This is how the homeowner’s wallpaper arrived – no label, no wrapper, and with two fingerprints marring the first two feet of paper (upper edge, in both rectangles).
This is one of the problems with buying wallpaper off the Internet. This came from a site that sells clothing, jewelry, shoes, and – oh yeah … home accessories, too.
The price may be very cheap.
But you have no idea what you are getting. For instance, this company’s website give virtually no information, other than the dimensions of the bolt, the color, and that it’s printed with water-based ink on “quality wallpaper.” I guess that to an unschooled homeowner, that sounds good. But to a paperhanger, that provided virtually no useable information.
But what’s worse is that many of these outlet type websites are buying up and reselling discontinued, damaged, or returned goods from other sources. That’s why this paper has no wrapper or label. There is no way to know the run number of the bolts she has – so they may well be slightly different shades, which will be unacceptable on her wall.
These companies don’t have a salesperson who is knowledgeable about wallpaper. They have an order-taker, and a guy in the warehouse who runs and grabs some rolls off the shelf, paying no attention to run numbers or condition of the rolls.
I’ve hung this paper before, and know that it’s made by an established manufacturer (as opposed to a “boutique” company with some paper and a digital printer and dubious quality). Even though it would cost a bit more, it would be much preferable to buy wallpaper from the manufacturer itself, or, better, from a local retail store (not a box store) specializing in and knowledgeable about wallpaper.
You’ll have someone who can help you with accurate measurements, the various types of substrates, run numbers, double and single rolls, availability (discontinued patterns), shipping times, and who can easily straighten out any problems if they should occur.
For my recommendations on where to buy wallpaper, see the page at right “Where to Buy Wallpaper In Houston.”
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