CasaSugar

Casa Quickie: Removing Wheat Paste

CasaSugar — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:00:03 -0700

Once you've hung wallpaper like a pro, there may come a time when you think it's time to say sayonara to the paper you'd chosen. If your wallpaper pulls off in full sheets, like Graham & Brown Paste the Wall, it'll make the removal process a lot easier. But, either way, you'll still have to deal with washing off the wheat paste you used to hang it. It's fairly simple though, so there's no need for intimidation! All you have to do is give your wall a good soaking of water with a spray bottle, and let it soak in for a few minutes. Then, scrap off the paste with a tool with about a 4-inch blade, like a trowel or a putty knife. Sponge off what's left with soapy water.
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DIY: A Fab Photo Wall

CasaSugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:00:36 -0700

I love this instant-art idea, used in one of the Superior Deluxe Rooms at the Portland Ace Hotel. It also seems like it's begging to be DIYed.

Find out how to create something similar when you read more.

You can re-create this look by measuring your wall, and then selecting white matting for each photo, and mounting the matted photos along your wall. Or, you can simply use a découpaging technique to fasten the photos to your wall directly. See how to do the latter below.

Measure your wall, and then estimate the number of photos you want to use for each row. Space the photos evenly. You may want to cut out pieces of paper that are the same size as your photos, and then gently tape them to the wall. Experiment until you have the dimensions and spacing that you like the best.
Lightly pencil in the space where each photo should be. Use a ruler, measuring tape, and level to make sure the photos are even.
Lay down a drop cloth or newspaper on the floor below the wall you're covering.
Open up your windows, and make sure the room is well ventilated.
Using a sponge brush, apply wheat paste to a small portion of the wall.
Now, line up the first photo, and apply it, burnishing out any bubbles with your hands as you press it onto the wall.
Continue to apply wheat paste and press your photos onto the wall, lining them up neatly until the wall is covered.
Make sure you've burnished out any bubbles. Sometimes using a credit card here will help.
Now, allow the wall to dry.
Using a synthetic bristle brush, apply a coat of Polycrylic Protective Finish, which will protect the pages from peeling, scuffing, and other damage.
If your adjacent walls get messy from applying the Polycrylic, you can easily clean it up with a sponge and some warm, soapy water.

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DIY: Découpaged Walls

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:00:33 -0700

Découpaging your walls with pages from an old book, antique maps, or magazine covers can instantly transform a boring wall into a conversation piece. Your wallcovering will be one of a kind, a quality that even the most glam wallpaper can't give you. Some of you might think that tearing up a book for any project is sacrilegious. If you fall into this category, use a book that's already falling apart, or that has a damaged cover. To learn the steps for this project, read more.

First things first. Carefully pull the individual pages out of your book or magazine. Running an X-acto knife across the inside of the spine helps to make this step swift.
Now, neaten up the edges with a ruler and a craft knife, making sure they're relatively straight. Do the same if you're using old maps, or even use a paper cutter if you have one. You can leave the edges as is if you're going for raw look, though.
Lay down a drop cloth or newspaper on the floor below the wall you're covering.
Open up your windows, and make sure the room is well-ventilated.
Using a sponge brush, apply wheat paste to a small portion of the wall.
Now, line up one page flush with the wall, and apply it, burnishing out any bubbles with your hands as you press it onto the wall.
Continue to apply wheat paste and press your pages onto the wall, lining them up neatly until the wall is covered. If you want a more raw look, you can overlap the pages and even stagger them a bit.
Make sure you've burnished out any bubbles. Sometimes using a credit card here will help.
Now, allow the wall to dry.
Using a synthetic bristle brush, apply a coat of Polycrylic Protective Finish, which will protect the pages from peeling, scuffing, and other damage.
If your adjacent walls get messy from applying the Polycrylic, you can easily clean it up with a sponge and some warm, soapy water.

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Casa Beta: Graham & Brown Paste the Wall Wallpaper

CasaSugar — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:15:12 -0700

Even if you know how to hang wallpaper like a pro, it's still a bit of an intimidating task. And removing it — be it by the soak-and-scrape method or with a steamer — is always a big ole, time-intensive pain in the butt. Or, it was, until the Graham & Brown Paste the Wall wallpaper came around.I came across this novel wallpaper technology, which claimed to make "wallpapering simple, clean, and quick for even the novice decorator," because it peels off in full sheets, requiring no steaming or scraping, and because you paste the wall itself rather than the paper when hanging. Could this be love? I was a little skeptical, so I asked Graham & Brown to send me a roll, so I could try it out myself. To hear my analysis, read more.

Hanging. Like any wallpaper, you still need to do your measurements, and line up the patterns correctly. I was working with a small area that had a built-in niche, so it was a little hard to manage, but that simply came with the territory. Pasting the wall rather than the paper made the process a lot less messy and time-consuming. No paste all over my fingers, no wallpaper sticking to itself. No muss, no fuss. After mixing the paste, I globbed it onto the wall and then lined up the top of the roll. It stayed on the wall while I lined up the rest of the sheet, and I had a few minutes to get it into place and smooth out bubbles before it dried. When there were areas that needed a little touching up at the base, I was able to peel the sheet up, realign, and then apply some more paste. I'd say it was the least intimidating and streamlined wallpapering experience I've ever had — and I wouldn't call myself a pro.
Removing. I did actually want to keep my wallpaper in place, so I tested the removal process in another area of my home. Just as described, the wallpaper peeled off in full sheets. I found that removal worked best when I peeled slowly but steadily. But honestly, the directions were quite to the point: "To remove, lift a bottom corner and peel steadily up." Then, I washed off the wheat paste with a good sponge-down of soapy water. This facile removal process makes wallpapering a great option for renters, who up until now, wouldn't be able to get away with making that sort of semipermanent change to their homes.
Selection. I'm pretty darn impressed with the Paste the Wall selection. There are 195 wallpapers in a variety of beautiful patterns for both modern and traditional homes. Pattern isn't your thing? There are even grasscloths and frescos available in a handful of subdued tones. I chose the Tempting-Turquoise paper ($60/double roll) by Linda Barker. It has a large-scale chrysanthemum design with a feminine palette of soft, apple green, turquoise, and shimmery gold on a grayish-brown background; it goes perfectly with the green paint in the next room.
Price. At $60 a double roll, I think Graham & Brown offers a great price for a designer roll. To give you an idea, papers by Ferm Living, which do not even use this technology, go for around $94, and even Pottery Barn's only paper, which does pull off in full sheets, will cost you $84. Some of Graham & Brown's other wallpapers cost only $10 less.

I'm impressed on many levels with Paste the Wall, and would certainly consider (and actually am considering) using it again in my home. I highly recommend it. If you think wallpapering a whole room would be a little overwhelming, consider wallpapering a nook or the ceiling.

Cool Idea: Urban Curators

CasaSugar — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:30:22 -0700

Urban Curators is a Providence-based project that highlights "interesting and unexpected areas of urban environments," aiming to celebrate the decaying and the overlooked. Gold, gallery-style frames are hung over urban graffiti, mossy walls, layers of peeling, wheat-pasted posters, or brick peaking out from a building's exterior. In other words, the frames urge passersby to acknowledge the beauty or the cultural value in the derelict. Much like photography, this "curation" crops out the whole picture, focusing in on a singular element of an environment. I've seen empty frames hung on interior residential walls before, but never highlighting this sort of decay. If there's a place or wall in your home that needs a little fixing up, perhaps you might frame it à la Urban Curators until you can afford a remodel?
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