely coincidental...but I don't think so.

Interesting that the recent Dulux 'home improvement' paint advert shows a couple toning down their bright red paintwork in favour of something subtler and more calming when they have kids!