A lot of people hate wallpaper, and I can understand why. It’s a pain in the butt to apply, it can start to peel, bubble and warp over time, and stripping it down when you get sick of it takes an entire day’s worth of steaming and scraping, steaming and scraping.
But I don’t care — I want it. I’ve already committed to buying low-VOC paints, but there are so many cute little rooms in my new house, I’m bent on doing at least one of them up with wallpaper. The one above, which I noticed over at AT, is a hand-painted version from de Gournay, but I’m not sure how eco-friendly it is (plus it probably costs a million bucks per meter).
After some online poking around, I’ve determined that getting recycled wallpaper is not going to be easy, unless I order these weird 3D modular tiles, which are a bit too ’60s, even for a retro-lover like me, or go to the UK for something like this (much prettier and there are some funky recycled flax paper options, but they mostly do wall decals).
Another idea might be to go with something like these animal cutouts made from leftover wallpaper samples, or I could just do a half-and-half brand like Graham & Brown, which at least has some eco-friendly business practices and insists that 50% of their paper is recycled.
Of course, then there’s the issue of the glue, which could be a major problem, seeing as my Coccoina probably won’t cut it.
Ach! Anyone got any tips?
Have you looked into stenciling? Lots of excellent opportunity for sel-expression if you make your own or have artistic chums. Also, you can make your own wallpaper paste with wheat flour.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/wallpaper-paste.html
I’m torn on wallpaper (terrible pun, I know) myself. One one hand I detest it. I grew up in a house with the most God awful wallpaper. It was very 80′s looking giant pink and blue lillies with mother of pearl zig zags in the background that not matched up, and had a giant seem down the middle of the wall that my mom refused to get rid of until I was 17. On the other, some rooms are done so beautifully, that I can’t help but think that I want it for a powder room or something.
Perhaps you can do a giant mural yourself or some cool stenciling. Just use one of those overhead projectors to create a giant stensil. I too am addicted to Apartment Therapy and I saw a beautiful tree-of-life type mural done. Overhead projectors are great for people like me who can only draw stick figures, yet who want to do something cool and funky. Good luck…and avoid 80′s wallpaper.
I can’t remember which magazine I saw it in, but someone put vintage fabric on their wall, adhering it with a starch paste so that they could remove and reuse it later if they liked.
I love wallpaper as well, for it’s great designs and it’s ability to cheer up a room. But it does waste paper, and you have that glue issue. What about buying some stencils and using that VOC-free paint to make your own designs? There are some hip stencils out there….
Also, Vanessa, I’ve just returned from two weeks in the Dominican Republic to find I’d been nominated twice for an Excellent Blog Award. I’d like to nominate you for the award. Please see my latest post for details. You’re doing great things, and I hope you continue along this path after your year is up!!
Domino’s March 2008 issue has a couple recs — both look expensive but here is the info: vegetable-dyed jute for $28/yard Phillip Jefferies 800-576-5455 or country swedish which (cough gasp) runs $400-600 a ROLL. designpro@ddbuilding.com — I have never wallpapered anything (I am in the anti camp) but sounds like stencilling might be your best bet.
You may want to look into a product called 180 walls. I’m not sure if it will have many fun patterns that you like but here are some great things, via cut and paste.
“Milliken has introduced 180 Walls, a PVC-free textile wallcovering that hangs without paste, can be removed years later without damage to walls, is made of 100% recycled fiber and is breathable rather than impenetrable like vinyl, which helps to inhibit mold – all good environmental attributes. As for durability and cleanability, Milliken says 180 Walls excels in both and passes vinyl performance requirements.”
Technically it’s for commercial applications, but still a good thing.
I had a teensy-weensy apartment where I couldn’t do anything like paint or paper the walls but I needed to decorate the boring off-white walls. And so, I measured the area of my kitchen walls… bought fabric and stuck it up with liquid starch.
You soak the fabric in a dishpan full of Vano or other liquid starch. Then you squeeze it out and smoothe it on the walls, doing all of your smoothing with a firm, damp sponge. Overlap your edges. When it dries, it is stuck on the wall. Get an X-acto knife and ruler and trim the extra edges.
If the fabric bubbles or warps, spray it with spray starch and use a damp sponge to smooth it all back.
I had a tiny blue-and-white print on the walls for YEARS. I got dark blue bias tape to starch up along the ceiling. It looked as sweet and crisp as a day at the beach– which was nice, as I lived at the beach at the time. *s* And when you are tired of it, loosen an edge and pull it down. Wash the fabric and give it to a quilter in your life.
I put up a retro 1930′s fabric in my kitchen after I took down the blue and white. If I recall correctly, it cost less than $60 USD to re-do my kitchen walls (it was tiny).
My landlord never had an issue because the fabric did not damage the walls and I pulled it down when I moved out. It IS messy to put it up and your hands get sticky-gicky but the look was tremendous. Everyone who came over commented on my kitchen.
I would not use it in a bathroom, though, because of the moisture from the shower… might make it too hard to keep the fabric flush and flat. But like I said, had that fabric up in my kitchen for more than ten years and it looked great. Cheaper than wallpaper and is is recylable!
~In L.A.~
@mrs. dullgrin: OMG, NO. No, no, no no no. Decorators do that, yes, because they don’t have to deal with application, maintenance, or removal. Worst idea ever. Four rooms in my old house were done in fabric, and it’s just an unmitigated disaster. Collects dirt like mad, impossible to clean, an utter wretch to remove, and it’s more prone to mold than you could believe.
This house also had painted-over wallpaper (in layers, like a giant sandwich — paper, paper, paint, paper, paint, paper, paper, paper, paint paint paint; oh, the horror), so I’m prejudiced against paper, in general, a bit.
So, I always advise paint. It’s cheap, it’s easy, you can always paint over it, if the color’s wrong you can have it adjusted, and it’s not going to drive a future resident bonkers. There are a lot of gorgeous stencil patterns that look amazingly like brocade, and I bet you could do just about any print you could think of. True, it’s plastic, but a lot of wallpaper is vinyl, which is just evil, and the paste is full of who-knows-what.
Check out your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Every time I go in there is an entire shelf of wallpaper rolls. FULL rolls. At least enough to do an accent wall in the same pattern, and many times a whole room.
I guess it’s not VOC free… but it certainly is keeping it out of the landfill!
Hey, vinyl isn’t the worst thing in the world. Besides being able to last pretty much forever (which gives it a great life cycle assessment) there are some products out there with recycled content and companies that will recycle vinyl wallcovering. And then you get to put it on the wall with some low VOC adhesive. The maintenance is really easy too cause all you have to do is wipe it down every once and a while. Here’s an article to read up on… http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/firstever_recyc.php
First timer here and so far I’m loving what I’m reading. I’m somewhat disappointed that I discovered your blog just when you’re finishing your challenge. At least there’s 365 days worth of archives to go through
Anyways I want to mention some environmentally-friendly wallpaper I found online >>
http://www.ecocentric.co.uk/acatalog/eco_centric_eco_friendly_wallpaper_eco_highway.html#
How cool is the print? Unfortunately it’s UK site so I haven’t got a clue whether they’ll ship internationally.
Hope you enjoy your last days (sounds kinda ominous . . . probably should rephrase this)
As an expert in this field, there are few ecological products available however a natural textile is a preferred way to go for those that do dot enjoy plastic in their homes. We sell products like the Original Madagascar Cloth which is woven in the Phillipines and is made of natural fibres.
Steve Abrams
WallpaperWeekly.com
MadagascarWallpaper.com
DesignerWallcoverings.com
Handmade Jewelry…
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