After years of decline in wallpaper usage the trend line has been moving up.
Personally I have been doing almost 100% wallpapering in my jobs the past 2 years with almost no painting (besides wall priming for paper.) Yet the industry and everybody in it still ignores one of the major reasons for the decline in paper and that is the issue of removeablilty.
In fairness I must say that mass manufacturers of wallcoverings did respond to the issue by coming out with strippable nonwovens, but in this case the cure could kill the patient. (See my post on Sanitas in August 2010.)
One thing to consider is that paperhangers, our trade organizations, and internet groups CAN also do something to get the consumer over the fear of and misconceptions about removing wallpaper. In my opinion we paperhangers, designers and retailers need to "go back to the future" and specify the tried and true material that has always been easily removable and that is fabric-backed vinyl (FBV).
With the easy availability of digital video cameras, some built-in functions to upload to youtube, blip tv, etc. it is possible for painters and paperhangers to quickly demonstrate to the public just how easy and quick most fabric-backed vinyl removal jobs are. I have opined for years that instead of doing demos on how to hang wall covering for the public that we do demos on how easy it is to remove FBV from a well primed wall. If we use the public relation tools we have right in our hands we may return to the day when the consumer would never say, "I love wallpaper, but I don't like that it doesn't come off once you commit to it."
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