Paint & Wallpaper

(MS) - The newest tool in the decorator's kit may be an old one - wallpaper. After years of being eclipsed by painted finishes or colorless backgrounds, wallpaper is staging a comeback.

Suddenly, wallpaper is everywhere - in decorating magazines, hit movies, catalog photography, ads and even commercials. The renewed popularity can be attributed to many factors.

One explanation is that people are simply getting tired of their plain vanilla boxes, opting instead for more color and pattern in their homes, says Gina Shaw, vice president of design for Eisenhart Wallcoverings Co., a leading wallpaper manufacturer.

The uncertainties of modern life also have reaffirmed the importance of home as a safe and comfortable haven and a canvas for expressing personal style, she says.

"Wallcovering is a wonderful way to add pattern, texture and color," observes Suzan Decker-Ross of Decker-Ross Interiors in Clearwater, Fla. "For example, grass cloth-like textures are coming back. But there are all kinds of textures and tropical looks and ornate patterns too."

And for those who don't want traditional patterns, there are "dynamite new looks that are hip and colorful," Decker-Ross says.

Wallpaper creates a dilemma for many do-it-yourself homeowners: They want to decorate with it, but they may be reluctant to do so because it seems like a challenging, messy project. And they may have heard - or know from personal experience - that wallpaper can be difficult to remove when it's time for a change.

But that's not the case any longer. New wallpapers such as Eisenhart's PaperezTM make it easy to update and redecorate a room as often as desired. Paperez (pronounced "paper-ease") belongs to a class of enhanced wall coverings that can be stripped off walls cleanly in full sheets without the use of chemicals, water spray bottles or putty knives.

It is unique because of its paste-the-wall installation, which eliminates messy water trays and applications of adhesive to the back of the paper. Instead, a special adhesive is applied to the wall with a paint roller and the wallpaper is put up dry. No initial messy steps, and the rest of the wallpapering process is easy - matching the pattern, butting the seams together, smoothing the surface and trimming.

"After do-it-yourselfers try one of the new user-friendly wallpapers, they will feel a lot more confident," Eisenhart's Shaw says. "They can stop worrying about installing the paper and focus instead on wallpaper as a terrific decorating option that will add personality and create today's hottest style statements in their homes."

You can find more tips on proper wallpapering techniques and additional information on Paperez at www.eisenhartwallcoverings.com.

Click on photo for larger view

REDECORATE AS OFTEN
as you wish with Paperez, a new type of wallcovering from Eisenhart that is not only easy to install, but also strips away cleanly in full sheets when it's time for a change.

Local Resources

Arthur Whitcomb

Carbone's Window & Awning