How to use your wallpaper samples

A wallpaper sample belongs on the wall. It should not be judged in your hand or laid flat on a table. Move it between the parts of the room where the light differs most, and view it at different times of day. When comparing several options, begin by narrowing them down, then consider the remaining samples one at a time.

Linlava’s wallpaper samples are made to give you as fair a sense of the finished wallpaper as possible. They are printed at full scale, on the same substantial, matte, textured paper, with the same colours and visual texture as the wallpaper you order. The generous format reveals both the movement of the pattern and the finer detail of the surface, allowing you to judge its scale, colour and character in the room’s own light.

1. Place the wallpaper sample on the wall

Fix the sample vertically, at roughly eye level, on the wall where the wallpaper will be hung. Use a small piece of low-tack painter’s tape on the back, and always test the tape on an inconspicuous part of the wall first.

Let the entire sample lie flat against the wall. If it has curled in transit, place it beneath a few books for a while before putting it up.

Do not assess the sample while it is lying on a table. Light falls across a horizontal surface differently from a vertical wall.

2. Try the sample in different parts of the room

Move the sample between the places where the light changes most. This might be close to the window, on the opposite wall or further into the room.

This is especially important in rooms where daylight enters from only one direction. A sample that appears light near the window may feel considerably deeper further into the room.

When wallpapering a single wall, you only need to test the sample there. If the wall is large enough, place it first where the daylight is strongest, then in a more shaded area.

3. View the sample in daylight and lamplight

Leave the sample in place until you have seen it in daylight, at dusk and with the lights you normally use in the room switched on.

Pay particular attention to how it looks at the time of day when the room is used most. Begin from the position where you will usually see the wall, perhaps from the doorway, sofa, bed or dining table. Then move closer to study the colour and surface.

Do not rely on a phone photograph to judge the colour. A camera may make the image lighter, cooler or warmer. A photograph can help you assess how the sample sits within the room, but the final decision should be made by looking at it in place.

4. Compare each option on its own

Do not leave several samples close together throughout the test. Colours and patterns affect the way we perceive the samples beside them.

It can be useful to put up every option briefly and remove those that immediately feel wrong. Then continue with the two strongest candidates, viewing each one separately in the same position.

Follow the same process for both:

1. Place the first sample in the test area and view it in the lighting conditions you normally have.
2. Replace it with the second sample without changing the position.
3. Compare them at the same times of day and from the same parts of the room.
4. Repeat the process once more if the difference is still difficult to judge.

5. Make the final choice

Once you have viewed the remaining options under comparable conditions, choose the one that works best in the room. It may not be the sample that made the strongest first impression when you opened the envelope.

Check three things before deciding:

• Does the wallpaper work in both daylight and lamplight?
• Does it work in the parts of the room where the light differs most?
• Do you still prefer it when you view it on its own?

When the answer to all three is yes, you are ready to measure the wall.