Feature Walls : How To Wallpaper A Fire Breast Wall

As wallpaper can be expensive it is very popular nowadays to have a feature / accent wall to give interest to a room without breaking the bank!

Fire breast feature wallpapering

The first thing you need to do once you have decided to wallpaper your fire breast or fire breast wall is to work out how much wallpaper you will require, by measuring the wall and using our wallpaper calculator for this.

Next you need to work out the centre of the breast, do this by measuring across the width and divide it by two. Next mark the centre and draw a straight line from top to bottom. This is your centre line to work from.

Now you need to take the width of the paper and work out where you need to start.

This will be either with the edge of the paper on the centre line or the centre of the sheet across the centre line. The aim of this is to make sure you don’t end up with a sheet finishing on the external corner, or a sheet not leaving enough to go around the corner for the next sheet you butt up to. If the edge of the sheet is to close to an external corner it may not stick very well and be difficult to join your paper, especially if the corner runs out (i.e. the corner is not vertical).

Like all wallpapering jobs, you need to work out where to start before you actually put paper on the walls. Once you have worked out all the measurements and decided where your first sheet needs to go you can start to paper. As always, follow the manufactures guidelines and soaking times.

It is up to you if you wish to just paper the fire breast or continue doing the walls either side of the breast.

How to deal with stains

Following a recent job I did I thought I would do a post about how to deal with stains, in this case, water stains.

I had a call from a client who had a Velux window that appeared to be leaking and had stained the ceiling of their garden room.

After the roofer came and found the source of the problem, a broken tile, and repaired it I went back and decorated the room for them.

The source of the leak had been fixed and the water had dried out so I could start to decorate.

The first thing I did was identifying the stain by drawing around each stain with a pencil so it was easier to see when I used the stain block.

Once I had highlighted all the water stains with a pencil I used Polycell Stain Block to cover the stains, using a brush I painted over the stains, I knew how far to go as I had drawn around the stains. I covered the stains and pencil lines with the stain block, I then prepared the rest of the garden room by filling cracks to the walls while I waited for it to dry which took about two hours.

Once the stain block was dry I could paint the ceiling with white emulsion and the ceiling was as good as new, I then painted the walls to complete the job.

Another job and another satisfied client.

Always ensure the source of the leak is fixed and that you allow time for the water to dry out before decorating.
Some stains may need a second coat of stain block, allow to dry between coats.
Allow the stain block to dry fully before decorating.

Some people use an oil-based paint such as gloss, undercoat or satinwood to block out the stain, I have done this in the past but would only recommend using satinwood or undercoat due to it’s sheen level.

Interior designer Françoise Murat : Wallpapering Article Featuring our Wallpaper Calculator

Today www.propertydecorating.co.uk was featured in the newsletter of Interior designer Françoise Murat in her feature on Wallpaper “Wallpaper – an amazing decorative wall covering”.

The newsletter can be read online at Françoise Murat’s website

And the full article including details of our wallpaper calculators and why I developed them for the website and as a resource for DIYer’s and Trademen alike can be read in the article :
http://www.francoisemurat.com/interior-design/231–wallpaper-amazing-decorative-wall-coverings.html

EDITED – 14/05/2010
Today we are also featured on Sarah Beeny’s website Tepilo where Françoise guest blogs about ‘A British approach to decoration: Wallpapers‘.

Françoise says in the blog:
“CALCULATING HOW MANY ROLLS YOU NEED….

The first question any client always asks me is: how much do I need to buy? How do I calculate what I need for such and such room? The answer? Adrian Rayfield of www.propertydecorating.co.uk has devised a fantastically easy tool – see what he says” https://www.tepilo.com/blog/2010/05/a-british-approach-to-decoration-wallpapers/

Calculator Links :

Wallpaper Calculator.

Ceiling Wallpaper Calculator.

Tile Calculator.

Paint Coverage Calculator.