Caulking Edge of Vanity to Prevent Wallpaper Curling

This powder room is in a home with two little kids , so you can expect splashing as people wash their hands , reach for the faucet handle, or grab a hand towel . Although Mom swears that the little ones are banned from this newly- decorated room ! But even adults can get water onto the walls.
If drops of water get onto the backsplash, they can accumulate along the edge where the wallpaper meets the marble . It’s possible that water can wick up under the cut edge of the wallpaper . This can cause the paper to expand and then push away from the wall , resulting in a curled edge.
To prevent this, I like to take clear caulk and run it along the back of the backsplash , where it meets the wallpaper . This is the white line you see. As the caulk dries , it will turn clear , and be invisible . The dried caulk is water-resistant and will seal that edge quite nicely.
I like water-based caulks, because they’re easy to use and easy to clean up. But it’s important to get one that’s non-yellowing . A whole lot of them look good when applied, but in a year or two have yellowed and look kinda disappointing, for lack of a stronger word. Sorry – I didn’t get a photo of the brand I’m currently using. After application , I do usually take a wet finger and run it along the caulk to smooth it into place.
Painters who are better with caulk than I are bold enough to use white or other colors of caulk. I like the forgiveness of the clear .
This wallpaper pattern is called Brooklyn Toile and is by Flavor Paper . I like their EZ Papes pre-pasted option – not so much their vinyl or peel & stick .

Preventing a Stain from Bleeding Through

See that oval ring on the paint? That’s from someone lying on the bed and letting his head rest against the wall. Don’t know whether he used hair tonic or not, but even a clean head of hair will contain oils, and those oils will wick into the paint and cause a stain.

The bad thing about this and wallpaper is that certain substances will bleed through wallpaper, staining the surface. Oil and grease are sure contenders.

To prevent this bleed-through, I painted over the stained area with a stain blocker. My favorite is KILZ Original Oil Based. It stinks to high Heaven and breathing too much will make you high, but it is outstanding at sealing all sorts of nasty substances.

Wallpaper paste will not stick to this, so, once it’s dry, roll your usual wallpaper primer over it.

Blessed Help From The Plumber Makes For A Better Wallpaper Outcome

This powder room in a contemporary-styled home has wall-mounted handles and faucet that protruded from the wall several inches.

When I first visited the home for an initial consultation, I explained that making “relief cuts” in the wallpaper in order to work around these fixtures would result in lots of slits in the wallpaper … which could be visible, and which also would potentially provide openings that could allow splashed water to wick in behind the wallpaper and cause it to come away from the wall.

The homeowners arranged to have a plumber come in and remove the fixtures.

This allowed me to hang the paper much more easily, and saved me about an hour. But most important, it eliminated all the cuts and slits, and the potential problems mentioned above.

I kept the holes as tight to the plumbing stems as possible, to eliminate any gaps between the wallpaper and the fixtures. When the plumber comes back to reinstall the handles and faucet, if need be, he can easily take a scissors or blade and enlarge the holes a bit.