Haven't read all the comments, but if you like wallpaper, then replace that one with a really expensive updated one from France that reflects your own love of traditional and French Country style! Then it will be truly yours! And then call the former owner to come and see so you can tell him what he told you!

i have to say your house might not be for everyone but it sure is for me. i'm still aglow with palimpsest's better articulating my rage against gray as a design default.

understand, i have no complaint against someone who didnt like *this* wallpaper. its distinctive and everyone is allowed to choose their own vision. but CHOOSE, people.

floor to ceiling drapes would be the making of this room.

I think the scale sort of requires a floor to ceiling run for paper like this. Actually when papers like this became more readily available in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, people started taking down their chair rails to display full walls of paper.

I would keep it, not because it is expensive, but because it is beautiful!

I think it's beautiful and gives your room personality. Since it's definitely the "statement piece," everything else should be understated, including the area rug. Something plain with minimal pattern. Agree that a large mirror would look great.

I know I may be run out of town for this, but I think Revere Pewter painted walls is "dated". We have been seeing that spare, somber, Belgian look for well over a decade. Full disclosure ... I love that look, and I do have a pantry that is Revere Pewter, and most of my primary house is in various shades of Farrow and Ball whites.

But, it is hardly a new, fresh look anymore, it has been copied all the way down the consumer chain, and that usually means it is about to become dated.

Just this past fall I had our beach house dining room wallpapered.

I would try something that makes it your own; eg wainscoting, WT. etc. , but I would use it. But I would keep it, at least a few years. Personally, my issue would be the need to personalize it. No matter how nice, I am never really happy in someone else's decor.

haha I had to chuckle about wanting to remove the wallpapaer first thing when the model home was purchased. We gutted and remodelled and lived in a house and I did have wall paper in the bathrooms only. All three of them. My husband was loathe for me to install it and some colorful paint too, but when it was done he loved it. Then we sold it. My husband felt badly for me when of course the wife said, Well all the paper is going first thing. When my Hubs told me, He said, I feel so badly for you. My reply? Sweetheart we got the big check! They can paint the house purple for all I care. But because the house was coordinated and clean I think it helped us get a full price cash offer! Love those checks! If I have to choose money or vanity, money always wins.

I have to say the red hallway with the dining room paper looks wonderful! A strong statement, sure, but a beautiful one.

To compliment the red entrance I would suggest something like the image attached (minus the furniture)

We will just leave the dining room's wallpaper alone for a few years. We always can take it down if we get tired of it. We find it interesting and it's a conversation starter for sure. The seller wallpapered too many rooms in this house and we are removing most of them except for the powder room, hallway, dining room and the guest bedroom. The rest will be gone. It just amazes me that someone would wallpaper so many rooms. Hard to sell too!

Yehey, I am so happy with your decision to keep the DR wallpaper for now....

i wouldnt care if someone undid my decorating to paint the house purple... at least thats a statement color!

Yeah for keeping the wallpaper. As for the ones you are saving, love that decision, too.

That wallpaper is infinitely better than my powder room...
Blehhhhhhhhh

I like the wallpaper.

When I look at it I keep seeing scarecrows in the pattern.:)

About wallpaper, brass and everything else...there are a lot of people who follow trends and later despise what they had embraced.

Things get too trendy and get overdone and then it is horrible to them and they seem unable to tell the difference between classic and crappy. And that is okay with me as I have enjoyed picking up Virginia Metalcrafter candle sticks and Stiffel brass lamps for the change fished out of the bottom of my purse.

A lot of people can't see the tree for the forest.

On the other hand, if you don't like the wallpaper, it is only wallpaper.

It's your house now so do it like you like it.

Yes I agree. When I look at the paper in my powder room, I only see some developer with bad taste trying to appeal to market...yuck

The paper is fabulous and does not need to be hidden with a mirror or large furniture. It is neoclassical in style and as such will always be relevant. The best designers have always used paper regardless if in style or not. It is making a comeback and now seen as accent wall behind beds. Glad you are not going to paint it over in grey or add chair rail. I do think simple drapes in a solid( I usually chose the least prominent color rather than the obvious one for added interest). Go to book store and look at some high end designer monographs and you will see you are right on trend as that style is never out. This is an old money look! I have also found that adding a contemporary piece of furniture or fixture or art compliments this beautifully. I used this paper in a clients house in a different color way and it is truly amazing! I think you are very lucky.

Mzloolue, I agree! You just have to go one a few model home tours to realize after you've been in one you've been in them all! My Mom used to say "say know to nothing" while growing up. So glad I took her advice and use family "hand me downs" wherever I can. They make my home mine---even if my Virginia Metalcrafters brass is tarnished, I love it more now with the patina!

Cathy, I couldn't agree more! Soon, 90% of the homes in America will have gray walls and white cabinets! Then the trend will change, as it always does, and everyone will be scrambling to change to the latest trend. I have a few antique pieces mixed in every room, and I love them as much now as when I got them.

I think the grey trend is going out already. Seeing soft teal and soft cocoa brown alot now in mags or variations of that combo.

Mark Hampton a designer once said, Design with the colors YOU love and you will never go wrong in a room.

It is YOUR house. Don't hesitate to remove it if you don't like it. Making your decision solely based on the supposed value of the wallpaper is like forcing yourself to eat caviar just because its expensive when you absolutely despite fish eggs (maybe not the best analogy, but you get the idea).

I love the wallpaper! And as for re-sale value--you bought the house didn't you? So I wouldn't worry about that at all. I would reupholster the chairs, though. You might not think of this fabric as being dressy enough, but I think mattress ticking would be funky and fresh. And give the room even more French Country look.

shars55, I agree. The trendy will be throwing out and painting over.

It is funny to me that my brass and pale peach and classic wallpaper have gone from nice to gross and nasty and back to nice.

I kept my horrible stuff. :)

Nancy Walton, it is interesting that people consider certain fabrics to be informal or country or rustic and yet if you google up the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg there is a room in which red gingham or buffalo check is used for slip covers on chairs. :) Your idea of ticking is brilliant. I want ticking in my dining room now!

You will be entering this room every day! This is Your home, Your haven. And this room should not be a room you can't decide if you like it or not---it should be a room you love!! From the very first sentence your wrote, I could tell you were not sure if you even liked it. You can play it up or down all you want, it will still be that expensive wall paper from France that some one else chose. If you decide to paint, do have the wall paper removed. I would never paint over wall paper. Crisp clean lines of a color you love will bring peace and harmony in a space, and if you like, can easily pump up the energy volume with splashes of color, eclectic accessories, and treasured heirlooms, to give a truly authentic look that is your own.

Well here's my take on it...price should not be the determining factor here. If you really like it keep it if not redecorate. I once bought a house that had red wallpaper in the master bedroom with Eagles all over it. It was enough to give anyone nightmares. It was down in a flash.

I once wall papered an entire bathroom in a color that was all the rage and when I got done I tore it all down I hated it so much. I never used blue anywhere in any house again. Great for others but I am not an instant blue girl. I love it in other people's houses but if I do use it it has to be in very small accent doses....we are all unique thank goodness!

When you first walked through the house, what was your first thought or reaction to the wall paper? Go with your gut, regardless of what the prior owner told you. No way would I let the cost of the paper stop me from removing it.

Listen to your own gut instincts. It doesn't matter if the wall is made from gold. If it makes you unhappy, remove it. If it makes you feel good, work with it. I think it's a beautiful wallpaper. If you decide to keep it, I wouldn't add a wainscot. You would lose the beauty of the large repeat. Also, I would get a different chandelier to bring out the best in the colors in the design. It might be fun to add some bright upholstery maybe in a striped fabric. Brighten it up and have fun with it.

We kept the wallpaper. No wainscoting either. Love that striped chair! Thanks for the ideas!

Good for you; I don't think you will regret it .

Do what feels right to you. Walls dress up the interior of a home just as clothing does on the person. Personally-some patterns and colors I wouldn't wear and neither should your home if they feel unattractive to you the owner.

Love the paper—it's kind of crazy-go-nuts (just my style) but the crown molding and baseboard don't really seem to help it along much. I think I'd go darker with both. I'd go with a simpler lamp…something barrel with a diffuser. What time is dinner?

I read in an old book years ago, that rich people would remove the wall paper when they moved, the wall paper was more fabric than paper,I guess it was very expensive ,and take it with them to their next house., Maybe more than a hundred years ago? Your wall paper would fit that description. maybe you could sell the pieces, you could scrape off a large portion, and give it to someone that could repurpose it?

And the original post was on April 1st, rotfl.

I see a wall full of Minions, and I would find that a bit disconcerting to live with!

Wallpaper is still here. Lol! We removed wallpaper in other few rooms. Hard to save the wallpaper. We kept it as we like it now. I would remove wallpaper with minions right away. Lol!

As a designer, I generally cringe when someone says they want wallpaper anywhere in their home because I also have some real estate experience and have seen many buyers turned off by wallpaper anywhere in the home. When they start to imagine the time and labor involved in getting it all off, and it becomes a deal breaker.

That being said, I'm glad you kept the wallpaper when you decided that it pleases you. Whatever pleases your senses in the home that you live in and plan to stay in is all that really matters.

As far as the previous owner telling you about the value of the paper, I would never allow that to be any sort of criterion for living with something I didn't like. I have helped remodel some old Victorian homes where valuable antique fixtures were ripped out in favor of installing more contemporary plumbing, electrical, and structural features made of common budget friendly materials.

What if you keep the upper half and then add wainscoting to the bottom?

I flat out couldn't live with it and it would have to go. It would kill me knowing it cost a bundle, but it is too busy to ignore.

That wallpaper is horrible. But everyone has different taste. If u have to ask then perhaps it's something u can live with.

I don't think it's horrible at all, and thank goodness we all have different taste as the world would be pretty darn boring if everyone had the same house.....gray walls, white cabinets, etc.

Remove it! It is a little to harsh...

Yep. Late to the party. But I saw you decided to keep it. Yay!. The far picture from the red room showed a large room. It can take it and it is interesting. Let another room be boring and white!

It's not a matter of whether any of us on this site like or dislike the wall paper (and I loathe it) but what works for you as most of us have said. so you've decided to keep it - cool. Live with it. However, that striped chair you posted a pic of is a total enigma to me - the combination of that wall paper and that chair... seriously??!!

another idea to "frame" it would be to paint your crown mouldings and baseboards an accent color from the wallpaper. (maybe red like in the hallway?)

and mintydill I feel your pain about wallpaper everywhere. we found a house we love, and there is wallpaper on just about every vertical surface - even the interior doors! And every finished wall in the basement!

I love it!

My dining is half papered (de Gourney embroidered silk) with paneling below the chair rail in a vain attempt to prevent tiny hands from staining it irreparably within thirty seconds. It works beautifully and it's practical. Maybe give that a shot.

Love it.

Sooo pretty! Keep it

Old post. Hope you did remove it.