What’s Wrong With This Picture? Unhappy Mix-Up

You are looking down into a paper grocery bag. At the bottom are an assortment of screws, mounting hardware, switch plates, towel bars, escutcheons, and more (some have been pulled out of the bag already).

When I get ready to hang wallpaper, I “undress the room” … meaning, I remove light fixtures, towel bars and toilet paper holders, light switch plates, window treatments, mirrors, etc. I set all the hardware and screws that go with these items near the spot where they will be reinstalled, with all these elements in a certain order, and collated to their respective holes and fasteners and brackets, so it will be simple for me to put everything back in its place, once the paper is up.

But on this job, the wallpaper had to be sent back due to a defect, so it was a couple of weeks before the new paper arrived and I was able to return to finish the job.

In the meantime, the homeowner, understandably, wanted a tidy room, so she picked up these things. And threw them all together into one bag.

Arrrgh!

But not insurmountable. It took a little digging and fitting and futzing, but I was able to sort out what went with what, and I got all the fixtures back in place.

One Very Good Reason NOT to Put Wallpaper on Switch Plates

Digital Image

I don’t like wallpaper on switch plates or outlet covers. I think they look much better nice and crisp and white. I also just hate covering them – it’s tedious and imprecise and leaves lumps at the corners and it eats up my razor blades.

In the few times I have had to cover them, I always give my “lecture” to touch the switch, not the plate. As you can see, someone in this household wasn’t listening, and simply slapped his hand across the whole thing. And, over time, dirt and oil from the skin has stained the wallpaper.

Disguising an Exhaust Fan Cover

I don’t like covering switch plates or outlet covers with wallpaper, nor things like air conditioner grills. They get dirty when hands touch them, no adhesive wants to stick to them, they just look better the way God created them. So don’t tell anyone that I did this….

This exhaust fan was oddly stuck smack in the line of sight, in the wall next to the toilet. (Most are mounted inconspicuously in the ceiling.) It just kept bugging me. Since the family was out of town and I had plenty of peace and quiet and time, I decided to give ‘er a go … I plopped down on the floor and spent a good 45 minutes with a handful of new razor blades and cut out all these tiny vent slits.

It looks good.

I hope it holds up. Wallpaper adhesive is not formulated to stick to plastic. But it’s all I had with me. I did use sandpaper to scuff up the surface of the plastic vent cover, and also used a bit of adhesive caulk – one of my secrete weapons – in a few areas that were reachable (couldn’t get down into the recessed areas). So hopefully there will be some chance for the paste to grab ahold.

The end result was worth the effort. Now you barely notice the exhaust fan.

Why I Carry a Lot of Tools

Digital Image

Digital Image

I like to remove switch plates, towel bars, and light fixtures before papering, so the new wallpaper can go behind them, for a neat, uniform look and no edges to peel up. Many bathroom accessories come off with aid of an allen wrench. In the top photo, my usual allen wrench set is in the back. But it would not turn the nut inside the towel bar – it did not fit.

Good thing I also carry around a set of metric allen wrenches. That is the larger one in the picture, and it did the trick. In the second photo, you see the mounting hardware that is still on the wall. I will use my screwdriver to remove that, so that the new wallpaper will cover the entire wall surface. Then just a few holes for the screws to hold the bracket in place, and there will be very little damage to the appearance of the paper. This will be helpful in case the homeowners decide to change or move accessories later.

Switch Plate Screws on Grasscloth

Some people like to cover switch plates with wallpaper. I much prefer the crisp look of clean plates against the paper. And if covered with wallpaper, they will get dirty quickly, because oil from hands will eventually stain the paper.

So here is a nice clean switch plate doing its job to protect the wallpaper. Usually I place the screws so the slits all point upwards, to line up with the sides of the switch plate. But here, with the horizontal element of the grasscloth, I think it looks better to have the slits also run horizontally. They do line up with the horizontal part of the individual switches.