Marian Lee Klenk - Wallpapering Step-by-Step

by Marian Lee Klenk

A good quality wallpaper and a few basic skills are all you need to give one room or a whole house a fresh new look. Wallpapering offers one of the easiest, and relatively inexpensive, ways to redecorate. Wallpaper can provide a room with a subtle accent to set off a particularly piece of furniture or woodwork; or it can be the color and design focus of the whole room. Many types of wallcoverings are available today from vinyl and vinyl-coated wallpapers to foils, flocked paper, grass cloth, and burlap, as well as more exotic murals, woodbark, and fabric wallcoverings.

This bulletin covers the basic steps, tools, and techniques needed to hang the most common types of wallpaper: basic vinyl or vinyl-coated paper. Other types of wallcoverings can be costly and should be hung by a professional. If you are a beginner, keep it simple and inexpensive.

Many historians believe wallpaper was first made and used in China, and indeed many of the earliest designs were Chinese scenes. The earliest wallpaper was hand painted and came in different-sized sheets of paper instead of rolls.

The Arabs obtained wallpaper in trade with the Orient and spread its use to the Middle East. Wallpaper eventually worked its way to Europe where it was first used in place of expensive tapestries. The earliest papers used in Europe were hand-painted floral and nature motifs imported from China.

The printing of paper by blocks was first introduced in Spain and Holland during the middle of the 16th century. Again, the paper was made in sheets of various sizes. In the 18th century, the present method of making long rolls of paper was adopted. As a result, wallpaper was no longer used only by royalty and the very elite, but was available to a broader group of people. However, the paper was still expensive, and could only be purchased by the wealthy.

With the coming of the industrial age in the 19th century and the mass production of machine-printed paper, people of more modest means could afford to buy wallpaper. By the middle of the 20th century, high-speed, low-cost production techniques coupled with new materials such as fabrics, plastic laminates and vinyls, and natural materials like cork and grass cloth, brought the greatest variety of wallcovering at a reasonable cost to the average consumer.

Today, wallpaper is used to enhance homes and to express individual tastes. Wallpaper is a master of disguise. It can change the apparent proportions of a room by visually enlarging or minimizing size. Wallpaper can give a sense of style, brighten a dark, gloomy room, or tone-down and bring warmth to a large airy space.

Before you choose a paper, you must first know your own preferences and then figure out how to fit this preference into the needs of the interior of a particular room. Take into account the architectural features of the room (layout, size, and lighting).

In general, light, space, and continuity of the room will determine the color, pattern, and texture of the paper. While you may love small print designs, if you are papering a large room with a nine-foot ceiling, a small print will get lost, look too busy, and not achieve the effect that drew you to the design in the first place. Your favorite color may be overwhelming in a solid-color wallpaper. Find ways to incorporate the color in a complementary print which would bring out the tones of the woodwork or furniture. See what works best in the room and the home, and work with those design ideas along with your personal preferences in choosing your paper.

The focal point will also determine what paper design you choose. The focal point of a room is generally the first wall you see upon entering. However, it can be the wall that contains a decorative architectural feature such as a fireplace or handsome bay window.

Color can emphasize or diminish architectural features, or provide a warm or cool feeling to a room. Cool colors have green or blue undertones; warm colors have red or yellow undertones. Woodwork can be painted the background color of the paper to blend in, or an accent color in the paper to stand out. The colors in a paper may pick up the colors in a favorite rug or provide a warm textured look on the walls with the rug being the main accent in the room.

Decor Rules of Thumb

The larger the room (height and wall space) the bigger the print design.

Dark colors make a room seem smaller and warmer.

Stripes make a room seem higher and larger.

Geometric prints give a greater impression of space.

Miniprints create a sense of space in a small room.

Consider the architectural features of your home.

Large prints cover imperfections in the walls better than small prints.

Consider continuity. If a hallway opens onto your living room, the papers in each room should complement, not clash, with one another.

Textured paper gives heaviness and warmth to a room.

The various types of wallpaper available for purchase range from the machine-printed prepasted vinyl to the hand-printed reproduction antique designs. If you are a novice, it is best to learn on an inexpensive, machine-made, pretrimmed, prepasted vinyl. These papers are easy to apply and will endure more handling than other types of paper.

Most standard wallpaper contains many labor-saving application features. Other paper requires more time and patience. The following represent the most common types of paper applications.

Prepasted Wallpaper which has been coated with a water soluble adhesive. All you need to do is wet the paper to hang it.

Unpasted Paste is applied to the back of the paper with a brush. The type of paper determines what kind of paste you will need.

Scrubbable Vinyl and vinyl-coated papers can be washed with a mild soap. Vinyl papers are usually backed with paper or cloth. Vinyl-coated paper is simply coated with plastic and therefore less resistant to wear and tear. Both, however, are scrubbable to various degrees. Check out a sample piece to test the papers durability when scrubbing.

Pretrimmed/Untrimmed Almost all paper comes in pretrimmed rolls. The selvage (a blank strip along the edge of the paper) has been trimmed at the factory.

Reinforced Backed/Strippable Many wallpapers (particularly the vinyl-backed papers) are strippable. You can remove the wallpaper by stripping the top layer down from the wall. The residue paper can be easily removed with a sponge and warm water.

Wallpaper is made from many different types of material. The following is a list and description of the various types of paper available, as well as possible uses and tips for hanging.