Deciding to upgrade a section of your home and renew the interior is usually a fun time.
However, it is also a challenging endeavor because it implies choosing one among numerous options, having contractors at home, and quite a bit of mess to clean both during and after the renovations. While many forms of decoration and renovation imply all of this, there are also those smaller, simpler upgrades that you can do mostly or entirely on your own. And this is exactly what is usually the problem because doing it yourself can be a double-edge sword.
Saving money and not opting for expertise and professionalism tends to lead to mistakes, not all of which are easily avoidable. Still, knowing what needs doing and how it should be done is usually enough to prevent bad mistakes no matter the project.
In order to help you tackle one of the ways of decorating the place yourself, in this article we talk about which mistakes to avoid when putting on wallpapers. Wallpapers have been a popular choice for wall decoration for centuries. In the 16th century, the first wallpapers were not even invented for home use. Merchants used them inside the cupboards, only for them to slowly start appearing in smaller rooms and then take over the whole house.
Fast forward to the 21st century and the year 2024, and wallpapers are still one of the dominant ways in which people opt to decorate their rooms and bring some fresh design ideas into the house. Before you decide to put them for the first time or to take the old ones down in favor of a fresh set, you should know what mistakes must be avoided. Read on to find this out.
1. Forgetting Lining Paper
Many home owners who try to put on the wallpapers themselves for the first time find out the hard way that they need lining paper. This is a layer that should be places no matter the color of the wall or the wallpaper that will cover it. If ensures an easier removal once you are bored with your wallpaper or when you want to do something else in the house.
The main reason the lining paper exists though is for the wallpaper to adhere more securely onto the wall and to keep it in place for longer. Sadly, not all instructions come with the mention of lining paper so some unsuspecting DIY enthusiasts have to redo their work and make a lot more mess than necessary. When you want something to completely cover your wall, you will literally need a clean slate, a blank base on which the wallpaper will hang. Sticking paper to paper makes sense and it works, but trying to stick paper to paint may not. When you eventually decide to do everything, you will thank your older self for putting on lining paper over the wall first!
2. Choosing a Bad Design
Just like with wall paint, the paper you choose will surely dominate the room which you want to put it in. There is no going about it. When you enter a room, some of the first things you see include the walls and the biggest objects in there, i.e. the furniture.
Smaller elements come second to them meaning you need to make sure they agree with each other style and sense wise. If you are only changing the wall design and putting on paper while everything remains the same, you cannot mess up the choice. Certain designs and colors of wallpapers can break up or disrupt the look, the feel, and even the comfort of the room. Others elevate these and make the room more exciting, relaxing, and peculiar to spend time in. What we mean by all of this is that you must devote enough time looking for the perfect wallpaper for each room you plan to decorate. Is it just a plain color, something complex with certain geometry to it, or something resembling a texture?
Do you go modern or traditional? What about wallpapers that mimic bricks, murals, tiles, or flowers? If you want floral wallpapers, visit https://www.wallmur.com/wallpaper/floral-wallpaper. It is a difficult choice for sure, and the one you choose either makes or breaks the whole interior.
3. Not Measuring Properly
Almost being finished with the project only to realize that you have not bought enough paper for the entire room is perhaps the worst feeling you can get from this project. This almost exclusively happens when the homeowner fails to properly measure the walls. This then naturally leads to them buying insufficient amount of paper and having to go back to the store multiple times. However, actually buying more is the least of your worries. It has happened many times that by the time the customer returns for more, the whole wallpaper stack has already been sold.
You will definitely not want to be in this situation because your walls will be left looking like a patchwork. Wallpapers do sell out, especially the most popular designs. In addition, like many other home renovation things, they tend to come in finite amount, or batches if you will. Once it runs out, the manufacturer may or may not continue making the exact same model. There could be a slight variation, like thinner lines, slightly bigger patterns, etc. It is definitely enough to be noticeable, which is why you have to measure it right the first time.
4. Buying the Exact Amount
Last but not least, here is a pro tip no matter what kind of work you are doing in your home, especially alone. Always buy a bit more than you will actually use. Once you calculate the amount of wallpaper you need to cover the desired area, add a meter or two to it, maybe even more if you are doing the whole house.
You never know what can go wrong and how much paper you could waste. This way you will always have some spare meters left to ensure every inch of the room gets its wallpaper. Remember that you can do this no matter what. People usually do it with tiles, but for some reason they forget that wallpapers can get bruised, torn, stained, and wet by the time they are ready to go onto the wall.
