Dona Adams's quest to find just one more thing to decorate has led her to use wallpaper in unique ways in and around her 129-year-old home. Stair risers, door panels, cutting boards and hatboxes all provide a surface for the subtle accents and highlights that wallpaper can provide. Wallpaper borders, particularly, can be used in many ways and provide added interest inexpensively. When Adams is finished papering a surface, nothing goes to waste. She uses leftover wallpaper to line kitchen shelves and create unusual low-cost wrapping paper from collages of scraps. A wallpaper border topping the gridwork-patterned paper in the kitchen adds interest and helps hide mistakes (figure A). Wallpapered stair risers add a unique accent (figure B). Wooden kitchen cutting boards, wallpapered on one side and painted on the other, block the hot afternoon sun and are easily set aside when no longer needed (figure C). A double wallpaper border adds interest and height in the library (figure D ). Wallpapered door panels in the children's room match the wallpaper used on the walls (figure E). The wallpaper border over the window in the master bedroom reflects the color of the ceiling and mirrors colors in the bedding, tying everything together (figure F). Two wallpaper patterns used in the bathroom are made into one: flowers cut from one pattern are glued onto the other (figure G). In the study a hatbox is wallpapered in the same design as the sliding doors ( figure H). Tip: - You can make a room screen using a set of inexpensive hollow-core bifold closet doors and your choice of wallpaper (it's a good idea not to use too busy a print for this project):
- Remove the hardware and apply a base coat to the doors. Let dry.
- Apply wallpaper, which you have cut and booked, to each door, smoothing it out from the center. Use a wallpaper-smoothing brush and a sponge to get all the wrinkles and bubbles out. Be sure to wrap the paper around the sides of the doors, but don't worry about the top and the bottom -- they won't be seen.
- With a utility knife trim the paper from the edges of the door.
- Reattach the hinges.
- If you wish, you can add a border to the top; or attach gimp, passementerie or another type of trim to the edges.
RESOURCES :
Wall Treatment Expert
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