Christmas catcus

Now that Halloween and bonfire night have passed, I thought I'd show you my Christmas catcus which is flowering it's head off.
Another very wet day it was again today, so shopping it was. I then decided to tackle some wallpapering on my return, just one wall on the fireplace is being done, can someone please tell me why I chose checks. It's rather hard getting it straight, still not convinced it is , but the finished result will tell.