Easy-on, easy-off, easy-to-sample wallpaper

One snag with choosing a wallpaper has been testing it out in the room; signing out the huge sample book and holding it up to the wall is awkward at best, and even sample swatches need to be taped up and tend to curl.

York Wallcoverings is offering another method: pre-pasted sample squares that peel off easily.

"The pre-pasted squares are wallpaper's answer to paint chips," says spokeswoman Barbara Carpenter. "In the past, customers have had to buy an entire roll of wallpaper to try it out in their space. Now they can decide which designs work best before purchasing anything. They just take home as many sample squares as they like, dip them in water, apply them to the wall, choose the one they like and peel off the rest."

And it's not just the samples that come off easily. The company's Extreme Room Makeovers Wallpaper Collection uses an adhesive technology called SureStrip, designed to make wallpaper application and removal easier than ever.

Consumers simply wet strips and place them on walls — no shrinking, no stretching and no visible seams. When it's time for a change, the strips peel off in complete sections without damage to walls.

The collection of 140 designs, ranging in price from $17 to $37 per single roll, features realistic looks of distressed plaster, faux marbling, granite and metallics, as well as harlequin patterns and tone-on tone stripes in neutrals and bolder colors.

Sample squares of 80 of the designs began arriving in select paint and wallpaper stores this month.

Carpenter says York Wallcoverings can be ordered through Daly's (3525 Stone Way N., Seattle, 206-633-4200; and 200 105th N.E., Bellevue, 425-454-3093) and Ruf's Interiors & Installation (1025 Regents Blvd., Fircrest, 253-564-0114).

For more information about York Wallcovering products, call 866-967-5925 or visit the company's site at www.yorkwall.com. The Web site also includes tips and animated instructions for wallpaper installation.