They do seem to be completely out of style right now...

But IMO, they're still acceptable - more than acceptable - great even - in some applications. I'd consider them in a nursery where the theme is only intended to last a few years. Or in a bathroom at the top of another wallpaper.

Not sure they're making many great ones, though, since it was such a popular fad in the 90's...

Since you are the queen of pictures, here are a few I found on Houzz (I just searched "wallpaper borders") that I don't think look dated at all:

[traditional living room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2107) by san francisco general contractor Mueller Nicholls Cabinets and Construction

[eclectic dining room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2104) by chicago interior designer Allison Cosmos

[traditional entry design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-entryway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_741~s_2107) by miami interior designer Pepe Calderin

[traditional bedroom design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2107) by boston interior designer Linda Merrill

Sweeby, you make some good points.

Olychick, thanks for all the pictures! Yes I am the picture girl. I notice those are mostly with antiques -- and I do have a living room full of antiques. Beautiful pics.

The reason I asked is I'm wondering if I should put up a border in my bathroom. Please see my new bathroom thread. Thanks!

I saw your bath Oceanna -- It's gorgeous! But in you bath, I wouldn't put up a paper border. Why? Because YOU can paint! You have the talent to paint something lovely, so that's what I would do. I so wish I could paint like that, but my paintings wouldn't 'enhance' anything ;-)

The ones that I just LOVE are the arts & craft style borders from Bradbury.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bradbury

I would say if they are used as part of a wallpaper scheme, no.

If they are used with a wallcolor that matches the background of the border so the border appears stencil-like, maybe not.

As an isolated decorative element on a plain wall, pretty much not high style. I would say they are still pretty popular in the mass market, based upon the offerings.

When we think about wallpaper borders theoretically, there is no reason why they should be "out". After all, if that same space were occupied by crown molding or a hand-painted stencil, we'd think that was great! So a wallpaper border is just another type of top-of-the-wall treatment. I especially like the border in the fourth picture, the bedroom, posted by Olychick. IMO it's a wonderful finishing touch in a beautiful room.

I have border paper, and would not think of removing it, it goes all around my master suite, and matches my fabrics, no chance of finding that option again, besides I like it!
close up;

Yes, I think they are out the majority of the time and can make a home look dated. There are still some instances (like olychick posted) where they look good. I think in a case where it looks like a painted stencil it may look good. However, I would not personally install any borders at this time in my own home.

I'm in agreement with greenmtn in thinking that a majority of the time I see borders now they make the home look dated. I used to wallpaper everything- but that was over 15 years ago! Even the wallpaper stores that I used to frequent have now gone out of business, The one large and popular decorating store we have locally has reduced it's wallpaper selection from a whole room down to just two small display cases with very limited selection, and they carry no borders at all.

It doesn't mean that can't be used appropriately, they just aren't as popular as they were in the 90s.

I was surprised how much wallpaper is coming back! was at a design show house. every room had wallpaper although not the flowery ugliness we removed years ago. Mostly natural fibres, hand painted orientals, geometric modern etc.

borders, on the other hand, are not coming back ;)

We had numerous wallpapers in our last home we built in 1980. We changed it several times but it will felt dated when we sold it and built again in 2006. This time...not one inch of wallpaper! I love the look of my clean walls. I bring patterns in on fabric and art.

The main plus...so easy to change. My husband would have divorced me if he had stripped any more wallpaper.

Thank you everyone for your answers.

Sweeby, thanks for the compliments! I think I'm going to leave it plain for right now, and think on it. If you want to learn to paint like that, there are lots of books, videos, even free videos on youtube. I practiced on cardboard boxes. lol

Gwbr54, you have exquisite taste. I have been in love with B&B for years, especially their arts and crafts borders. I also love their flair with color combinations.

Palimpsest, I agree in some applications they're great, but in others they can badly date a room I think.

Sable, I agree that in all the pics Olychick posted, the borders look good. And those are more-or-less with antiques.

SuzieQ I agree in your decor they look good, especially in your pretty bedroom. Thanks for posting the pretty pics.

Greenmtn, there is no question they were much more popular in the 90s, but I think in some decors they enhance, especially with antique decorating schemes.

Nanny21, same where I live. It's kind of sad to see, I think. I've always loved *certain* wallpapers. Some types are making a comeback, and now they have the "allover" stencils too. It will be interesting to see when/if it ever comes back like it was.

Kswl, maybe!

Pharoh, thanks for sharing what you saw at the design show house. That's interesting.

Memlane, yeah, stripping wallpaper is an un-fun chore!

Well, my neighbor informed me that she was ready to "re-do" her kitchen and would be buying a new border with apples on it. She was all excited - until her husband went with her shopping for it. She said she was flipping through wallpaper books and suddenly her husband came running over saying, "We just HAVE to buy THIS!" Here it was a border showing a baker with bags of flour,ect. That is their last name "B...r". He was so thrilled she gave up on the apple motif right then.

I thought it was cute. Besides, she is a great baker.

I think the last 2 pix that olychick posted actually are stencils.
I'd do a stencil before doing a paper border. I would much rather it not wrap the whole room but perhaps be a stenciled design feature in a more freeform way. I had a great experience with cuttingedgestencils.com. Their selection is great, the stencils are well made and the customer service is also great.

Yes

They look good in nurseries and in some country decor.
Having said that, I had border paper (which I loved) in our kitchen all
around the middle as well as the top.I recently removed
it and painted the kitchen. I like the plainness of
the look now.

I wish they were in. I have one in my laundry room I need to take down- although it is very pretty, botanical flowers- but I don't seem to have the energy Aunt Jen has to paint a room in a weekend. It will take a week to paint and clean and longer to get it all back together.
I will probably do it this summer when it's too hot to work outside.

I just remembered, I have a wallpaper border in my library, been there for many years now. I think I paid $90 for it and had a friend who owned a wallpaper store put it up for me - she did it for free(!)even tho I didn't buy the border from her. It's very wide, can't remember the measurements, but it was not 3D at the bottom as you see it. I trimmed every piece with scissors to get that look before it was hung. I thought it would make the folds in the "material" look more realistic.

The wall color in the photo is a bit washed out. It's a deeper gold than that.

{{!gwi}}

schoolhouse, that looks awesome.

We are going to paint our house and have one wall that I love...It has a border , I am trying to decide where to take it off and paint wall one neutral color...other walls are going to be Oatmeal....Help would love some opinions!!

Annette, may I suggest that you start a new thread to ask your question? You will likely get more responses that way.

Thank you very much...I just did. Would appreciate your opinion also!

I think your room is adorable and if you like the border, leave it. It looks good. If you're sick of it, remove it and don't look back.

You know, I think your border looks good too. And I was fully prepared not to like it.