The rich colors and clay coating give this wallpaper a truly luscious , velvety look. But they’re also fragile and can be damaged easily . Here you see damage caused at the factory simply by folding back the last 2″ or so of paper, before rolling it up. The company does provide and extra foot or two to accommodate this. You have to be extremely careful handling this stuff. Even a fingernail or your wallpaper tools can cause scratches or marring . Per the manufacturer’s suggestion, I covered my smoothing brush and plastic smoother with microfiber towels , to minimize chances of scratching the paper . In fact, the manufacturer suggested that, during installation , that you wipe the entire surface uniformly with a damp microfiber rag , to even out any imperfections that might have resulted . Now, just between you and me – if you know you have a product that’s likely to end up with blemished areas, why not just switch to a better , tried-and-true ink ? SMH Luckily project this is a border that will be butted up under the ceiling , so no one’s going to zero in on a few shiny areas in the matt ink. But , think of all the homes that will have this same material as a wall paper , that will be viewed close-up . Not all colorways from Bradbury do this. I’ve hung plenty of it and not had a problem with most. In fact, the “fishnet” area you see at the bottom of this picture is not delicate at all. It’s the very matt finish green and brown colors in the center of the border that are so delicate . The inks and clay coating the manufacturer uses on this particular colorway are very fragile and mar easily , so I’ve used ankle socks to cover the edges of my straightedge, and also a weight I’m using to prevent the paper from rolling around on my table. And that scissors is just there as demonstration for the photo … you can bet that tool was not touching the surface of the border at any other time. This material has a selvedge edge that has to be trimmed off by hand , with a straightedge and razor blade . Normally I set my straightedge on top of the wallpaper , because it’s easier to see where I need to make my cut , and also because the weight of the straightedge helps hold the wallpaper down. But even with cushioning socks on either edge of the 6′ long tool , and with padding on the underside, I was afraid that it might harm the inks . So I placed it on the outside edge of the wallpaper. This left very little for the tool to grab on to, so I made sure to press it tightly against my work table , so the wallpaper strip wouldn’t slip around while I was trimming . The manufacturer is Bradbury & Bradbury . They specialize in historic and period-correct patterns from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Textured wall has been skim-floated smooth , primed , and ready for wallpaper .This pattern is called Smoky Rose and also London Rose . Both are appropriate!Charcoal on an off-white background . Up close, it looks like water color strokes.The wallpaper is by House of Hackney . Most of their wallpapers are the user-friendly non-woven material. This one surprised me being a British pulp. This is a rather old-fashioned basic paper material with no protective coating. It’s brittle when dry and gets soggy when wet with paste, making it tear easily or to drag when the razor blade runs across it. Definitely takes a different approach during installation . I was lucky enough to have hung a pulp just the day before, so was in good practice! Although not resistant to stains and tricky to work with, I do like the matt finish and how the paper dries tight and flat to the wall.
Because I feared unstable walls in this 1920’s bungalow in this neighborhood (do a Search for previous posts), before hanging the decorative wallpaper, first I hung a non-woven liner paper on all the walls. That’s the white material you see in the photo. The liner was hung horizontally so its seams can’t line up with the decorative paper. The idea is to disperse tension from drying wallpaper and changes due to humidity and etc., so as to deflect tension away from sketchy wall surfaces, and thus prevent delamination of multiple unstable layers deep inside the wall. Again, do a Search here to learn more. Finished vanity area, with pattern centered on the light fixture.Corner shot.This colorful and symmetrical pattern is quite popular; I’ve hung it a number of times just this year. Englishman William Morris designed wallpaper and fabrics during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The styles then were Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts. This design reflects a bit of each.Wallpaper expands when it gets wet with paste, and then can shrink just a tad as it dries. The liner helps prevent that, but you can still end up with teeny gaps at some seams. To prevent the white backing from showing through, I run a stripe of dark paint under where each seam will fall.I use matt finish craft paint from the hobby store, diluted with a little water (in the orange bottle cap) and smeared on the wall with a scrap of sponge. Use a ruler or level and a pencil to mark where you want to stripe the dark paint. Remember to allow for that expansion as the paper absorbs moisture from the paste. Meaning, if the paper is 20.5″ wide, and expands 1/2″, you’ll want to run your line at about 21.” And make sure that your painted swath is about an inch wide. I also run a bit of dark chalk along the edges of each strip, to prevent the white substrate from showing at the seams (no photo).Morris & Co. makes this iconic Strawberry Thief. Interestingly enough, most times when I’ve hung a Morris paper, it’s been a non-woven paste-the-wall material. Today’s option was a surprise – a traditional British pulp . This is a pretty basic and somewhat old-fashioned type of substrate . Sort of like construction paper, or the pages of an old family Bible . The paper is very fragile , and can tear easily. You have to keep using new razor / trimming blades, because the material dulls blades quickly, and when dull they will drag and tear the paper. Pulp papers also require a soaking / booking time after pasting , to allow time for the material to absorb the paste , soften a bit, and expand . The edges of the strips like to dry out , so I’ve learned to dip about 1/4″ of the booked ends ( booked means the pasted side of the wallpaper strip is folded onto itself, bottom edge folded up and top edge folded down to meet in the middle), into a bucket of clean water. Then it goes into a black plastic trash bag to soak and relax for a few minutes before hanging. I use this opportunity to paste the next strip. Non-woven wallpapers have advantages, because they do not expand when wet, and therefor you can get accurate measurements. They also can be pasted and hung immediately, with no waiting time. Alternately, you can paste the wall .
This kitchen wallpaper was stained by a water leak. There was enough left over paper to replace the damaged section. BUT – the paper had been stored in a hot Houston attic since the ’70’s – that’s 35 years! It was far too brittle and fragile to work with.
I found that lightly wetting the back with a damp sponge allowed it to relax enough that I could unroll it. I tried my usual wallpaper paste, but once the sample piece dried, there were stains caused by the paste. See third photo.
Then I tried powdered wheat paste, which is for more delicate materials. This did not stain the paper, but it did cause it to become too wet, crack, split, tear, and created crevices where staining would be likely to occur. See last photo.
I am glad I tested methods and products before I ripped off the old wallpaper. We ended up leaving the old paper on the wall, and I used craft paint to cover the worst of the stains. See previous post. This turned out to be the best solution.
These walls are over 12′ high. Even with my 6′ ladder, I couldn’t reach the walls over the bathroom vanity. So I had to get creative.
This isn’t as dangerous as it looks. First, before I actually put any weight on that ladder, I put non-slip padded foam shelf liner under the feet, to prevent slipping and to protect the granite. And, since granite is considered a somewhat fragile stone, and will not support a lot of weight, that is not a concern here, because, a.) I only weigh 100 pounds, and b.) the legs of the ladder distribute my weight to the outside of the vanity top, which is supported by the vanity frame and case (not just the granite).
Nonetheless, it takes care to work like this. I don’t have as much freedom of movement of my arms or my body as I can when I can set the ladder anywhere I want. And, you can’t see it, but, where I removed the light fixture, there is an electrical box with live wires (capped and safe, but, still, kinda scary) very close to where my left arm is moving and jostling.
So, I am mindful of many things: my weight distribution, my movements, my shifting weight, my arms relative to that electrical box, the task I am working on, and lots of other related things, like not dropping any tools from 12′ up, and I forgot to lock the bathroom door so I sure hope that no one decides to come in right now because the door will knock into my ladder and I sure don’t want to take a tumble from this high up! (Another reason why I love to work when I’m alone in the house.)
BTW – tomorrow, I am bringing my 8′ ladder. I just may be able to reach the wall without having to stand on the vanity top.
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