Get the hang of hanging wallpaper; Habitat sells it cheaply

Good morning and welcome to Wallpaper-On-A-Budget 101. Today we’ll talk about the benefits of wallpaper versus paint, give you a heads-up on one local source where you can get some high-quality but inexpensive wallpaper, and provide some creative ideas for alternative uses of wallpaper.

First, then, what’s better – wallpaper or paint? The answer depends on your personal preferences and pocketbook. Paint offers a wide range of color options and, generally costs less than wallpaper.

However, the National Guild of Professional Paperhangers, a nonprofit organization, points out that wallpaper patterns, textures and scenes offer more choices to personalize or add character to a room. For example, reproduction wallpaper can give a room a historic, or “period” look. Other faux wallpapers approximate the appearance of marble, leather or metal.

One way around the wallpaper/paint conundrum is to do a bit of both: wallpaper some walls and paint others with complementary colors, or use wallpaper border strips to accent painted walls.

So,doing the math, paint and wallpaper costs compute out like this:

In a 10-by-15-by-8-foot room, the wall surface is 400 square feet. Optimally, one gallon of paint covers 400 square feet. An average price for a gallon of good quality paint is about $20. As for the wallpaper, a double-roll bolt covers 56 square feet, so it would take about seven rolls to cover the walls. At an average price of $15 per roll, the wallpaper cost would be $105.

That kind of cost differential could pinch some budgets out of the wallpaper market. But what if you could find high quality wallpaper for just $2 a roll? That would drop the cost to $16 – a lot more affordable. The question is, are such radical cost savings available anywhere? In fact, as long as supplies last, right now they are.

Two dollars per roll is the price Jeff Howard, Habitat Store-Spokane manager, has put on 25,000 rolls of wallpaper recently donated to the store. Howard says he researched some of the brand names, like Esta and York, and their products retail at from $15 to $25 per roll.

“The quantity we received was enough to do hotels,” Howard says. “We assume that was what it was for. None of it is pre-pasted, so it’s better quality, more of a commercial grade.”

And the selection is broad. Italian silks. Vinyls. Some lightly embossed to give a leather look. Animal print patterns and Art Deco designs. Florals. Stripes. Black, gold and silver metallics. “Some of the wallpaper is from Ronald Redding Designs,” says Teresa Cottrell, floor manager. “Those look like reproductions of turn-of-the-20th century wallpaper.” Cottrell adds that along with the wallpaper came 25,000 rolls of compatible, decorative borders. They’re priced at 50 cents a roll.

Cottrell also says that if you haven’t hung wallpaper before, like any home decorating endeavor, there are tricks to be learned, but are easily mastered. She says stores provide a booklet, free of charge, that explains how to prepare and hang the wallpaper, match patterns, cut around doors, window frames and electrical boxes. In addition, the store sells wallpaper hanging kits that include a squeegee, knife, soaking tray and how-to instructions.

Customers also find other creative uses for the inexpensively-priced wallpaper, Cottrell says. For instance, some border paper is wide enough to be used as liner paper in smaller drawers. The bright colors on some rolls make it fitting for gift bags, shopping bags and wrapping paper.

But most folks will probably use wallpaper as wallpaper. One of them is Phyllis Vandemark of Rathdrum, Idaho. She bought floral-patterned wallpaper for the living room of her family’s log home. “Next, I’m doing the kitchen,” she says. “With these prices, we’re going to redo the whole house. We wouldn’t have considered wallpaper if we hadn’t gotten this deal.”

Vandermark also appreciates another value at the Habitat Store: “The money I spend on this wallpaper, Habitat will use to help build houses for people,” she says. “That’s another big reason I shop here.”