Covering walls with paper expands options

Dear Sandi,
I am getting ready to re-do our dining room, and I understand that it is possible to use handmade paper for wall covering. I would like to have more information on the “hows” of this. Any tips or ideas will be appreciated.
Loren P. Salem

Hi Loren,
Yes, although most people still think of handmade paper as an art or craft medium, and not as something to use in a design project, it most definitely can be used for wall covering, and we are getting more and more inquires into this application all the time. One of the huge advantages of working with these papers is you can truly create something that is a “one of a kind”, rather than just putting up a commercially available design. You can create pattern, color and texture in almost unlimited ways, depending on your own preferences and how creative you want to get.

That being said, there are some things that make working with handmade paper quite different than conventional wallpapers. With commercial wallpapers, what you see is what you get. With handmade paper the final effect can truly be up to you. So, what are some of these options?
1. You can add your own color washes to the papers.
2. You can use very lightweight, semi-transparent papers that allow a background color to bleed through.
3. You can choose handpainted papers that already have a color and pattern, but with variations from one piece to the next,
4. You can work with heavier papers and “age” them with a weak tea wash.
5. You can choose anything from a fairly smooth surface to a highly textured surface.
6. You can use papers that have botanical material embedded in them, or ones that just have visible fibers.
7. You can use the papers in the sizes that they come in, or you can create your own patterns by tearing them into “tiles” or “strips”.

And there are probably more options that I haven’t thought of. The most important thing to determine is what you want your final effect to be, and this may be the most challenging part of the project, there are so many cool things that you can do with these papers.

Whether you're looking for handmade paper, furniture, fabric or accessories, you will find it at loose ends. If it is unusual, organic and fabulous, then loose ends is the place. Showroom hours are 8 am to 5 pm weekdays and the first Saturday of each month 10 am - 3pm at 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, or visit us online at www.looseends.com Questions? Give us a call at (503) 390-2348.

A word of warning: unless you are ok with the idea that if you eve change your mind about your walls, you will probably have to scrape the stuff off bit by bit, I do recommend that you consider putting up a strippable liner first. That way, if you do ever want to remove the paper, it will come off in long, easy strips, saving you time and incredible frustration.

If you are going to work with a lighter paper, be sure to put a piece up on your wall to see what the color effect will be (just tape a piece up). The lighter weight papers will usually allow a color bleed-through, and this can change your paper’s final color dramatically. Of course, you can use this characteristic to your advantage by playing with the different effects that you can achieve, depending on the background color. Some of the neutral or “natural” shades can take on a warm, rosy hue, or a deeper, darker look, giving you a lot of color options even working with the same paper.

As far as actual application goes, I find that the water based, premixed wallpaper paste is the easiest to work with, and I have had good results with it, whether I was working with a very heavy, textured paper, or extremely lightweight ones. It cleans up easily and does not stain the paper.

Sandi Reinke is an author, frequent television guest and lead designer for loose ends (www.loosends.com), a Salem-based interior décor, garden, and casual lifestyle company. To ask Reinke a decorating question, e-mail info@looseends.com or mail her at the showroom address, 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, OR 97302. Phone: 503-390-2348.

One of the most frequently asked questions we hear, is what do you do about the seams? With conventional wallpaper, the seams tend to disappear with pattern matching. This is not the case with handmade paper. The seams will be, and need to be, part of your design. The deckle edges will be visible, whether you use the sheets in their original size, or if you re-size them into something else (that’s why it is important that you tear, not cut, the paper if you want to create “tiles” or “strips”). It is what gives these papers their distinctive look. You can have the seam line up, or stagger them in a particular pattern. I have seen both techniques used, it is just a matter of personal preference and design.

Another optionis, if you are working with any of the long sheets of handmade paper, and you really don’t want the seams to be visible, is to use something appropriate to the character of the paper to cover the joining of the sheets. We did this with a dining room re-do for The Christopher Lowell Show a few years ago, where we were working with long, hand thrown sheets of paper that had real bamboo foliage embedded in them. They were 8 ft. long and 30” wide. We simply covered the seams with thin pieces of real bamboo. The effect was perfect, and added a bit of dimension to the wall (you could do this same thing with the smaller sheets, using the bamboo sticks to “frame” the individual papers).

I hope this has helped you bit Loren, (not just added to the confusion). There are so many options, but I think you will find the process both fun and exciting, with one idea leading to another. And, you may find that as you work on this project, that you just “have to try” another effect that you thought of, on another wall somewhere else in your home!
October 7, 2005