So you’re ready for a fresh look for your home and you’re weighing your options. New furniture and jazzy lighting might invoke some life into the place, but you’re looking for a way to make your home more your own without having to take out a second mortgage on it.
A fresh coat of paint might make the living room pop, but you want something original and painting techniques like color washing, rag rolling, striee glazing, stippling, stenciling and sponging usually require some level of experience and are difficult to master without professional instruction. In addition, even the most professional application of these methods yields limited results. After all, Michelangelo, himself, couldn’t paint a high-resolution photograph-quality airplane and race car on your son’s bedroom walls or a princess on your daughter’s.
So, how do you turn the decorating designs in your head into reality? Enter, wallpaper. As you probably know, wallpaper is a product that allows you to apply decorative images and patterns to the walls of your home.
All of us have at one time or another been witness to some of the gaudy or drab examples of its use. Whether it be your grandmother’s home or your nutty neighbor with dolphins trimming the ceiling of her home, examples of its misuse abound. However, with todays advanced versions and a trained eye, you can utilize wallpaper to give your home an amazing makeover based on a classic antique look, to an original modern look, to everything in between.
So, what’s the most important thing to consider when choosing wallpaper? Aside from the pattern itself, above all, the most important thing to keep in mind is how long the wallpaper will be in place. Why is this important? Well, quite simply if you choose the wrong type of wallpaper, you will have a messy, time-consuming headache on your hands when the time comes to strip it from the walls.
Many types of wallpaper are often put up with sticky adhesives that are hard to remove. In other words, the wallpaper comes off not in large convenient sheets, but tiny tearing strips that must be removed with a moist rag and a metal putty knife. What’s more, some wallpaper adhesives are so sticky, it can be difficult to completely remove them without chipping away chunks of sheet rock from the wall.
So, what type of wallpaper should you choose? Without a doubt, the self-adhesive peelable and strippable wallpapers are your best bet. These products offer you the most selection with the least amount of headache. Unlike traditional types of wallpaper that require you to submerge the paper in warm water for as much as 5 to 15 minutes to activate the adhesive, self-adhesive wallpaper requires only that you peel the backing from the wallpaper and apply it directly to the wall. There’s very little fuss and unlike traditional types of wallpaper, peelable and strippable wallpapers usually come off in large productive strips and can sometimes be cleared from a wall in a matter of minutes. And, if any adhesive is left behind upon removal, it usually comes up with just a little warm soapy water.
When purchasing and applying wallpaper, there are a couple of points you should also consider:
- Although you can apply wallpaper over painted walls, the surface must be smooth. Wallpaper won’t adhere to heavily textured walls, so they must be sanded flat prior to hanging the paper. If the paint is semi or high-gloss, you should first add a quick coat of latex water-based primer. This should make the wallpaper stick and last for a long period of time.
- Remove old wallpaper before applying the new. This is an important step that will make the new wallpaper last longer and look better. Although you can lay new wallpaper over the old, it is generally not a good idea.
The best way to rid yourself of old wallpaper is to dampen the wallpaper with a mixture of vinegar and water. You can either use a moist rag or a spray bottle. Give the moisture time to soak through the paper and loosen the old adhesive. Now, you’re ready for the time-consuming process of removing the existing paper. This exercise should bring home your decision to use self-adhesive peelable and strippable wallpaper for your project. Note that if the old wallpaper is covered with a vinyl coating, the moisture will not soak through. So, before you begin dampening it, you’ll need to score the surface with a box blade or utility knife.
Although it does have certain drawbacks, wallpaper offers many more options than painting alone and if done correctly, it can provide a long-lasting base or accent to your remodeling plans.
If you are considering wallpaper, check out the following links to find specialists in your area:
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