New Year’s Home Staging – Wallpaper is Hot Again – Are You Ready for It?
After we have all spent years steaming the stuff off in favour of a nice, easy coat of paint it may be time to fetch out the ladder again as wallpaper is making a comeback in the world of interior design and in a big way. But is it something that should be considered for inclusion in your New Year’s home staging plans?
The real key to a successful transition from painted wall to gorgeously papered wall is taking the time to explore lots of options and pick just the right look. Get it wrong and you’ll be back to square one – steaming and scraping. Get it right though and you can completely transform the look and feel of an interior space in a day or so and help add a ton of visual appeal to potential 2017 home buyers.
Wallpaper Considerations – The Size of the Space
What most small rooms cannot really handle is a wallpaper pattern are very large prints on all four walls. A single feature wall in a bold pattern surrounded by lighter colours on the other hand can be very effective.
If you are decorating a larger room look for wallpaper prints that are sized to match. Smaller prints will get lost in the bigger space and they simply will not be as effective.
Wallpaper Considerations – Walls to Be Covered
That is not something every room has. If that is the case in your space then wallpaper all four walls with a classic print, like this horizontal stripe for a bathroom that is a bit of a modern twist on an old favorite but is still unlikely to date quickly.
Wallpaper Considerations – What Vibe are You Going For?
Wallpaper Considerations – Buying Tips
The one thing you should never do is buy up rolls and rolls of wallpaper the very first time you see a pattern, however much you love it. Instead gather some samples, bring them home and pin them on the wall. The light in your space may be very different to that in the local home store and may mean that what looked great at the store is not so spectacular in your home.
Once you have decided on just the right paper you need to determine just how much you will need to buy. Here is a quick guide to measuring for wallpaper the right way:
1. Measure each of the walls in the room and then multiply the width by the height of each wall (in feet) 2. Adding all of these measurements together will give you a figure that is equal to the total square footage 3. Measure doors and windows and deduct their dimensions from your total. 4. Back at the store check the label on the roll of wallpaper you are considering to see how large a square foot coverage the roll gives. Usually it is best if the roll coverage is more than the total wall square footage 5. Buy one more roll than you really think you need. accidents happen and you can always return the unused roll if you never need to touch it.
Wallpaper Considerations – Are You Really Up to the Job?
Even though most modern wallpapers are self pasting hanging them is still tricky, especially if the pattern is rather complicated. Unless you are really confident in your DIY abilities it may be a better idea to hire a contractor to help you instead.