Samples
The cheapest way to avoid an expensive mistake.
A screen cannot tell you what a paper feels like, how it catches light, or whether that grey reads warm or cold on your wall. A sample can, for the price of a coffee.
How to use one properly
- Tape it to the actual wall, not a table. Colour changes completely against a different background.
- Look at it in daylight, in the evening, and under whatever lamp you actually use. North-facing rooms pull everything cooler.
- Leave it up for a couple of days. First impressions of a pattern are unreliable — what matters is whether you still like it on day three.
- Hold it next to your flooring, curtains and any large furniture that is staying.
Scale is the thing samples cannot show
A sample shows colour and texture honestly, but it cannot show you how big the motif reads across a whole wall. That is what the room visualiser is for — it renders the pattern at its true size on a photo of your room. Use both: the visualiser for scale, the sample for colour.
Ordering
Open the paper you are weighing and press Order a sample under the price: it asks for your name, email and where to post it, and the sample goes out within two business days. Most samples are free; where one has a price, the page says so. Not sure which paper yet? Browse the shelf, search by picture, or describe the room in the search box and let the assistant narrow it down.