I think they are out of style... However, if you like them, that's all that matters.

I did use one in my master bath recently, but it was a quick-fix covering another, more dated one that I inherited. It was also at ceiling height. I like it fine for a bathroom.

I only like them in kids rooms but that doesn't mean you can't do it. Maybe if it was the right pattern, I might change my mind. Do you have something you saw you'd like to try?

Didn't we just have this debate recently?

Personally, I hate wallpaper borders. I don't like them here, there or anywhere. I don't like them, Sam I Am. I see wallpaper and think about taking it down. And wallpaper borders are even worse. But, maybe that's just me.

There always were people who hated wallpaper and those who love it, and there always will be. Seems to me like the only places I've seen it lately are in kids' rooms, bathrooms, and laundry rooms -- or in Victorian homes.

You know, I just saw a spread on wallpaper coming back "In" . It was in one of my magazines this month. Frankly, I was surprised. But everything cycles in and out, it seems, in fashion, in cars and in interior design, as well. To my eye ~ at least for now~ wallpaper borders tend to give a dated look to a room. But, it's your home and you need to decorate it to make you happy, not the fickle design mavens who write those "What's In/What's Out This Season" columns.

Would you like it in a boat? Would you like it with a goat? Try them, try them and you'll see! ROFL!

I love them in kids rooms. I don't have a very good pic of dd's room in our last house but we had this border and wallpaper mural. I loved it.

{{!gwi}}

She has a horse border right now that's not as cute as her last one but we still like it.

I have a beautiful blue and beige toile border up at the top of the wall by the ceiling and it looks great. The toile is very dressy. I hate that I'll have to remove it before I put the house up for sale.

I just had all of mine removed. I was really sick of them, I thought they seemed dated in my house. That's my opinion, take it or leave it :)

Here are my hideous wallpaper borders:

Yes, hideously dated and out of style. That's the way I like my house to be though. :) I also have VCT in my kitchen (by choice), mix moulding colors not only in different rooms in the same house (by choice) but also in the same room, and am in the process of putting too much black tile into my bathroom renovation so you really have to take this stuff from where it comes.

I think KGW's post above beautifully illustrates what I was about to post. I was going to say that yes, the mass-produced borders that Home Depot is likely to carry are out of style in my eye, but a big part of the reason is because horizontal lines like borders tend to chop up a room, unless they're placed at a natural stopping point like in Lisa's photos. Her borders enhance a stopping point.

If you have 8 ft ceilings and you put a border in the middle of the room, you automatically make the room look squattier. If you have taller than 8 ft ceilings, the tiny little border then looks very odd, IMO. But if you place them like Lisa has them, I think they're gorgeous.

There was a bathroom at a church I visited that had a beautiful scalloped border placed right at the ceiling. It had a crown molding effect and was really pretty.

My only input is to proceed with caution. I wouldn't do it unless I was absolutely 100% sure that I loved it and would love it for a good long time.

Why do I say this? Because I'm in the process of getting a foreclosure we purchased ready for our tenant's move in and with all the stuff that has popped up (and there have been some doozies) the most difficult task I've had was removing the seashell wallpaper border in the master bath. Just typing about it is making me feel anxious.

On the flip side, I had a wall paper border in my previous home in the master bath that I absolutely loved. I had it up high near the ceiling and I loved how it pulled the scalloped detail out of the mirror frames and had debated whether or not to remove prior to putting the house on market. General consensus was it's very pretty, and neutral, so leave it unless you get negative feedback about it. Didn't get one negative remark and it sold with it up there.

Soooo, my .02 is if you know you love it and won't be removing it in the near future - or maybe they have an easier to remove type? - then go for it! :)

I don't think tasteful borders ever go out of style, but we all know there are some really cheesy ones out there!

I love wallpaper! and that includes "borders". Trouble is, I don't have the sort of budget that would permit me to buy the sort of wallpaper that really grabs my eye... .

So, my answer is a strong, "it depends on the border". More importantly, it also depends on where and how you decide to use it. They DON'T have to be placed directly under the crown moulding (where the delicacy of the pattern is largely lost), or HALF way up the wall (where they do little more than chop a room in half, leaving the viewer in an uncomfortable "limbo"). How about using thirds or fifths as the dividing lines? how about adding easy contrasting color bands to give a crown moulding treatment more "importance"...

50% of the key to effective use of them is to site the treatment effecively. This, most elementary rule, is too often overlooked. Borders are just TOOLS; use them in their most basic capacity or put in a little more effort and learn about how they can be "finessed".

A few weeks ago I went to a grand opening of a new housing developement with houses in the $500,000-600,000 range. All the models had wall paper & borders everywhere! Not my taste but I do like the borders I have in my bathrooms.

I still think what is "in" is what YOU say is "in" for YOUR home. If you love something truly, go for it.

Be sure to prime the wall before you put up paper so it will come off more easily (don't apply it to bare new wallboard ever).

Nothing has to be permanent. If you make a mistake with wallpaper, invest in a regular hand-held steam cleaner and it will really help you remove it. I had a Shark for a long time and loved it. I have a different brand now, similar but on wheels.

Another approach is that absolutely amazing things can be done with stencils (which never need to be peeled off), such as these examples:

{{!gwi}}

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So if you're really wondering, try what you want and see how it looks. That's the only way you're really going to know. And if you made a mistake, don't beat yourself up. Even the best of them make mistakes. The only way to avoid mistakes 100% is to never do anything -- which in itself is a mistake. ;)

For antique home and wallpaper lovers, if you aren't already familiar with it here is a real eye candy treat that most of us can't afford...

Here is a link that might be useful: Bradbury & Bradbury

Hope not! Then again, my daughter told me recently that I've got the exact same hairstyle now as some old school pictures she found of me, from 1969.

I guess that means I like what I like and don't really care whether it's in or out.

In our case we were dealing with a 9' x 9' bedroom (with 8 ft. ceilings) that had been turned into a poker room by the POs,complete with dropped ceiling. All the ceiling rectangles were cigarette and cigar stained, torn or punched through and there had been a leak in the roof which came in through that room and some of the rectangle ceilings had a terrible mold smell to them.

Taking down that ceiling wasn't the problem.
The problem came when we realized the POs used railroad spikes to anchor the ceiling tracks into the wall.

Spend 2-3 weeks repairing the stucco all around the room or patch and do a temporary cover-up.

We decided on the temp cover-up and other than changing the style of border a few times over the years, what was supposed to be a temp fix has been a permanent fixture for over 20 years.

Actually, I can't imagine that squatty room without the border.
It actually makes the room appear taller. Have no idea how that happens---optical illusion, maybe?

As was said in an earlier post, I think border totally depends on the room itself---the style, the 'look' you are going for.

If it works for you, the room, it's the look you want and you love the border, go for it!

Here's our Temporary fix, 22 years later.
Paintable Wallpaper Border

{{!gwi}}