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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU re wallpaper, or is DH?

93 replies

CoffeeMum · 21/04/2012 08:34

We are planning a feature wall on our bedroom when we redecorate, and unfortunately the wallpaper we like is £95 a roll, and we'd need three, we think, so a not insignificant spend.

The wall in question has the chimney breast and two alcoves either side - where the two freestanding wardrobes would go. DH has suggested we leave 'holes' in the wallpaper behind the wardrobes to save money on wallpaper - as he says nobody would see it anyway.

This whole idea makes my teeth itch frankly. It would surely be more trouble than it was worth to leave these holes? I doubt it would save buying a whole new roll of wallpaper either. I think it's madness.

AIBU?

OP posts:
Bunbaker · 21/04/2012 08:36

Why would you want to wallpeper a wall that had a wardrobe in front of it anyway? Would it look ridiculous if you just papered the chimney breast?

HolyCalamityJane · 21/04/2012 08:37

Personally I would just do the chimney breast wall. Oh and have you looked on wallpaper direct?

HecateTrivia · 21/04/2012 08:37

NINETY FIVE POUNDS A ROLL?

I agree with your husband. Bugger behind the bloody wardrobes! If they are not going to move, save the bloody paper!

Buy what you think you need to do the part you will see, if there's any left over - do behind the wardrobes.

I am with your husband on this one. At that bloody stupid price, there's no WAY I'd stick it up somewhere that was never going to be seen.

And if you tried to make me - I'd stick it up somewhere it was never going to be seen Wink

Magneto · 21/04/2012 08:38

£95 per roll! And you need 3? Shock

ThierryHenryismyBoyfriend · 21/04/2012 08:38

why would you not have the feature wall behind the head rest of the bed? I personally wouldn't bother wallpapering a wall where the majority was going to be covered with wardrobes, it seems a waste?

HecateTrivia · 21/04/2012 08:38

oh, and those 'feature' thingies, for people who do them/like them - look better (or less awful, depending on your pov Grin )when it is JUST the sticky out chimney bit and not the entire wall, anyway.

TrinityRhino · 21/04/2012 08:40

pick a different wallpaper

scuzy · 21/04/2012 08:40

thats a crazy price!!

prefer paint myself ... thought wallpaper was out of fashion now!

BUT i agree with you, if your going to do it I couldnt leave "holes". so yanbu.

scuzy · 21/04/2012 08:41

and i think it would just be nicer to do the chimney breast.

FutureNannyOgg · 21/04/2012 08:43

I have fancy wallpaper just on the chimney breast in a couple of rooms in my house, one where there are bookcases either side, and the other where the shelves are built in. You can get a really good finish either taking the paper back around the sides of the chimney breast, or just having it on the front and finishing with a razor blade for a really straight clean edge. The rest of the wall is painted like the rest of the room.

Putting paper just on the top bit and leaving a hole for the wardrobe is very silly though, unless you have a picture rail maybe.

BellaVita · 21/04/2012 08:46

We had our bedroom painted and DH didn't want to move the wardrobe, said it would be fine the old colour behind - just paint up to sides of the wardrobe with the new colour. I won and it got painted.

LindyHemming · 21/04/2012 08:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
CoffeeMum · 21/04/2012 08:47

To put the price into context, our bed, wardrobes and beside cabinets are all Ikea, so the wallpaper is the one single thing that we'd be splashing out on, and it's a big room, so it needs something to give interest. Totally agree that £95 is a HELL of alot for wallpaper, but a total spend of £300 isn't that much in the grand scheme of our entire bedroom which is on the whole, as cheap as chips. Oh yes, no carpet either, just floorboards, courtesy of the previous owners Grin So we're really not setting light to £50 notes here, by any stretch.

Don't want to do the wall behind the bedhead, as quite honestly, we won't get to look at it! It's such lovely wallpaper that I want to blummin' admire it when i'm lying around in bed [rare]

Don't want to do just the chimney breast as the previous owners have done this, and it just doesn't seem to work. It's a large room, plain apart from the chimney breast, and it seems to make it stick out like a sore thumb, even though the paper is quite nice. You will still see a fair bit of the wallpaper, as the bays are big and the wardrobes will be fairly small.

OP posts:
squeakytoy · 21/04/2012 08:48

If you are prepared to pay £95 a roll for wallpaper you must be insane... I wouldnt want to waste paper on a wall that would be hidden either...

squeakytoy · 21/04/2012 08:50

Don't want to do the wall behind the bedhead, as quite honestly, we won't get to look at it! It's such lovely wallpaper that I want to blummin' admire it when i'm lying around in bed

Do you spend a lot of time in your bedroom staring at the wall then? Grin ..

Original poster
CoffeeMum · 21/04/2012 08:50

Would rather not outmyself by revealing the paper Blush but it's gorgeous, and we love it. We're not planning to move house for the next 30+ years, touch wood, so it feels worthwhile.

The way I look at it, is keeping your bedroom plain and simple, but splashing out on a beautiful painting as a feature.

Really, we love the paper, that decision has been made, it's just all about whether we leave holes or not!

Thanks for your replies Smile

OP posts:
storminabuttercup · 21/04/2012 08:52

I thought I was splashing out at twenty quid a roll for my feature wall!

You'd be spending 200 quid on something you can't see! Unless it's the most wonderful paper in the world I'd do the bit you can see or use cheaper paper and spend the rest on wine and chocolate

mrspepperpotty · 21/04/2012 08:53

YANBU. I wouldn't be able to leave holes either.

Pannacotta · 21/04/2012 08:54

I agree with you. Paper it all or it will feel like a botch job. SInce you are having relatively cheap wardrobes then do the job properly and paper it all even behind the wardrobes.

Btw, do check out wallpaperdirect.co.uk and other suppliers to see if you can get a discount on the paper.

NorksAreMessy · 21/04/2012 08:55

Sorry, feature walls are on the way out. :(
You might find you think it is dated in a year or so and then you will want to change the paper behind the wardrobes as well (pain)

Walk away from the wallpaper.

TheSockPuppet · 21/04/2012 08:55

Yabu to pay £95 per roll, you've just got bare floorboards fgs, why not buy cheaper wallpaper and spend more money on getting a carpet/laminate. Spending that much money on wallpaper that you're going to cover up is ridiculous.

squeakytoy · 21/04/2012 08:56

The problem with "feature" wallpaper is that you soon tire of it... I guarantee you will probably want to change it again in 3 years, never mind 30!!

My DIL is a barking mad nutter though, who changes her "theme" in the bedroom on something like a 3 monthly basis... Hmm...

Original poster
CoffeeMum · 21/04/2012 08:57

squeakytoy - you will see that i added the word 'rare' to the comment you quoted, so I said myself that I don't 'spend alot of time in my bedroom staring at the wall'! However, with two preschool children, I would be deliriously happy to be able to do so! Grin But seriously, what I basically mean is that I will be able to admire it more if I can actually see it from my bed. And let's face it, we must all buy furnishings etc for our homes that we do want to admire - otherwise, we'd all live in identical, barren cells wouldn't we?

storminabuttercup - honestly, you would see PLENTY of it - the room is massive [i really do say that in a humble way, it's currently a shithole] You'd see most of the chimney breast, and alot above the wardrobes and around them. Basically, you will still see much more than is covered.

OP posts:
BarbaraWoodlouse · 21/04/2012 08:58

Don't leave the holes. As you say, it's unikely to save any money and really ties you to having the same furniture in the same spot for the next however many years.

BigHairyLeggedSpider · 21/04/2012 08:58

Show us the wallpaper....

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