Want to redecorate but don’t have the budget? Think you’ve found a quick and cheap solution? If it features the word ‘seconds’ beware…

Permit us a momentary boast: here at Wallpaper Central we don’t do seconds. We do value. We do quality. We do clearance lines and special offers and we work darned hard help you make your home look better for less. But we don’t do seconds. Because we don’t think you’d thank us if we did.

We do stock clearance wallpapers. As we mention elsewhere on these pages, clearance and end of line stock is wallpaper that is in perfect condition, but reaching the end of its print run. Wallpaper manufacturers regularly refresh the wallpapers they produce to keep pace with changing tastes and fashions. To make room for the new ranges they stop producing older ones.

There’s nothing wrong with a clearance line other than you’d best buy enough for the job first time around. Otherwise your underestimation might leave you with a bare patch on your wall.

Seconds are different. Wallpaper seconds are the equivalent of those loose-bagged, misshapen chocolates you can buy in outlet villages. Like the chocolates, they’re not much to look at. Unlike the chocolates, they don’t taste good either.

The problem with wallpaper seconds is that the quality isn’t there. It is, of course, why they’re seconds. So yes, they’re cheap. But for your money you’ll also get ragged edges, inconsistent design print and no proper batch control.

That means that putting the paper on the wall could prove much harder than it should be, and achieving the perfect finish could be all but impossible.

And once done, a seconds wallpaper can leave you with plenty of unpleasant surprises. Is the design in the far corner of the room a slightly different shade to the one here? Does that motif look a bit blurry to you? How come the pattern’s straight here, but wonky over there?

There are plenty of ways you can redecorate for less (see our post ‘Times of austerity’ for more). But you don’t have to opt for a lesser result.