Apartment decoration in minimalist style, Hi-Techor kitsch knocks guests off their feet and allows the owners to feel proud of the original design of their home. But the house often loses the coziness that only a classic interior can give it. This does not mean that whitewashing the ceiling and wallpapering the walls should turn the room into a dull example of space, preserved in the memory from the second half of the last century. In addition to a significantly expanded range, modern wallpaper has aesthetic qualities that allow you to create exquisite decor, combined with the practicality of the material and not the highest cost of finishing.
A living room with properly selected wallpaper will help to give the interior coziness and comfort.
Varieties of wallpaper
This wall covering is considered to befirst used in ancient China thanks to the invention of paper products. But if we consider its name from the point of view of etymology, it is difficult not to notice the similarity of the root with the verb "to upholster". Decorating a home with painted paper spread around the world really thanks to Chinese craftsmen, but wallpaper got its name in Europe. This happened even before the 18th century, when fabrics or leather were used to decorate walls, which were simply nailed to the surface with small nails. Modern wallpaper decoration is classified by a lot of features, including appearance, density, moisture resistance and gluing method.
Types of wallpaper.The materials used to make these products keep up with the development of modern technologies, and the construction market surprises with newer and more original proposals every day. At present, one can form an opinion about wallpaper based on such qualities as:
- type of base and outer cover;
- performance characteristics;
- texture;
- number of layers.
The combination of paper base and coating is stillis in great demand among consumers. The simplicity of wall decoration combined with a low price attracts buyers, and natural raw materials make such wallpapers environmentally friendly. The hygroscopicity of paper provides the coating with a breathable surface, and for a bedroom or a child's room this option is more acceptable than vinyl or non-woven fabric with a film. Modern paper products have good quality, bright rich colors and interesting texture options. Return to contents</a>
Variants of walls for different rooms
Depending on the raw materials and manufacturing technology, wall finishing may have options. The most popular types of wall cladding recently are:
Vinyl wallpaper is durable and long-lasting, and perfectly imitates colors and textures.
- paper;
- vinyl;
- non-woven fleece;
- textile;
- liquid;
- glass walls;
- Wall-papers.
Paper products easily get wet and absorbdirt and dust. Even washable wall finishing options do not always tolerate humidity in the bathroom, steam and splashes of water in the kitchen. Vinyl is more suitable for these rooms, especially with chemical embossing treatment, which gives it high resistance to liquids and aggressive chemicals. Living rooms should not be covered with such material, as it tends to emit formaldehyde. This amount is insignificant, but still undesirable for the human body. There are very interesting options for finishing a room by combining different patterns on wallpaper with different textures and even made from different types of material. Return to contents</a>
Calculating the amount of wallpaper material
Calculation scheme for the area of the room for gluingwallpaper. Having decided on the type of future wall decoration, it is necessary to accurately calculate the number of rolls that will need to be purchased. If you make a mistake in the calculations in the smaller direction, you may encounter at the right moment the absence of the same type on sale. The remainder of 2-3 rolls will clearly be superfluous even in the event of restoration work - in order to re-glue a dirty or damaged place, the scraps of strips will be enough. A more convenient way is to calculate the area of the wall decoration. This procedure occurs as follows:
A repeating pattern on wallpaper calls for something differentapproach to calculations. It is necessary to know its height precisely in order to obtain a minimum amount of waste when combining strips. Otherwise, the wall finishing will end with a shortage of material or a large amount of its remainder. Return to the table of contents</a>
Preparation of wall finishing
Wallpaper removal tools and products.If the walls are prepared for work, freed from the old coating and cleaned from traces of glue and unevenness, you can start pasting them. Surface preparation is of great importance for high-quality finishing of the room. If you do not remove growths with a spatula and do not fill cracks with putty, they will later show through the thin canvas. The process of finishing walls with wallpaper should begin with a careful inspection of the rolls. Even if the batch number is identical, you may encounter a difference in the color tone and surface pattern. In this case, unopened products can be replaced at the point of sale. Particular attention should be paid to wallpaper glue. Not only the durability of the finish depends on its quality, but also its safety from mold and mildew. Special glue is used for heavy types of wallpaper material. This applies to products made of non-woven fabric, vinyl, fiberglass and textiles. Lightweight paper-based material holds even homemade paste well, but it should be taken into account that it must be freshly prepared. Nowadays it is rarely used for finishing: universal glue is not that expensive, and the synthetic resins included in its composition provide it with good quality characteristics.
Scheme for removing old wallpaper.The consumption of glue for repairing a room can be calculated using the instructions on its packaging, but it is necessary to take into account the error of these values. This amount can also be increased due to unevenness of the walls and additionally depends on the finishing options chosen: the thicker the material, the greater the consumption of glue will need to be provided. The main requirement for the finished adhesive composition is its homogeneity. The formation of lumps in the mass can be avoided by following the mixing rules. The water should not be cold or hot, the optimum temperature of the liquid is 35-40ºС. The powder is poured into the prepared water in a thin stream, stirring constantly. It is better to reduce the amount of water specified in the manufacturer's instructions by 10 percent. This will give greater confidence in the quality of the glue, and if it is too thick, it can be diluted. Finishing walls with wallpaper strips will require having the following tools at hand:
- ladder;
- a bucket for glue;
- tape for finishing joints;
- A wide roller or brush for applying glue;
- a rubber spatula for smoothing;
- paint knife;
- scissors;
- plumb bob;
- long ruler and pencil;
- roulette.
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Wallpaper Sticker
Wallpaper pasting diagram.If the product packaging is supplied with instructions from the manufacturer, you should definitely study them. Most likely, you will need to take into account some nuances related to the specific composition of the material. The finishing process will be made easier by using a vertical plumb line. To do this, usually hammer a small nail into the wall and hang any load on it on a thin thread. Usually, they start gluing the strips from the corner of the room, which is closer to the window. When cutting the sheets, it is necessary to provide a small reserve for their adjustment when gluing. Walls and ceilings may have deviations in geometric shape, and an extra 4-5 cm will help to cope with the alignment of the strips easier. The cuts prepared for finishing are laid out with the back side up on a flat surface and proceed to applying the glue. To do this, use a wide soft brush or roller, distributing the composition from the center of the sheet to its edges. Then the prepared wallpaper strip is folded with the processed side inward, folding the edges towards the center. A few minutes are usually enough for the material to be saturated with glue to the required degree. Then the strip is pressed tightly against the glue-covered wall, oriented towards the vertical level and the ceiling line. After visually checking the correct fit, smoothing begins, the purpose of which is to remove wrinkles and folds on the wallpaper and remove air bubbles from the interior space. Excess glue that has come out is carefully removed with a damp, clean sponge or cloth. Excess parts are cut off with scissors or a sharp knife. After completing the work, the walls should dry at room temperature and in the complete absence of drafts.
