Q: I want to know how to make it look like my walls are covered with leather. It’s a technique I want to try in the study of my home. Can you help me out?
A: Believe it or not, you can create the look of leather by using tissue paper. It’s a rich, luxurious look, but there’s also an added benefit: the tissue paper hides any minor defects in your walls....
Here, we demonstrate the steps of this technique as we apply it to the dining room walls at the DIY and Habitat for Humanity project house. Before starting, two of the walls are brown and the other two are green -- so there's definitely room for a dramatic improvement! In our case, the Habitat volunteers have already done the first steps of the project a couple days in advance: they've taped off the room and applied a coat of oil-based primer. Though you can see some green still peeking through the primer in a few places, that’s OK; the tissue paper and paint we’ll add will cover up the bleed-through. Note: Depending on the sheen of the walls, it's often helpful to treat them with wallpaper sizing, which will help in the removal of tissue later on and will also give you more working time while applying the tissue). - Once the prep work is done, the first step is to crumble tissue paper into tight balls. To figure the amount of tissue needed for a certain room, keep in mind that one standard sheet will cover about 5 square feet of wall space. So, to figure the required amount, first determine the square footage of your walls, then divide by 5. (Packs of 1,000-count tissue paper sheets can be purchased from paper supply dealers for less than $50.)
- Affix tissue to the wall, using either wallpaper paste or heavy-duty clear paste. In applying the paste to the wall, it's generally best to work in an area that's a little larger than two sheets of tissue paper. Start at the ceiling and unflold the tissue. Hold by the top two corners so it slightly overlaps onto the ceiling (or trim). Then tack it lightly into the paste. Pull down carefully and touch the bottom two edges to the wall so that it’s fairly straight. Smooth out the tissue with your hand, a brush or a roller. Be careful not to rip the paper; if you do, carefully peel off the sheet and replace. Don’t smooth out the crease in the sheet; and to create more creases, push the tissue paper upward toward the top from the bottom edge.
- To join pieces? apply more paste to the wall and on about an inch of the tissue paper on the wall.
- Put the tissue on as before? make sure it overlaps the pieces already on the wall by an inch or so.
- Continue working around the room. In an area where you don’t need a full sheet, fold the paper to size and slightly wet the crease, it will tear very easily. In corners, it’s best to put a straight edge of tissue down each side? butting them together in the corner.
- If there's an area of tissue that doesn't , cut it out, apply a little paste and patch it with new tissue.
- Now you’ll need to let the tissue dry for at least 24 hours, then come back to paint.
- Roll a base coat over top of the tissue. Use latex paint with an eggshell finish. And paint just as you would any wall. Make sure the paint goes under any loose tissue flaps. Let dry for two hours.
- Now add a glaze coat: mix two-thirds glaze with one-third paint. Roll the glaze on in sections.
- Wad up a clean cotton cloth and partially rub off the glaze? push it in and around the creases, working your way around the room.
The finished look is beautiful -- and if done properly, the tissue will remain in place on the wall exactly as it's applied, without peeling. Pictures can be hung on it and the surface can be cleaned in the same manner as a regular wall.
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