You Won't See This on YouTube

Before the redecorating.

Not every experience in the country is limited to rural type stuff. And this was one of those! I've had an idea about tarting up my bedroom and decided that this week it was now or never. I was pretty confident about my ability to wallpaper a feature wall - that was until I talked to my sister about 'just doing it'! Then all the talk about plumb lines, pattern matching and wall preparation really took its toll.

But - I'm not a quitter and so I started. Let me show some of the highlights of this little adventure. The wallpaper - quite expensive but I didn't need much. First off move the furniture and clean the wall. I must have thought this was going to be an all-night affair because I got the bed ready in the spare room for my use.

All my tools of the trade!

Next, tools. Lovely B-I-L lent me his trusty brush, paper smoother and straight line ruler. Had my own stanley knife (two in fact) and bucket. After sleepless nights preparing for this 'simple task' I realised that I didn't need water troughs because the paper was unpasted and the directions said paste the wall not the paper. So - I'm prepared.

Step one - size the walls. Measured the amount of sizing mix in my best cooking measures and expertly applied the gooey stuff to the walls. Apparently it makes the wallpaper move easier when you hanging it - made no bloody difference when the moment came! Googled how long to leave the sized walls and was happy to find that I could continue wallpapering today. Yay!

Pureed paste.

Next - measured the lengths needed and cut to appropriate size (with a small overhang) on my lounge floor taking extra precaution not to cut the carpet by upturning my carpet door mats. Needed six lengths and pattern matched them all, numbered, lay in order for hanging.

Now - the plumb line. Not a string and weight for this inventive DIYer but a beautiful piece of purple ribbon with two batteries tied at the end. Plumb line confirmed that the walls are pretty square anyway. Next came the glue. Again I made the most of my cooking measures to get the right ratio of paste and water. The instructions said to leave for 30 mins after the initial mix and then beat well before using. Mine was pureed using my newly acquired Kambrook wand mixer.

The beautiful plumb line

And so to the hanging. I took my time hanging one roll at a time and pasting the wall only when each length was ready for hanging. Patience paid off and the whole six rolls were hung without any major errors. Quality control, my sister, gave the thumbs up and the job is finished. What do you think? I'm pleased and even have enough paper left over to do another feature wall. Is this the new career?

THE BEST.........the brilliant job of papering around TWO powerpoints.

THE WORST......could anything else have fallen into the paste bucket? The brush, the stanley knife and the cleaning rag.

I'M LEARNING....it maybe water based but the glue is still sticky when you try to wipe the floor with the cleaning rag. Don't stand still in the laundry for too long would be my advice.

Not a bad job for a DIYer!