The Wallpaper Saga

Although I do like wallpaper, it is much easier to repaint a room than to repaper.  So, in redecorating our new house, I chose to only paper walls which already had paper on them.


When I hired the handy man to do the work, I asked if he painted and papered.  He said that he did, but over the next couple of weeks, I began to realize that I knew more about papering than he did.  He was planning to have his daughter help him, but eventually I figured out that she too had very little experience.


Meantime, I ordered the wallpaper necessary for the rooms that had paper on them....22 double rolls, over $1000 worth.  Most of the paper arrived in less than 10 days.  However, while the border for the kitchen was delivered, the paper for the kitchen walls wasn't.  A call to the store from which I had purchased it revealed that it was "back ordered," and would be shipped in a couple of weeks.  The couple of weeks passed and a further call indicated that the paper was not even printed, but was scheduled for printing this past week and was to be shipped on Friday.


By this time, most of the ceilings and woodwork had been painted, so it was time to begin papering.  I told the young lady who was working with her dad at the house, that I would do the first room with her and see how she did.  Although she caught on quickly to the actual application of the paper, I did not have confidence that she would be able to measure accurately and match the patterns.  I resigned myself to working with her.
First, we did a bathroom.  We were one piece short...my fault.  I knew when I ordered 2 double rolls that I was cutting it close, and that if things didn't match up conveniently I was probably in trouble.  Worst case scenario prevailed, and I had to order an additional roll.


I placed the order while home for lunch, then went back over to the new house and papered all afternoon.  When I got home there was a message to call the store.  The person I needed to talk to was gone, so I called again the next day.  They wanted me to come in and put a deposit down on the paper.  I was NOT pleased.  I have shopped at this store for 35 years and have an account there.  I had just ordered 22 rolls which were entirely paid for, although 6 were back ordered and not yet in my possession, but they wanted a deposit on one stinking roll!  If I wanted to be treated that way I could shop at certain other big chain stores.


The papering endeavor continued.  As of Thursday, we had done all of the rooms we had paper for...two bathrooms, a dining room, the entry and a long hallway with lots of doors requiring lots of cutting in.  On Friday, I came home from doing some school-shopping with my granddaughter and found a message from the store..."Your border is in."


I called the store.  The manager cheerfully greeted me and asked, "How are you today?"
I said, "I will be better when you tell me that you misspoke, and that it isn't the border you have, but the paper for the walls."
After a very long time on hold, he came back on the line and informed me that sadly the company had reshipped the border and it was now too late in the day to send out the paper.  It will be shipped on Monday.


Good grief!


I did tell him to hang on to the border, in the event, which I am beginning to believe is quite likely, that the color on the border I already have is not a good color match with the just printed paper. Sometimes dyes vary enough that one needs to be concerned about such.  That would be the crowning blow if the paper arrived and didn't really match the border.


It will be a long time before I want to paper again.