I don't know what qualifies as timeless. but we bought middle of the road wallpapers in about 1992 and after living with them since then we still love most of them and are only starting to even think about replacing a couple of borders. We need to repaint, but the papers are still in good shape so in at least one room we're going to repaint without repapering. If you're lucky you'll have a retailer who actually stocks some good stuff; otherwise just plough through the books and see what appeals to you. It's so individual; at least, it must be since there are so many patterns that also don't appeal to me! Make a note of book name, page number, and pattern number for reference. To me there are basically three levels: high end "haute couture" hand printed etc including the non-pre-pasted, middle of the road nice papers, and then stuff that is so pedestrian it is stocked at the big box stores. Maybe there are big boxes that stock better quality, but not around here. I can't find anything in the pedestrian category, but have never been unable to find something I like in the middle of road level. I've linked below to a site that offers the easiest browsing I've found for middle of the road papers, organized by book so it is easy to maybe find them to look at in person in stores. On line mostly doesn't begin to capture the real paper. Discountdecorating.com is another site that is relatively easy to search by theme. However, I do prefer to shop at my local stores even though I don't get the discount prices just because I value having them available to see locally, and buying on line obviously isn't going to support that. One warning: when you find a paper you really like, act quickly to at least enquire about stock, because they pull books and patterns without warning. I spent three days in January looking at books and choosing patterns, only to find that when I went back to order a week later, the books had been pulled. Conversely, if you don't find something you like, wait a couple of months and look again, there will be new stuff out. Finally, if you have a discontinued pattern you want to hunt down, type the pattern number into a search engine. KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: Many current wallpaper books

1. Stripping it before it is completely dry would be fairly easy. So time if of the essence in making a decision. 2. He certainly could have taken the first strip off at any point though the strip would have been ruined. It sounds to me like you had an extra roll though so what was the problem? 3. The paper was improperly installed regardless of the brown. It is mismatched. That is unacceptable. Period. 4. The guy knew he was going to be hanging something vintage. If he was not familiar with vintage paper, he should have done a little research before he started hanging. When you know you are working with an unusual and expensive product, you make darned sure you know what you are doing before you start because that material comes out of your pocket if you screw it up. 5. YOU don't strip the improperly hung paper. The paper hangar comes and does it for you at no charge. 6. The procedure described by Annie, overlapping and then double cutting, was the proper solution. So if you have another roll, why not try it? Are there any scraps around that would allow the guy to do some practicing before he has to work on the new installation? 7. I tell my clients to accept nothing less than total satisfaction from their contractors. Paper hangars are well compensated for their SKILLS. On an easy job, I can find myself clearing $70 an hour, tax free. When something like this happens, I take a loss but it's my own fault. Even with the occasional loss, my average hourly income is still ample compensation for what I do. There is no reason for you to feel bad about requiring the guy to make you whole. I can't tell you how many jobs I've done, where the client paid me to strip and rehang a job they had paid another hangar to do! They take a total loss on the original labor and materials, and the cost of having me strip, because they don't want to hurt the hangar's feelings. And as crazy as that is, I have to say that I have done the same thing with contractors! 8. Covering the seams with trim is an option. It will look like you papered over paneling. It's the mobile home look, lol. And if you get your hangar to reimburse you the $400, you may be able to use that money to do something else nice for your kitchen. It's something to consider. I wish you luck with finding an inexpensive solution. Please keep us informed!

I love wallpaper, and use it often. But I do agree about people who apply multiple layers or paint over it. Doesn't sound like any of you have ever had the challenge we had in this house. I kid you not--I counted carefully--our living room had TWELVE layers of wallpaper, several with pain on them. And we stripped every scrap of it off before doing anything further. One interesting thing I've noticed lately--the houses for sale in the neighboring town (one of the priciest, most 'desireable', most trendy in the country) are mostly showing very, very busy wallpapers lately. Guess it's coming back.

I removed the wallpaper from an entire house of similar age and style, although on a smaller scale. Other than one small storage space and bedroom closets, every wall in the house was unpainted plaster under the wallpaper. I had one guy who did the quality of work I wanted at a reasonable price and I kept him occupied for many months, now going on 12 years of personal and business projects. When you own a beautiful vintage home, it is important to find someone who will honor the quality and craftsmanship and be happy to have the opportunity to work on your house. Owning a beautiful vintage home is a lifestyle choice and I was willing to spend the money and devote the hours required for many years. It is expensive to do the work right and cheap fixes cause more problems and cost more money in the long run. There are many competent painters out there but many of them are focused on the profit side and historic house projects are more difficult to predict and manage. I would be looking for a small company where the owner runs the jobs himself and stay away from companies with multiple crews doing different projects. Rarely does the attention to detail extend equally to every member of a large crew and I want the boss on site. In my house, only the ceilings were canvassed. We ended up removing the canvas in a couple rooms because once the canvas is torn, it is quite common for the problem to spread. We were able to repair one portion of the living room ceiling but it was not guaranteed to work. That room was about 350 sq ft and I was willing to take the chance rather than pay more to remove to bare plaster and skim coat. I did a good portion of the wallpaper removal myself, working with the painter on a time and materials basis. He was not comfortable giving me a bid for that part of the work because wallpaper removal is just too variable. One benefit of plaster walls is the surface is more forgiving than drywall. If you are relatively handy and healthy enough for the work, it is not difficult, just time consuming and boring. Turn up the music, protect the floors and woodwork and just get busy. I was very fortunate that only the crown molding in the foyer, main floor hallway and back hallway had been painted. We stripped that paint and it was a good decision despite the amount of work involved. It is expensive, but done right, it will never need to be done again.