Wallpaper can completely transform a room. It can change the look and feel of a room by adding pattern, colour, and texture to walls in ways that paint cannot. Do not be limited by the room size, either, because wallpaper ideas are not limited to large open-plan areas. Smaller rooms can benefit from the use of the right paper. Although papering can look fantastic, it is an expensive task you do not want to get wrong. We spoke with Alex Whitecroft, Head of Design at I Want Wallpaper, to get the best advice for using wallpaper in our homes. In this article, we will educate you on what not to do when choosing a wallpaper, whether it is a world maps wallpaper or any other type of wallpaper for your house.
Some of the mistakes you should avoid are;
- Buy before you try
Although it may seem obvious, how many of us would overlook the process of testing wallpaper before painting? ‘As with paint, it is a good idea to get sample wallpaper options before buying a whole roll,’ says Alex at I Want Wallpaper (opens in new tab). ‘Try out wallpaper samples on the walls you want to decorate to get a sense of the texture and colour in natural light.’ Almost all good retailers provide wallpaper samples for you to try out.
- Consider pattern to be your only option.
Wallpaper does not need to be heavily patterned to be effective. To add colour and texture to any room, you can purchase a simple, pretty plain wallpaper. ‘Plain wallpaper is a great alternative to paint, which can show dirt more easily than wallpaper,’ says Alex.
- Use the incorrect paste
When shopping for wallpaper, it is critical to consider how the paper will adhere to your wall. There are three wallpaper applications: pre-pasted, paste the wall and paste the wallpaper. Pre-pasted paper is coated in a pre-applied paste that only needs to be moistened to activate before hanging (if you want the least amount of hassle, this is probably the option for you). Paste the wall application necessitates brushing paste onto the wall before application. The more traditional method of applying paste to the back of the paper, using a pasting table, is referred to as the paste the wallpaper application.
- Cover the cracks with paper.
Before taking the plunge and decorating, you should know what lies beneath. Alex advises on how to proceed. ‘Use a scraper to test how many layers of paper there are beneath the surface wall covering,’ he suggests. If there are more than two layers, extra time should be allowed to remove any unwanted wall coverings.’It can take hours and lots of elbow grease to remove wallpaper with the old-fashioned score, soak, steam, and scrape’ method,’ he continues. I Want Wallpaper has a secret weapon for removing stubborn wallpaper: fabric softener.
Conclusion
Make sure you avoid the mistakes above so that you make sure you install your wallpaper appropriately.
