Our hall and stairs are looking a bit tired, so time to redecorate.

We spent yesterday going round the usual DIY chains looking at wallpaper and were, frankly, pretty underwhelmed by what we found, both in terms of quality and design.

Are there any specialist suppliers out there (preferably Hants / Surrey area) who would have a higher quality range?

Go to your local decorating supplies they will have sample books, or you could look in house and home mag to get some ideas they also give the names/numbers of the manufactures that they use

Tried here: Products Home | CROWNDECORATORCENTRE (http://www.crowndecoratorcentre.co.uk/en/Products/) ??

Try this site Buy wallpapers and wallcoverings at Wallpaperdirect (http://www.wallpaperdirect.co.uk), we have used them and i think you can order samples

DULUX decorators centres

laura ashley do the best wallpaper that iv personally enjoyed using during private jobs. the patterns available are well nice and good quality paper too

John Lewis have a selection and all the books to choose from too.

laura ashley do the best wallpaper that iv personally enjoyed using during private jobs. the patterns available are well nice and good quality paper too
That's interesting, more than one decorator has specifically advised us to steer well clear of that particular brand. Maybe they do different ranges?

Thanks for all the tips, I've also been advised that Brewers in Guildford are worth a visit.

laura ashley is expensive, and a bugger to get right and hang.......if its a usual diy guy like urself doing it mate id suggest any crown dercorators store, BnQ ive found the paper from there is good

laura ashley wallpaper is the posh stuff, lol sorry it jus came into my head first.

but like alltorque posted, house and home magazine, or ideal home, have private companies that have massive ranges of wallpaper, if ur looking to hang something nicer than what local diy stores sell

Laura Ashley wipeable paper..... :nono:
Laura Ashley vinyl....not bad, but not the best.

For quality you want Harlequin, Coleman, Today Interiors, Zoffany, Cole & Son, Osbourne & Little....
You may only find them at Decorators merchants.

I refuse to hang Laura Ashley paper, and tell my customers not to choose it ;)

Don't get fooled into thinking 'more expensive = better'.
It doesn't always.

I've just hung some French flock in a kitchen (:freak3: ) at £85 a roll and it was not particularly good quality.

85 a roll? bloody hell. i had to hang some really expensive anaglypta in this victorian style stately house once last year. they didnt say how much it cost but our jobs were on the line if we buggered it up, lol. very nice job tho we done the whole estate, gold leafing, cornice, the ceilings, posh picture rails, the works. certainly made a change from a dusty site. also done a job refurbing the Deco theatre in northampton few years back, that was a big one too

Expensive Anaglypta?
Wouldn't have been Lincrusta by any chance?

the guy wanted the friezes and ceiling borders done with it, as there was some already in other rooms that were there from when the house was first built, and he paid out to a bespoke wallpaper company to actually come out, view the paper and go back and recreate the patterns and produce new paper, to go in the other rooms to match. very posh bloke. the house is near where dianna is now laid to rest

I know the ones you mean.
A bit like thin cardboard, very popular in late 19th Century - early 20th.

Unfortunately most people in Victorian houses stripped them off years ago... :rolleyes:

Bloody vandals!!
;)

yeah horrible stuff. jus took my time with it. not really decorating as such, but have u ever been to a job on an old house where they want their old style windows re-glazed, and painted, but the sash type windows....and theyve asked u to get them working again? bloody nightmare, lol

most are painted over or filled over, jus a case of wedging away the side of the windowsill and pulling out the weights, re-roping them then repairing the mess uv caused, lol. love doing old stuff like that

I just tell them to get Ventrola to repair them first.
I don't do crap like that!

If they aren't repaired I don't paint them, simple as.

lol....i charge them extra though. depending how old the window, id say 25quid a pane, remembering most windows to be reglazed have anything from 8 to thirty panes on some. then to repair a sash, then paint the inside after new wood put in n filled etc, 150... could do two a day including glazing

Laura Ashley wipeable paper..... :nono:
Laura Ashley vinyl....not bad, but not the best.

For quality you want Harlequin, Coleman, Today Interiors, Zoffany, Cole & Son, Osbourne & Little....
You may only find them at Decorators merchants.

I refuse to hang Laura Ashley paper, and tell my customers not to choose it ;)

Don't get fooled into thinking 'more expensive = better'.
It doesn't always.

I've just hung some French flock in a kitchen (:freak3: ) at £85 a roll and it was not particularly good quality.


yep, we cringe when someone say we've got the wall paper already, its from Laura Ashley, :eek:

as Andy says most xpensive not always the best.

Last year we hung a Cole and Son (IIRC) at £80 odd a roll, hand printed and took weeks to have special ordered/made just for our job. Total was about 30 rolls.
the stuff was shocking to hang, 16' length drops on a stair case, you had to time each length not to over soak as it OVER stretched and lost the pattern match, the hand print on the paper would wipe off if over soaked or wiped to much with the sponge. we had the REP out after we were un happy with the quality all she said was you've hung it fantastic and you're being over critical!!!!! even though short lengths had pattern match missed by nearly a quarter if an inch out, due to the miss match of the print.


a week later we hung some NEXT paper at £40 a roll that you couldn't ask for a better paper to hang.


Also our forman whos worked for us 41years this year put some cheap FOCUS paper on his own house that he said hang better than 'posh' papers people get from so called specialist shops :lol:





Phil

the paper my old college i went to do to decorating used to buy in bulk has always been my favourite to hang! nice patterns too.

if only everyone would jus want plain and simple lining paper id love my job ;)

Brewers in Guildford,or Cornmeter in Godalming might be worth a visit.
The wallpaper's upstairs.

Strange we had Laura Ashley paper and had no problems with it.

Dulux decorator centres, they have loads to choose from

i havent had problems with laura ashley either. even used some paper from next once, that hung perfect