Why aren't more people using wallpapers instead of painting their walls?

Sorry, but I just have an ingrained, perhaps instinctual, dislike of wall paoper. 

It's too much work for the do it yourselfer.

I hate wallpaper! The repetitive pattern drives me crazy. And it is rare you can find that the job was done where the isn't a problem with the seams. They either peel or they don't line up. The last time I bought a house that had it, when I went to have it removed, they wallpapered directly to the drywall. No primer. It took three two days to remove it from the walls of a bathroom, another day to skim coat all the walls and then another day to prime and paint. If it was painted I could have changed the color by painting in half a day. And the cost would have been a fraction of what it was.

I'd end up with more wallpaper on me than on the wall! No thanks!

Have you ever removed wallpaper from a room ? My ex-wife wallpapered all over in the house and when it started looking bad? It took a couple of weeks to remove it and prep for painting. Wallpaper looks nice in a perfect world but if you have kids around ? It's better just to paint the walls as needed.

Too many variables to getting wallpaper correct.

• Priming the walls to receive the adhesive and ensure smooth surface
• saturation for the correct amount of adhesion release
• lining up the any patterns and the cost of waste associated
• having the seams come completely together with enough adhesion and cutting to fit at ceiling level
• Shrinkage that effects both initial cuts at ceiling and all seams.

Compare to painting:

• quick surface prep with spackling and sanding
• Coat of primer
• Coat or two of paint

Painting can become a longer task if you want to try and Faux finishes, but still better then wallpaper hands down.