Here is something most people never learn until it trips them up. Wallpaper is printed in batches, and no two batches are ever quite identical. Each run carries a batch number, sometimes called a dye lot, and the colour can shift by a shade or two from one run to the next, the inevitable result of fresh ink and a new print run in a process that is far more craft than most of us realise. Hang two rolls from different batches side by side and, in an unforgiving light, you may just catch the join.
This is the single most useful thing to know before you buy any wallpaper at all. Always order enough from one batch to finish the job, with a spare roll for good measure, and note the batch number somewhere safe. It is the mismatched reorder, the two rolls bought six months later to finish a wall, that causes most wallpaper regret.
"No two batches of wallpaper are ever quite identical, which is exactly why the batch number matters."
So what is a wallpaper remnant?
A wallpaper remnant is simply an odd roll: an offcut, a surplus roll, or the last few rolls left of a particular batch. In our case they are often designer rolls that have come back to us and, under the terms we hold with the mills, cannot travel back up the line. Rather than let perfectly good wallpaper gather dust, we give it a home in the Remnant Room, listed individually and by batch, usually for around forty per cent less than it cost first time round.
The appeal is twofold. For anyone who loves a designer name rather more than the designer price, a remnant is the thrifty way in: the same paper, the same quality, a good deal less money. And for anyone trying to match an existing wall, buying by the batch is not a compromise but a genuine stroke of luck, because every so often the exact batch you need to finish a room is sitting right there waiting for you.
"A remnant is designer wallpaper at a thrifty price, with the bonus that you can buy the exact batch you need."
Flower Meadow Spring White, V&A Decorative Papers II by 1838 Wallcoverings (Remnant Room)
Floral Mist Emerald by Eijffinger (Remnant Room)
Raya, Silk Fern by Romo (Remnant Room)
What to do with a few odd rolls
The one catch of a remnant is that there is only ever so much of it, which is precisely what makes it so well suited to the smaller, braver gesture. A few rolls are all you need for the projects that give a house its character: a downstairs cloakroom papered top to toe, a hallway or stairwell given a little drama, a chimney breast turned into a proper feature, the back of a bookcase or the inside of a wardrobe lined for a private flourish. Odd rolls make wonderful lampshades, drawer liners and framed panels too, and a single roll of something glorious is often plenty for a child's alcove or a cloakroom ceiling.
Sefina, Floris by Romo (Remnant Room)
Florian, Borosan Hem by Boråstapeter (Remnant Room)
Buzzed Off, Yuval Zommer Picturebook by Villa Nova (Remnant Room)
Delilah, Temperley London x Romo (Remnant Room)
Mikado, Floris by Romo (Remnant Room)
Lune, Zafaro by Black Edition (Remnant Room)
A few things are worth keeping in mind when you shop remnants:
Measure before you fall in love. Work out how many rolls your project needs, then match it to what is available. Remnant stock is finite, so the number of rolls, not just the design, decides what is possible.
Buy the whole lot in one go. Because these are single batches, order every roll you need in one purchase. There is no reordering the same batch later, which is rather the whole point.
Order a sample from the original. Most remnants link back to the full-price product page, where you can request a sample and see the paper in your own light before committing.
Think small and bold. An odd roll is made for a feature wall, a cloakroom or a hallway rather than a whole open-plan room. Let the limited quantity steer you towards the high-impact spot.
Inaya, Zafaro by Black Edition (Remnant Room)
Lyra, Etsu by Romo (Remnant Room)
Floris by Romo (Remnant Room)
Mind the repeat on a feature wall. For a single statement wall, check the pattern repeat so your rolls line up neatly; a large repeat can use more paper than you would expect.
Move quickly on the ones you love. When there are three rolls of something left in the world and they are on this page, they tend not to linger.
There is a quiet pleasure in all of this that goes well beyond the saving. A remnant is a small act of good housekeeping, a lovely roll of paper kept out of a skip and put to work on a wall where it belongs. Designer quality, a gentler price and nothing wasted: as decorating decisions go, the odd roll is a rather satisfying one. The Remnant Room is where to find ours, and the best of them are never around for long.
