Monday, April 6, 2009

Stuck up

The Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper border is up! We hired a seasoned wallpaper expert for this small job - and we're so glad we did. He took all of 5 hours to accomplish the whole feat. Watching it happen, I saw about 10 different instances where I would have a) ripped the paper, b) gotten glue all over myself, c) gotten glue all over the paper, d) hung the paper totally cockeyed, or e) all of the above.

First he put a primer/sealer on the area that would get wallpaper. Actually, first he penciled in a reference line all around the room.

Then he went to lunch while the primer dried, after setting up his work area for the afternoon. As I admired the orderly setup, I realized that not only would I have frigged up the paper, we would have had to buy way too many supplies to make it cost-effective to hang the paper ourselves.


After lunch, he took just a couple of hours to hang & futz with the paper, plus there was a little time for cleanup and setup. I got to help - I held the end of the paper on a long run, so it wouldn't drag all down the wall and floor.

And that was it! It was totally worth it to hire someone who had all the materials and knew what they were doing. I bet it would have taken me about 3 days, and I would have made a lot of mistakes, too. This paperhanger was referred by the local historic home contractor - which was a good reference, and he was punctual and didn't diddle around. Also, he came over on the weekend to pick up the paper to trim at his house (to avoid hauling around a trimming board), and he took the instructions from Bradbury to read carefully. Clearly, he followed them - the paper is all centered properly on the walls, and the steps seem to match what I think I read in the instructions.

Thrilled. Now we need to install picture rail under the border (that's why it's OK that the primer went outside the line). And I need to finish those pesky window headers. What a great feeling to have something done - like totally done!

5 comments:

Todd - Home Construction Improvement said...

Very nice border! My grandfather used to do wallpapering and I agree that it's best left to someone that knows what they are doing. The design looks great with the ceiling!

Jennifer said...

VERY nice! It will look fantastic with your picture rail.

Alexis said...

This looks great. I DO love your taste. I'm looking forward to the finished shots.

Laura said...

It looks beautiful and it absolutely sounds like it was worth your $$ to invest in a professional for this job. I'm all about DIY, but sometimes it just makes more sense to hire the pros!

Jason said...

In my mind, the wooden trim below the border seals the deal. I can't stand borders that just hang out up there, sans trim. But add a 2" strip of oak and I'm all over it like sticky on rice.