Paste the wall or…
We are in the middle of something we have never done before: a curved wall. Imagine the tower of a castle. It is the inside wall of the tower! And for a double whammy, one of the walls is 15+’ tall.
I am so interested (and hopeful) that it is going to be more straightforward than it seems. There could be seam issues if the wall undulates at all, but that is case in most installations. Then there is the question of pasting the wall or pasting the paper.
The directions are pretty clear that they want the installer to paste the wall. I am leaning towards pasting the paper and here is why. I want the paper to have some softness and flexibility from the moisture of the glue before I get to the wall so that I can bend it ever so slightly. I am concerned that the glue will dry on the wall quickly and leave hard to reach dry spots if we paste the wall. Also, we would have to roll sideways, because, curved wall - can’t use a roller going up and down.
I think I am going to start by pasting the paper, book the paper and then un-book the whole thing when we get to the wall. I will have Mike at the top of the ladder and I will line the wallpaper up with our laser in the middle of the wall and then start to smooth it out in both directions from there.
This technique of pasting the paper will also allow us to more easily start and stop hanging the wallpaper in the middle of the wall if we don’t finish in one day. I love having that flexibility, as opposed to needing to always have a wet edge.
We are installing tomorrow so I will update you with what we actually do and how it goes!
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
So we didn’t do any of this.
We pasted the wall.
To get our feet wet, we decided to start with the nine foot wall first, it felt more manageable.
It was raining outside and that helped dramatically with the glue staying wet. We even took a lunch break and the glue on the wall was still wet. I am so used to (traumatized even?) from installing wallpaper in the bone dry heat of the north county sun, where the glue can dry minutes after it is rolled on. This was not that!
Although we debated the paste the wall v paste the paper for a few minutes in the morning, it was Mike who had the final say. I was freaking out over all the things that could go wrong and he just came in strong and said, “we are pasting the wall.”
There was definitely a part of me that wanted to say, “but I know best!” and I’ve learned, that I don’t always know best AND he has been right before. He has access to clarity on some level that I don’t and when I lean into that, we get to places I could have never imagined.
Not only was he right, but we zoomed through the install. And the result was absolute fire! So good. I’m so proud of this space and looking forward to the super tall wall later this week!
Details: Interior Design by Brockett Architects/Interiors and wallpaper by Milton and King Tuscan Landscape