While the heydays of wallpaper might be a haunting memory of the elaborate floral designs that flourished in your grandmother’s living room in the 1960s, there’s still an interest today in the options that decorating with wallpaper can provide.

The Wallcovering Association (wallcoverings.org), a nonprofit trade association for the industry, notes that wallcoverings are a great impersonator and can change the visual appearance of a room in many ways. Wallcoverings, like a fine set of clothing, helps you make the most of your room’s strong points, while masking its weaker features. Textured wallpaper is particularly good at hiding flaws in sheetrock without the expense.

Wallpaper adds warmth to every room. It has a natural third-dimension quality inherent of the chosen design. While wallpaper lost a tremendous amount of its market to painted walls, faux-designed walls, handpainted murals, wall-

boards, and such, it is now making a wonderful comeback.

Current high-end products like screen-printed, handpainted grass cloths, embossed, and heavy-duty vinyls seem to be the most popular with today’s homeowners. Wallpaper can act as a background to wall art and can also stand on its own, depending on the overall design desired.

Painted walls have no dimension and homeowners can end up spending large amounts on wall art to try to make the room look right. With wallpaper, the stronger the pattern, the less wall art is needed.

Mike St. Pierre, from Lewiston Paint and Wallpaper in Lewiston, admits that fewer customers are seeking wallpaper, but there are still plenty of options in construction, color and design.

“The majority of papers today are pre-pasted, solid vinyls,” said St. Pierre. “They are very versatile and can be used most anywhere.”

And while it seems to be a daunting task to first-time paper hangers, information found on the Wallcovering Association’s website emphasizes that wallcoverings are easy to install especially when you follow the manufacturer’s instructions that come with each roll.

Homeowners can speak to local retailers who will be happy to provide helpful hints and tips to make wallpapering easier. In fact, many decorating retailers offer wall covering clinics geared to the first-time hanger.

When applying wallpaper it is critical to get the wall prep done correctly. With all the chemical changes that have taken place in the environmental arena, it is a bad choice to try to cut corners with the prep and adhesives. When done as specified you will end up with a very beautiful space.

Homeowners should have all the proper tools needed for the job. These can include a smoothing brush, seam roller, broad knife, utility knife, putty knife, level, tape measure, wallpaper tray, wallpaper table, scissors, and paste brush or paint roller. All of these items are available at local hardware or home decorating retailers. Some items can even be rented.

If you are searching for wallpaper or border patterns to match something you already have in your home, there are companies that specialize in locating older-style wallpapers. Ask first at a local store, and if they don’t carry what you are looking for, chances are, they can steer you in the right direction.

While most wallpapering projects can be done by the do-it yourselfer, there are times when you may want to consider hiring a professional.

“When the room being prepared involves a lot of areas that require precise cutting or if there is a difficult match in the pattern, you may want to hire someone,” said St. Pierre, explaining that this might be too much to handle for a first time effort.

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