Wallpaper Rehash

Back in August and September, I wrote on 4 occasions about the trials and tribulations related to the wallpaper for the kitchen of our new home.  You would think I had said everything there was to say about wallpaper.  Oh, how I wish!


The home we recently vacated is almost emptied out and cleaned up.  The real estate agent plans an Open House for this coming weekend, and I decided that two of the rooms in the house really could use some fresh paint and paper in order for the house to look its best.  I certainly was not going to go through all the hassles of ordering paper as described in the earlier posts, so I went to a different store that has loads of wall-coverings in stock.


Last week I hired someone to strip off old paper.  Then I caulked and spackled and sanded and scrubbed and primed.  I painted the ceilings and woodwork.  This week on Monday, I papered the room that had been my den.  Today I arrived at the house by 9 AM to paper the master bathroom.


When I purchased the paper, the owner of the store told me that it was a really nice paper...it went on the walls easily and was great to work with.  But, I hadn't noticed that it was not prepasted paper.  So this morning when I opened a roll in order to see the directions, I realized I needed paste.  The directions said to ask the wallpaper supplier for the correct paste.  I drove back to the store and asked the clerk.  She gave me the appropriate paste, or so she thought.


The directions said to roll the paste on the wall with a paint roller.  This did not intimidate me, because about 15 years ago, I learned this technique from a professional.  It had worked so well, that I was looking forward to speedy progress.  I got myself all set up and began the task.  Forty-five minutes later, I was putting the first length of paper on the wall for the fourth time.  I just could not get the paper to lay smoothly and stick tightly around the edges.


Although not satisfied, I thought I would see if I did any better on the second piece.  The repeat on the pattern was supposed to be at 27.3 cm.  I could easily identify some small triangles in the pattern that were this distance apart, but I absolutely could not figure out what they were supposed to match on the edge of the next sheet of paper.  I slid the two edges past each other over and over again.  The match just never looked right.


I ripped the first sheet off the wall, stuffed it in a trash bag, picked up the unopened rolls and headed back to the store.  I told the clerk and the manager that this paper was the absolute worst I had ever worked with, and I wanted to return it.  They didn't argue with me, but said I should have put the paste on the paper instead of on the wall.  Of course, the directions very specifically said to put the paste on the wall  AND there was the little matter of matching the pattern.


I picked out a different paper and headed back to the house.  By this time, I had wasted two hours and was beginning to despair of completing the project today.


Joy and delight!  The paper I picked as my second choice was wonderful...as close to infinitely better as anything in this world could be.  It went on the walls smoothly, the pattern was easy to match and it even cut easily and cleanly with the razor blade...no ragged ripping....just nice clean zipping.


The master bathroom is a very spacious room with lots of tricky cutting in, so I didn't finish until well after 5 PM.  I came home exhausted and my back is killing me....I've spent the evening with the heating pad.


I am oh-so-happy, and I am NOT planning to wallpaper again for a very long time....maybe not ever.