Country Wallpaper Border

Primitive Country Decorating - How to Decide Which Wall Treatment Works Best For You


If you're ready to begin your primitive country decorating experience with wall treatments, but aren't sure how to get started, here are some things you ought to know. Knowing more about these 5 high-impact wall treatments is going to help you increase your overall satisfaction and create an area you can't wait to come home to.

Paint - Whether you've decided to paint the majority of the interior of your home or just one room, you need to first decide on the color you want for any particular room. Do you want the simplicity of one solid color or do you want to create a decorative faux finish?

The creative possibilities using paint are endless. For instance you might choose to paint the walls in your room one solid color or you might choose to use only one wall as an accent wall that is of a different color. You also might choose one of a multitude of faux finishes.

Wallpaper and wallpaper border - These days your options for wallpaper and wallpaper border are everywhere. You can go to many local stores to pick up sample catalogs and purchase right from your area. You can also find an unlimited amount of options available to you on the Internet.

With this option you are able to mix and match to your heart's content. You might also choose to paint and then add some wallpaper border. Some people prefer to put the border at the top, near the ceiling and other people choose to put the border at chair rail height or half way down the wall.

Stencils - Many people have chosen to create their own borders and designs with stencils. You can find a multitude of options available to you for stenciling to create the outcome that you wish to achieve.

You can create a personalized border with stencils. You might also find a word phrase that speaks out to you and you might wish to stencil this on your wall.

Wood - Oftentimes when people think about country homes they think of log cabins. While this option may not fit within your budget, it is still possible for you to bring some wood into your décor.

Wainscoting is a beautiful option with an amazing look and feel. You might also choose to use a paneling that looks like wood. Another great option, if you're wishing to add wood to your décor, is your trim. Baseboards and window and door trim can make a huge impact in the overall outcome of your decorating experience.

Paneling - These days the paneling section of your local home improvement store has grown by leaps and bounds. You can easily find the paneling that will fit the design you wish to accomplish.

Paneling now comes in almost any design you could dream of. You can choose from white to wood to floral to paneling made to go in a moist area such as a bathroom.

So, now that you've got a better idea of what wall treatment you'd prefer to use, go ahead and get started. You will be surprised how quickly changing just one room will make a huge impact on your overall decorating plan.

Nursery Wallpaper Borders

Ideas For Decorating the Nursery Walls With Baby Borders

Baby wall borders are no different than any other wallpaper border. Borders in baby themes may include pretty pictures of baby products that would only be interesting to the proud parents of a newborn. Beyond that you might say that border is just plain border, nothing new there at all. That might be the end of the discussion except for the fact that there are so many cute baby borders and it can even be fun to make your own border patterns to use on the nursery walls.

I choose a baby wallpaper border in much the same way as I would pick wallpaper for any decorating project. I take a piece of fabric to the store, I pick border in colors and designs that strike my fancy, I buy my material, paste the border at the desired height on the nursery wall and in very little time, the job is done. This no frills method of applying border to the nursery walls is extremely effective, but it's also pretty repetitive and boring.

I'm often asked whether I prefer pre-pasted wallpaper borders or would I rather decorate nurseries using stenciled designs. The answer to this question depends on how much time I have to complete the project and whether or not I can find suitable border at the store or online. I know that if I buy border, it will save time, but it may add a few dollars to the customer's bill as the purchase of border may be more expensive than if I had stenciled the baby's border. To paint the border using a stencil will take a little more time than hanging wallpaper border, so the amount that my customer saves in material cost evens out in labor fees.

There have been times that I got lucky and found some really fine baby wallpaper border on sale at a super discount. I always made certain that my measurements were exact before buying border from sale bin. It would be horrible to run completely out of wallpaper border and not be able to complete the project because the pattern had been discontinued.

A painted border can be much more interesting than hanging a border in the nursery. Painting my own wall borders is the best method of color matching that I have found. It's a great way to get an exact color match to the rest of the room. While we are discussing ways to get cool results by doing it yourself, you can also make your own stencils that you can reuse time and time again. I have made my own decorative stencil patterns for many nursery decorating projects and the parents loved the fact that their design was an original.

If you'd like to try painting your own nursery wall border but you wonder if you are artistic enough to complete such a project, don't worry! Baby designs are some of the easiest patterns to make. Take some pictures of your baby's foot and hand prints and use them to make your pattern. Once your nursery wall border has been painted and your nursery walls look fabulous, explore more ways that you can use your personalized baby stencils for other nursery decorations and craft projects.

Wallpaper And Border

Wallpaper and Borders - Tricks of the Trade For Decorating Or Accenting a Room Decor With Ease

Putting up wallpaper is a task which very few people enjoy. Aside from the obvious mess, it can take an extraordinary amount of time and preparation. There are a couple of tricks or techniques to avoid a challenging mess. However, before a finger is even lifted to open a roll of wallpaper or border, choosing the pattern, color and theme can take some length of time.

The selections available for the various patterns, t

hemes and colors of wallpaper and wallpaper borders are astounding. Big block home improvement stores almost always have a very limited stock available. The most popular designs are kids' t

hemed or flowery types. Settling for what is in stock is never a good idea. Ask the clerk for a catalogue or other samples. Better yet, visit a shop specializing in wallpaper, paint and home décor. It will be far easier to match up color palettes so that clashing does not occur.

If the home owner is decorating from scratch, it will be much easier to pick the main colors to be used from swatches and coordinate wallpaper with those swatches. Should the walls already have a main paint color or wallpaper applied to the walls, try to find the original piece of wallpaper or paint to create a swatch. Sometimes this just will not be possible. In this case carefully remove a small obscured piece of the existing wall decor, if possible, from the wall to use as a sample.

Once the wallpaper or border has been purchased and the home owner is ready to begin applying the wallpaper, there are a couple of tricks to take advantage of in order to maintain the neatest work area possible. Having a large open surface, such as a countertop or dining room table in or near the room to be decorated, is a must. If none is available, an inexpensive 4' by 4' folding table will serve to set the water trough on used for submerging the wallpaper. Having the trough elevated near waist height will save a good amount of back pain and stiffness later. The worst case scenario is using a bathtub which is clean from any cleaning chemical residue or a wide plank of wood.

A very sturdy foot stool in prime condition will usually be easier to maneuver than even the smallest step ladder. If the room being decorated has cathedral type ceilings the home owner may not have this choice. It is vitally important not to step on the top or the second ladder rung from the top. Over extending one's reach while standing on a foot stool or ladder is also the most common cause for ladder injury. It is almost guaranteed that the individual will fall. DO NOT DO THIS!

It is always recommended to have a helper nearby when hanging full rolls of wallpaper and sometimes borders. Not only will this speed up the process, but will also be easier for the decorator. There is a well kept secret "trick", however, which even many professionals are not yet aware.

There is a specialized tool designed to make applying a wallpaper border quite simple and fast without a second wallpapering or border buddy. The tool allows an individual to spool out the border, with only one hand and temporarily and quickly secure itself to the wall while the user slides the foot stool over to continue spooling the border out. What can easily take two people a couple of hours to apply a border to just one average room; the average person with this tool can do it in perhaps a half-hour

Wallpaper Border

How To Remove Wallpaper Borders

So you bought a new house. You love everything about it except for the ugly wallpaper borders in almost every room. Time to get them off the wall. Removing wallpaper borders is not an easy task, but with a few good tips and some elbow grease, you can get the job done.

The best way to remove the wallpaper border depends on what type of wallpaper was used, what type of surface it was glued on and what type of adhesive was used. One of the easiest things you can try is to use a hair dryer to heat the wallpaper border which may loosen the adhesive enough to let you peel it off.

Usually if the border has been glued to wallpaper, it will come off fairly easy. Slightly mist it down and use a plastic scraper to remove it from the wall. If the wallpaper border has a vinyl covering that won’t let the water or any commercial wallpaper remover soak through, use a perforation tool over the entire surface of the border to allow it to soak in.

If the wallpaper border has been glued directly onto a painted wall, use warm water and some commercially available wallpaper remover and give it plenty of time to soak in before you try to scrap it off.

Steaming also works well for removing wallpaper borders. Steam the entire surface of the wallpaper border. Start from the bottom to the topmost part in sections. If the adhesive is very strong, steam the boarder twice or more until the wallpaper boarder starts to loosen from the wall. Use a plastic or soft metal scraper to avoid damaging the wall. Scrape the border off the wall working from the bottom up. Use warm water and a clean sponge to remove any remaining adhesive from the wall.

Instead of using a commercially available wallpaper stripper, you can also use a mixture of fabric softener and water. Mix 1 capful of fabric softener with 1 quart of water. Pour it in a spray bottle and spray it right on the wallpaper border. For very strong adhesives, you can also use a sponge and soak the boarder with pure fabric softener.

Another “homemade” option is vinegar. Mix water and vinegar and pray it on, or use an old paint roller and roll it right on the wallpaper boarder. The stronger the wallpaper adhesive seems to be, the more vinegar you should use. Use the vinegar option as a last resort, since it will smell pretty strongly for a few days. Wipe the walls down with a damp rag after you removed the wallpaper boarder to get as much of the vinegar as possible off your wall.

Nursery Wallpaper - Eco-Friendly - Why Not Go Green?

For the majority of us humans, the most wonderful exciting time of our lives is when we are expecting or bringing home that new bundle of joy. We want to make everything perfect and that definitely should include the baby's nursery. Since the walls are the foundation of the room why not create the perfect eco-friendly nursery b

y starting with the walls first.

Wallpaper has made a big comeback for wall decor. With its patterns and textures it gives you a vibrant feel rather then just color on the wall. Green wall coverings are better for your baby's health than conventional materials that are widely used. The inks used in eco-friendly production are usually water based containing no heavy metals. Let's face it, who wants their new baby surrounded by nasty chemicals? Inhalation of even the slightest amount of chemicals can make your baby restless and unhappy. A build up of pollutants can interfere with a normal baby's breathing and can exacerbate respiratory function.

Most eco-friendly wallpapers are made from natural renewable sources such as; bamboo, rice papers, flax, cork, arrowroot and recycled paper. There are grass cloths made from honeysuckle vines and there is an organic line made from green tea, coffee and mug root.

You should not stop with the earth friendly wallpaper. You should also use homemade wallpaper paste. It uses only a few ingredients that most of us have on hand all the time. You can find the recipe online and it's easy, inexpensive and best of all healthy for all to breathe.

We are becoming more and more an eco-friendly environment. Because of this trend companies are listening. The green movement is anything but neutral and nursery wall decor is no exception. You can even acquire the wallpaper pattern you choose for the crib bedding and wall art to complete the eco-conscious motif.

Green wallpaper comes in many attractive themes, colors and patterns. You should try to pick a pattern that is stimulating with a soothing theme. For the best scenario you should try to strike a balance between the two. You want to entrance the child, but also make them feel comforted. Vibrant light primary colors with simple shapes like circles, triangles and rectangles will help stimulate your child's imagination. This will give a boost to their development. The sooner the baby feels at home in the room the easier it is for everyone involved in the baby's care. The main care taker must also appreciate the room. Remember if you are happy and relaxed, the same should go for the baby.

You might also want to add wallpaper borders around the doors and windows. Choose a border design or color that matches the wallpaper. When applied correctly this adds flair and enhances the room. It gives the room an additional dimension.

When choosing a theme, try to explore themes that will grow with your child. After having two of my own, I can tell you truthfully that they grow faster then you think. They become small individuals with their own tastes and attitudes. Make this room one that the child can enjoy for years and everyone will win.

The eco-friendly papers that I have come in contact with or purchased are easily maintained and perfect for a child's room. They can be wiped clean with a damp sponge or removed easily with no fuss or bother. Depending on which paper you choose, there is sure to be a good selection that will appeal to everyone's budget.

The most important aspect is to plan everything in advance before making your first purchase. This will ensure that your vision comes to reality. Decide on your colors, then theme and you will be on your way to creating a masterpiece.

I wish to congratulate you for doing right by the environment and especially for that special bundle of joy.

Wallpaper Border

Hanging Wallpaper Border Just Requires Planning

Planning ahead before tackling your wallpaper border will make all the difference. Purchasing the correct amount of border, gathering the tools, and having a helping hand will help you get that professional look you want.

Some of the things you may need are: Measuring Tape, Ladder, Work Table and/or Cutting Board, Bowl or Paint Tray to hold Water, Sponge, Adhesive Paste or Activator, Scissors or Utility Knife, Ruler and a Level, Chalk line or laser, Seam Roller, A Soft Rag, Push Pin and of course your Wallpaper Border.

Step 1
Always remember the saying: "measure twice and cut once." Plan for the amount of paper you will need and allow an extra 2 to 4 feet for pattern matching on each wall. Overestimate your paper needs.

Step 2
If you are planning for the border to be below ceiling height, you will need to measure the distance you want and use a line to indicate where the top of the paper will be. A chalk line may be used or a laser will help keep you at the right height.

Step 3
Start the border in a corner or less visible location where any pattern mismatch will not be too obvious (a corner or behind a door). Roll out the border the length of the wall allowing about 1" extra on both ends (to aid in pattern matching). Mark the paper and using a straight edge cut a very straight line. Remember measure twice and cut once!

Step 4
Depending on the type of paper you have, it is time to prepare the paper for hanging. Pre-Pasted Paper: Roll up the cut length of border glue side out and place in the water with the outside/pattern of the roll in your fingers. Immediately begin slowly unrolling the paper so that it all gets wet. Let it drip a few seconds and then fold it over on itself. Be sure to match the edges. Non-Pasted Paper: Apply paste or activator to the border and gently fold it accordion style for easy handling while hanging. Be careful not to crease the border, as the creases will show afterward. The paper will be easier to hang if it is allowed to rest a few minutes to relax it.

Step 5
With your step ladder in place, begin hanging the border starting at the corner leaving about 1" or less wrapped around the corner. Using a damp sponge smooth out air bubbles as you go. Have someone hold the extra border or use a push pin to hold the paper as you place the border on the wall. You should be able to gently push the border into just the right spot.

Step 6
Hang the second strip of border and carefully match your pattern and seam. Start with about 2" of overlap and cut through both pieces of border using a straight edge as a guide. Carefully peel off the extra material and use a seam roller to smooth out the seam. If you are able to go from corner to corner, look at the pattern of the applied border and find the pattern match on the new roll. Mark and cut with a straight edge so that the pattern matches in the corner.

Step 7
Continue around the room carefully matching the pattern and creating a seamless look. If you need to deal with an inside corner, overlap the first strip by 1 to 2", and use a quality white glue or vinyl-to-vinyl adhesive to prevent the overlap from coming apart as your house shifts over time. Simply wrap the border around outside corners. Overlap the new strip over the old strip as needed in the last corner in order to hide the final seam.

Step 8
Your wallpaper border should be dry in 24 hours. Now sit back and enjoy the fruit of your labor.