Tales of an Interior Stylist: wallpaper decorating ideas

Time constraints can be a gift. It’s amazing what you can drum up when in a jam. I sometimes do my best thinking at four in the morning. I had a busy day ahead, with client appointments mixed in with home staging shopping. As I mapped out my client/shopping route – I could not factor in a stop at a wallpaper store kind of far away. I needed a roll of wallpaper for some DIY art I was going to make using framed wallpaper. Buy a glassed frame, cut up the paper, stick it in the frame and WAYLA! - Sassy art. My idea by creating my own was; I could control the size of the art, no lollygagging around shopping for a certain sized art - You control the size.

Tick Tock... I was stuck thinking about the out-of-reach wallpaper and then I got an idea… What if I just printed off the wallpaper instead of driving to that store? My mind started spinning and I remembered last time I was in Walgreens I noted they had these cool mega huge printers like fancy print shops. Out came my laptop, I signed into my Walgreens account and looked at my super size printing options. I had the wallpaper print photo from my presentation design board, so I just uploaded the picture. Next, I just picked my size and ordered two 20"x30" posters. Lucky me, all large prints were 40% off. Cool - total cost $44.00!

It took all of 5 minutes to complete the order. The prints were ready before I even headed out for the day and I just picked them up on my route! Two poster frames later and here are the results.

This time, time was on my side.

Wallpaper can create a room's personality.

Wallpaper is back and I am hopping on the band wagon! What a wonderful way to add texture, depth, personality or ambiance to a space. No longer to be abhorred and painted over - This little wall flower has come a long way and with technology and innovation is very easy to remove, can duplicate anything and is on the forefront of interior chic.

If you are a Pinterest member, visit my Wallpaper board: http://pinterest.com/juleajane/wallpaper/

With all the wallpaper buzz, the Interior Stylist Network had an educational field trip to a wallpaper store. From beautiful patterns, to paper that removes if you are a renter, to elegant papers that have glass beads embedded on them.

Here are a few tips on working with wallpaper.

1) Wallpaper can hide hideous paneling. If the panel grooves aren’t too deep or wide, a simple liner can be applied first, followed by your wallpaper of choice.

2) If you are planning on redecorating a room – Pick the paper 1^st, then choose a paint color.

As a headboard

3) Always prime your walls before you paper . Painted walls are not an option! Shieldz® UniversalWallcovering Primer-Sealer. (Make sure you wait 1 day before papering.)

4) If you are working with freshly painted walls, wait 7 days before you prime.

5) Paper is no different than fabric. Check the repeat to see how much you need.

6) And just like fabric, there are commercial grade papers that have a higher durability factor as well as fire code protection.

7) Never paste a pre-pasted paper.

Re-fresh a China hutch with wallpaper

8) Consider papering a single focal wall, a niche, powder room or foyer if you have wallpaper fear.
9.) Wallpaper can be used to update a piece of furniture, line drawers, inside a China cabinet or as art