The kiss of death

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Source: BobinOz

That’s exactly what I am. If I like something, it’s a goner. There are little spy sensors hovering around me that detect any fondness for a product. I have to act like I don’t like something or it will be discontinued. Pronto. Usually after I have invested in it but can’t get more. It happens to hair products, underwear styles, fabrics and wallpaper. A fabric I bought last summer was discontinued two weeks after I bought it. I had to scour the internet to secure another few yards.

I like wallpaper. No, not the teapots of the 60s but the cool new prints and textures available today. That’s IF you can find a place that handles it.

It is risky to buy wallpaper on the internet unless you’ve seen it. I’ve ordered samples on-line and it’s completely different from the internet rendering on my computer. Vastly different. Part of a paper’s charm is the texture and you can’t tell this without feeling it or seeing how it catches the light.

Our local wonderful paint and wallpaper store discontinued the wallpaper section several years ago. The big box stores sell it but do not have books to look at. For the last year I have been in search of the perfect wallpaper. It’s my version of the holy grail.

Someone gave me a lead. Yesterday I went and they had the books. Not a lot like in the old days but that’s ok. Hundreds of books are overwhelming.

I spent some time with samples of my fabrics and paints and took home four books. (Yikes! I forgot how heavy wallpaper books are!) Everything looks different in my house but I expected that. I have a winner (sort of). I went on-line to check out availability and prices. The book I have was discontinued in December. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the pattern is. More searching. I’m not sure. I’m looking at a neutral texture. At least one of the color versions has been discontinued. Tomorrow I will go to the store and have them contact the supplier.

I’m a little worried as the manufacturer’s website has it discounted. They do that to get rid of a line. Boogers. Fingers crossed that history doesn’t repeat itself. If they have it, I know to get extra as I won’t be able to get it ever again. The cycle will go on!

49 thoughts on “The kiss of death”

  1. This brought back memories of those heavy wallpaper books and lugging them home after spending hours at the store flipping thru wallpaper books. This house is totally wallpapered except for the hall and I’m happy it is holding out as I’m not in any hurry to change it or remove and rehang the 101 different knick knacks on the wall, especially in this country kitchen.

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  3. I hope you’re able to find however much you need.I remember searching the fabric store but I’ve never had a big wallpaper search. May you find the best and most dedicated employee help you find the last roll you need.

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    • I did ok. Went back yesterday and the stock for my favorites is good. I had a young guy both times (although they were different guys) and they were pretty knowledgeable. Of course they looked like they were in high school but that’s more my filter than theirs. Are people looking younger these days?

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  5. I think you must be a trend setter, and you never thought about it that way before, did you! LOL! You start a thought and others hop on board for the same. I can sure remember along with you the stores devoted entirely to paint and wallpaper, and the fun of looking through all those books, often in a showroom! I’m agreeing with you–buy plenty!

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  6. I know what you mean. A few years ago I owned the PERFECT pair of hiking boots. Everything about them was ideal. I wore them until they could be worn no more. When I went to buy another pair exactly the same, you got it, discontinued. I was stymied why they would make a change for no reason other than making a change. The “better” versions were not better!

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    • For certain things, like jeans, if I find something I like, I’ll go back and buy a few more pair. LL Bean made a knit jean a few years back. They carried them for about 3 years and discontinued them. I had bought 5 pair and still wear them. I don’t know why they discontinued. They were sturdy (not typical knit style) and very comfortable.

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  7. I hope you find your wallpaper. So many things discontinued when Covid showed up. I had a vanilla flavored rice milk I used on my cereal and it just started missing and now I can’t find it at all. Same thing with our toothpasie. I guess the loss of good products is another thing to adjust to.

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    • I have a love/hate relationship with internet buying. Usually you can find what you want (stores just aren’t carrying inventory anymore) and delivery is quick but if it’s something you are not familiar with it’s a crap shoot. I wanted black cooking utensils (the non-stick type) for my new kitchen. I bought two pieces I couldn’t find locally. They looked fine on the internet. They were 10 inches long. How can you cook with that! Obviously I didn’t read the dimensions and you couldn’t tell by the picture.

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    • I have the food item issues too. Recently I looked high and low for a favorite brand. It turns out they completely changed the label. Totally different look so it blended in a sea of cans. That was annoying.

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  13. Hi, Kate – I understand completely. The same thing happens to Richard. If he likes something that is consumable, we have to make it look like he doesn’t. Otherwise it quickly vanishes into mid-air.
    Good luck with the new wallpaper. It truly should be much easier than this! 😀

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  14. Whenever I find a makeup product I like, it’s gone when I go to replace it. I loved Elizabeth Arden’s undereye concealer stick to cover my racoon circles, went back to get another tube – D/C. Replaced with some watery wand that doesn’t do half the job and costs twice as much. Same with Neutrogenia Shampoo – it’s a once a week stripping shampoo to get all the product out – D/C after using it for years. I googled online, people are upset. For god’s sake manufacturers, if a product sells, keep selling it! I still have wallpaper in my old house – a small pale yellow/beige print in the foyer and a rose colored floral in my writing room. I’m like it and am glad it’s back in style again. It makes my house look like a B&B…..very 80’s and welcoming.

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  15. I am all for you messing around with wallpaper but as for me and my family our walls will continue to remain paper-free. I stripped my last bunch of wallpaper, then had new hung, in our last house. Too much work, even if the result is delightful.

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  16. I hope they have it for you, but I understand. I must admit I gave up on wallpaper, even an accent wall, after the last time I had to strip some. 🙂 I drove a considerable distance this morning to a fabric store looking for a quilt backing. No such luck – nada. I think almost everything is geared to the ‘working’ folks and definitely not the ‘retired’ folks, and it’s suppose to last two years and then you are expected to buy new. Phones are a perfect example. You pay that monthly premium, hit the two year mark when it is finally paid, and then it starts with little quirks that drive you nuts.

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  17. Things come and go much too quickly these days. Along with the fact that so much is not made to last long, it is clear that the system is rigged to keep us buying new stuff endlessly. Ugh. We have a very old furnace in our house, at least 30 years old and still going strong. It will quit one day certainly, but it is evidence of things made to last in days gone by.

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    • The heat pump we replaced when we moved here was 12 years old which we were told was about the lifetime of one. We replaced with a version guaranteed to last 20 years. I don’t like replacing heating systems. You can’t see them and they aren’t pretty! 🙂

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  18. This happens to me with shoes, pants with pockets, and TV Shows. I won’t even start watching a show unless it’s got 2 seasons or already wildly popular. Good luck with the wallpaper. We did our bathroom once and I am never doing that again. Paint only, please.

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    • I can shutter a restaurant easy peasy. All I have to do is “like it.” We have a local pizza place that also made exquisite Italian entrees. The place inside was basic with a few tables and chairs but had the food of a fine restaurant. We always got it to go and it gave us more than one meal. We called about 2 weeks ago. They ditched the “fancy” menu. Now in addition to pizzas and subs they make the basic Italian spaghetti and chicken parm. Boogers.

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  21. There’s nothing more frustrating than loving something enough to invest in it only to learn it’s been discontinued when you only need a foot or two to finish your job (and why is it a given that only the truly expensive samples will be discontinued?). I gave up on wallpaper years ago for that reason. Now I’m just disappointed by the latest shade of white I bought a 5-gal. container of, only to realize I hate that shade, even after painting squares of it around the room to see how it’d look during various hours of daylight. 😉 Good luck; I hope your supplier can obtain ernough for you.

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