When you think about decorating a room at home, do you reach for the paint pot and brush, or hanker after a stylish roll of wallpaper?

Over the last few years, more and more of us have apparently put away our wallpaper paste tables in favour of the ever-expanding ranges of paints on the market.

Dale Woodbridge, of Kendal's Woodbridge and Mounsey, tells who is winning the battle of wallpaper versus paint.

There's no doubt in Dale Woodbridge's mind that, over the last few years, wallpaper has lost out to paint: "Paint is still a more popular way of covering our walls it has been for some years."

Paint has lent itself particularly well to the fashion for using fabrics and accessories as the main focal point for pattern and design features, while walls are kept plainer.

Having said that, Mr Woodbridge said there would always be particular ranges of wallpaper which did sell well, especially when people were trying to recreate a certain period look.

"A prime example of that is William Morris his designs never go out of fashion."

As well as being fashionable, painting is generally perceived as being quicker and easier than wallpaper.

But the wallcovering industry hasn't taken all this lying down, and wallpaper is fighting back.

Mr Woodbridge said: "Now the wallcovering industry is trying to target the younger generation, who maybe can't afford to employ a decorator to hang paper for them, but don't feel confident enough to hang paper themselves, therefore they are painting rather than wallpapering."

To help overcome this, the industry has got together to promote a new wallcovering product.

"It's based on a non-woven substrate, which enables the paper to be hung by pasting the wall rather than the paper, hence you have no need for a paste table, no need for soaking times for papers just paste the wall and dry-hang the paper.

"Making it easier to work with is how they are trying to increase sales, especially among the younger generation."

Wallpaper may have lost out to paint because the fashion has been for plainer decorating.

Even paint effects, which became incredibly popular around ten years ago, with the advent of television programmes such as Changing Rooms, are no longer so in style.

"At one time everybody was ragging and dragging and sponging anything," said Mr Woodbridge.

Stencilling, which at one time could also be found all over people's homes, has also faded from fashion, and tends to be restricted to properties where it's really fitting, such as cottage-style houses. Also on the way out, according to Mr Woodbridge, are the co-ordinating wallcoverings with a different top and bottom divided by a border.

But meantime, paint ranges like Farrow & Ball which is Woodbridge and Mounsey's best-selling manufacturer have stormed ahead in the popularity stakes.

"They make paint in a very traditional manner with no vinyl, so that their paints are from a very, very soft muted palette."

Farrow & Ball also supplies the National Trust with paint for restoration projects.

Woodbridge and Mounsey are also increasingly stocking environmentally friendly paint ranges. Ecotec's milk-based Casein paint is designed to be kinder to the natural world, while EarthBorn Claypaint is safe, environmentally friendly and breathable, according to Mr Woodbridge.

April 16, 2003 14:00