Here’s the brush I’ve been using for cutting in my wallpaper primer around corners and moldings. It’s called a ” Short Cut .” I love the little stubby handle. But not the stubby bristles! Nor the residue accumulated near the base and within the bristles, which makes the brush stiff. Even though I clean it thoroughly after each use, residue builds up. Me needs me a new one! Here’s the same brush, but this is the one I use for cutting in paste on paste-the-wall wallpapers. Paste washes out better than primer, so this brush looks nearly new, even after more than a year of use. I’d like another one of these, please! My Short Cuts were from Home Depot. I love Home Depot – but Sherwin-Williams is more convenient. Plus, this week they’re having a 35% off sale for contractors. Can’t beat that! My local S-W didn’t have the style I’m so fond of, so I went with this version by the same manufacturer ( Purdy ). It’s similar but has a slightly longer handle. I thought I wasn’t going to like it much, but I used it today and turns out I barely noticed a difference!
Hate the idea of removing old wallpaper? Well, many, many other people do, too. Manufacturers have responded by developing “non-woven” backings.
The best way I can describe these is to compare them to those white Vitek envelopes – you know, the ones you can’t tear? Some of these substrates are pretty thick, which I don’t care for much because they’re hard to manipulate in to tight corners or cut around intricate moldings, plus the seams tend to show. Some are very thin, though, like this brand.
The main attraction of these non-woven materials is that they won’t tear, and when it’s time to redecorate, each strip will (supposedly) pull off the wall easily in one piece.
They also don’t expand when wet with paste, nor shrink, so there are certain advantages during installation.
This manufacturer has gone a step further by making the wallpaper pre-pasted, which is a little easier for the DIY homeowner to hang.
Do NOT confuse these with the trendy but highly disappointing “peel & stick” so-called “removeable” papers. More on that on my page to the right.
This homeowner in the Katy area of west Houston had recently retired, and was looking forward to spending a lot more time with her favorite hobby – sewing.
She chose this strong black and white geometric pattern to be an accent wall backdrop to the work she would be doing in her sewing room.
The wallpaper is by Designer Wallpapers. It is a non-woven material, and I hung it using the paste-the-wall process.
Since I don’t need my bulky pasting table for this job, in the top photo, you see me rolling the material out on the floor.
Most wallpapers can be hung with standard wallpaper pastes. But some papers are more delicate or have special characteristics (silk, vintage, non-woven, prone to curling seams,) and thus call for special pastes.
When certain pastes are used, non-woven wallpapers like this one can display “blushing” or “staining,” which look like wet spots that never dry.
This manufacturer, Rebel Walls, has included a box of paste that is specially formulated to work with non-woven material. It is a powdered potato starch-based paste that is mixed with water on-site, allowed to set up, then mixed again, and then it’s ready to use.
To be honest, I probably wouldn’t use this paste. With the propensity of non-wovens to blush and stain, the less moisture you introduce, the better. So I would opt for a pre-mixed clear paste, such as Roman’s 838 or SureStik 780. But beware – some other types of clear pre-mixed pastes will stain (880, 234) and probably clay pastes will, too.
Just about everything in this townhome is white. The master bath has white walls and woodwork, white cabinets and countertops, a white tub, and a white marble floor with wisps of soft grey.
This wallpaper continues the crisp clean look, but adds some contrast, dimension, and movement. In addition, the swirls are composed of dots about the size of a pencil eraser, and they are slightly raised, so the wallpaper actually has a bit of texture to it.
The wallpaper is on a non-woven substrate. With the characteristics of this material, you have the option of pasting the wall instead of the paper. But since bathrooms have more complicated spaces and access, it’s preferable to me to paste the paper.
This wallpaper pattern is by Designer Wallpapers, and was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. She is great at helping you find just the perfect paper! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.
The home is in the Rice Village / West University Place area of Houston.
In the first photo, you are looking into a 2-room bathroom, through the sink room into the tub / potty room. The homeowner has chosen two coordinating wallpapers.
The floral went in the outer, sink room, because it had the largest mass of wall space, which would allow the large flower-and-basket pattern to play out.
The smaller, more chopped-up tub room was better suited to the smaller scale of the trellis pattern.
The patterns coordinate nicely, because they both incorporate the same colors, as well as share a classic design theme.
These papers are by Waverly, which is by York, and are in the Sure Strip line, which I like a lot. They were nice to work with, and will hold up nicely in these rooms.
These wallpaper patterns were bought at below retail price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. She is great at helping you find just the perfect paper! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.
Right next to the bedroom of my previous post is this hall bath. The homeowner chose a wallpaper with a pattern and color that compliment not just the tile and granite countertop in the bathroom, but also coordinates with the paper in the bedroom.
The paper was equally nice to work with. In addition, because it is paper (and not vinyl), it will stay nice and flat even if this bathroom sees bouts of humidity. It, like most papers, is not particularly stain-resistant. But the homeowners have already received my care “lecture,” and I’m sure they will keep fingers and glass cleaners and air fresheners away from the wallpaper.
This wallpaper pattern is by Designer Wallpapers, and was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. She is great at helping you find just the perfect paper! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.
Non-woven wallpapers are getting more and more common, and they have many advantages. Some of them, though, are what I describe as thick and spongy, and they can present some challenges when installing.
For instance, this paper is so thick that it does not like to be pushed tightly against a corner, ceiling, or molding. Well, you have to push it tight against the edge before you trim, so you get a cut that is all the way up to the molding, with no gaps.
Unfortunately, this particular material will crease very easily when manipulated into these areas. Look at the top of the photo, right under the wooden ledge. Trying to work around more complicated elements (pedestal sink, intricate crown molding, narrow area, etc.) can cause more creasing.
Not all non-wovens do this, but I have found that those by Cole & Son are likely to be problematic.
(Don’t pay attention to the slight pattern mis-match … These strips were placed under a counter where they are mostly hidden. I intentionally raised the pattern on one strip in order to keep a particular design motif at the right height where it hit the baseboard.)
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