I was called to do a repair (dog ate the wallpaper) on a dining room I hung about a year ago. There wasn’t enough left over paper to replace the strip, so the homeowner had to order new paper. Since time had gone by, it was not possible to get the same run number.
A run, or batch, number refers to all the bolts of wallpaper that were printed at the same time. The next time they mix up a batch of ink and print wallpaper, it’s likely the color won’t be exactly the same. So it’s important to buy paper that is all the same run number. If not, there will be noticeable color differences between strips on your walls. Not good.
Look at the photo. The darker element on the paper at the top is an aqua color. On the strip below, the color is more of a sage green.
If you can’t get enough paper all in the same run to do the whole room, it’s OK to “break” the run in a corner, because your eye won’t notice the slight color difference, because lights hits each wall differently and changes the color a little. But know that you will also have to buy extra paper, when working with two different runs.
Tags: batch, repair, run number, wallpaper
The Wallpaper Lady's Blog 
September 15, 2014 at 7:03 am |
One further thing seems obvious to me as I read this; correct me if I’m wrong: If one is having paint mixed to match a color in wallpaper, it’s probably better to have it matched to the actual paper that will be hung rather than to buy it ahead of time by matching it to the sample book in the store.
October 21, 2014 at 7:19 am |
Yes, David, good point, and very true. Even a slight color variation in the wallpaper can make a difference in the paint color you would choose. Paint can be matched and mixed at the last minute, so, yes, good idea to wait until your wallpaper has arrived, to choose your paint color.