Interior Walls & Wallpaper
Tips and advice on decorating cottage walls with wallpaper.
The problem of cleaning cottages and homes in general would be largely solved if all elaborate mouldings, ledges, and other resting places for dust and dirt were banished from the house. Glazed and washable surfaces should be introduced wherever possible, as they can be so easily cleaned ; and great care should be exercised to choose materials that are really suitable for their purpose and position, and not readily dirtied or damaged by wear.
Choosing Wallpaper
It is not advisable to paper new walls, as they take some months to dry thoroughly ; but a cool-toned distemper gives an inexpensive and satisfactory surface. There are many good patent distempers on the market, and most of them are sanitary and washable, and can be renewed inexpensively. When it comes to wallpaper, we are wary of high colours and intricate patterns, which spoil the appearance and reduce the apparent size of cottage rooms. Red wallpaper does not suit hot rooms, but warm up north ones charmingly. A striped pattern will increase the apparent height of the walls ; while one with any kind of horizontal lines, or checks, will diminish it. If a plain "lining" paper is chosen, the effect will be quiet and homely, and we shall have more money to spend elsewhere.
A picture-rail fixed low down just above the top of the door is as good a level as any while costing little, saves the plaster of the wall from being damaged and makes an excellent stop for the wallpaper or distemper below, while the space above it can be whitened just like the ceiling. This arrangement saves a large part of the cost of wall treatment, and reduces the need for plaster cornices, which are expensive, dust-catching, and often unsightly.
In the kitchen and scullery no wallpaper, however sanitary and hard-wearing it may be, is really satisfactory ; and glazed bricks or tiles, even only up to dado level, can rarely be afforded. The next best way is to paint the walls about 4 ft. high from the floor with a hard enamel, as this is grease-proof and non-absorptive ; and a cheaper method still is to use a washable distemper, and renew it every year or two when the ceilings are whitened. The woodwork should be well varnished, so that it may be washed when required.
The problem of cleaning cottages and homes in general would be largely solved if all elaborate mouldings, ledges, and other resting places for dust and dirt were banished from the house. Glazed and washable surfaces should be introduced wherever possible, as they can be so easily cleaned ; and great care should be exercised to choose materials that are really suitable for their purpose and position, and not readily dirtied or damaged by wear.
Choosing Wallpaper
It is not advisable to paper new walls, as they take some months to dry thoroughly ; but a cool-toned distemper gives an inexpensive and satisfactory surface. There are many good patent distempers on the market, and most of them are sanitary and washable, and can be renewed inexpensively. When it comes to wallpaper, we are wary of high colours and intricate patterns, which spoil the appearance and reduce the apparent size of cottage rooms. Red wallpaper does not suit hot rooms, but warm up north ones charmingly. A striped pattern will increase the apparent height of the walls ; while one with any kind of horizontal lines, or checks, will diminish it. If a plain "lining" paper is chosen, the effect will be quiet and homely, and we shall have more money to spend elsewhere.
A picture-rail fixed low down just above the top of the door is as good a level as any while costing little, saves the plaster of the wall from being damaged and makes an excellent stop for the wallpaper or distemper below, while the space above it can be whitened just like the ceiling. This arrangement saves a large part of the cost of wall treatment, and reduces the need for plaster cornices, which are expensive, dust-catching, and often unsightly.
In the kitchen and scullery no wallpaper, however sanitary and hard-wearing it may be, is really satisfactory ; and glazed bricks or tiles, even only up to dado level, can rarely be afforded. The next best way is to paint the walls about 4 ft. high from the floor with a hard enamel, as this is grease-proof and non-absorptive ; and a cheaper method still is to use a washable distemper, and renew it every year or two when the ceilings are whitened. The woodwork should be well varnished, so that it may be washed when required.
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