The Craft Studio- Wall Work

As I have said, we are remodelling what will be my Studio.  It is a work in progress, and I had done the light a while back.  It makes complete sense to recreate a light months before you can hang it, right? Better to be prepared than to be in the dark, in my opinion!

The room used to just be plain white plaster with offwhite/cream trim. 

I bought the wallpaper on amazon.  There apparently is no wallpaper in any store near me, and I was about 12 shades of annoyed.  So I looked on amazon for a damask wallpaper, and found this guy!

The walls are Anonymous grey in Behr paint.  I love Behr.  It is really thick and it covers well.

We put the first coat of white on the baseboard, and I will probably put a second one some time.

As per my mom, who has used wallpaper before quite a few times, to newbies the secret is measuring and cutting straight lines.  We used a tub of warm water because none of the stores that I went to had a wallpaper tray.  But why would you even buy one when you can use a tub? Everyone has tubs!

You will want to get a wallpaper brush though, that thing came in really handy.  If you absolutely do not want to scuff up your paper (it is rare that it happened on mine but there were a few spots) you might be able to use a paint roller and get all the air bubbles out.  You would just have to try it. 

As some of you may have already noted, I did technically put the pattern sideways around the room.  I did this for multiple reasons:

• I would have had to waste about a third of a roll to get my pattern edges to match up.  Unacceptable.
• I cannot stand pattern edges not matching up.  I am looking at you, Project Runway designers.
• By going sideways, I had a perfect straight edge to butt up against the chair rail.
• By taking this pattern sideways, it draws your eye around the room, instead of being a short choppy up and down print. For a room that is about 8x8, it is PERFECT! It makes the room look much bigger.

I wanted to do a bit of a reverse in that the darker shades are on top and the wallpaper is lighter on bottom. If you want to do this in your own room, consider what paper you buy.  Smaller prints may be easier to match up, or may not be noticeable if it is not spliced perfectly.  A solid color or textured paper may not require splicing.  Also, consider measuring from the baseboard to chair rail and buying a paper with a very similar width.  The less you cut, the better.

We worked on it by cutting sections, most about 2 ft or less, and soaking them.  Next, we butted the paper right up against the chair rail, lined up the pattern just so, and used the brush to smooth it down.  You have to DRENCH prepasted paper.  Don't skimp out on it. I will probably end up using glue and reattaching some corners of a few sheets, don't worry if it does not end up perfect, you can always fix it.  ESPECIALLY if it will be your craft studio.  Heck, I will just mod podge it down if need be.

So, to recap:

• You will have a hard time finding something perfect in stores unless you want textured paintable paper.  Some stores do have ordering options.  Amazon, like usual, has everything.
• You will make sure the paper is prepasted.
• You will want to buy a brush.  A tray is optional, and tubs are very functional.  Especially under the bed tubs.
• The less you have to cut the better, but be able to cut it as straight as you can.  Get a long ruler, a pen, an EXCELLENT utility knife to trim up, and scissors.  Don't buy the cheapo knives they are awful.
• Start out slow, you will get the hang of it in no time.
• Don't give up! I was really bummed thinking my paper would not work with the small section, but the simple solution of turning it sideways made all the difference AND worked better for my room.
• Really put a lot of thought into your print.

Enjoy!