Wallpaper Border

One of the easiest ways to update a room without spending a lot of money or time is by adding wallpaper border. Wallpaper border is available in a wide variety of colors, themes, and styles to enhance the look of any room in your home. Many stores carry wallpaper borders, so it's also easy to find. But although the installation is very simple, there are some things you should consider before beginning your project.

The first thing you must decide is the type of look you're going for. Wallpaper border is most commonly used at the top of the walls all the way around the room. But you can also install it around the middle of the room, where chair rail molding would normally go. If you choose to put wallpaper border around the middle of the room, you'll likely want a narrower border than you would install around the top of the walls. Nursery wallpaper borders are great because they should be fairly easy to remove when your baby gets older. Consider the color of your room when choosing the border. Do you want a border with similar colors to blend in or one with contrasting colors to really add an accent? Are you installing the border in a bathroom, child's bedroom, or other room? Do you want square border or one with a decorative edge?

Next, you must decide what type of wallpaper border you want to install. Border typically comes in one of two styles: self-adhesive or pre-pasted. Self-adhesive border installs easily. You just peel it from the roll, stick it up, and you're done. Some people do find, however, that the self-adhesive border does not stick very well. In this case, wallpaper paste must be applied to the back of the border to ensure a good bond with the wall. With the pre-pasted kind, you must wet the back of the border to activate the adhesive before hanging it, just like you'd do with regular wallpaper. However, you would not use water on pre-pasted border if you are installing it on top of wallpaper. In that case, no matter which type of border you choose, you will need a special vinyl-to-vinyl adhesive to ensure the border sticks to the wallpaper.

Once you've made those two decisions, you are ready to buy your wallpaper border. Border is generally sold in 5 yard, or 15 foot rolls, but this can vary by manufacturer. You should buy all the border at one time, making sure that each roll has the same lot or run number on it. This will ensure that all your border is an exact match, without any variations in color from roll to roll. Always round up when determining the number of rolls you need, and buy one full roll extra in case of future repairs that would require more border. Be aware of this especially when buying discount wallpaper borders because you don't want to end up with rolls that do not match or are faded.

Hanging Wallpaper Border

Now you're ready to hang your wallpaper border. The best place to begin hanging the border is in the corner over the room's door-the one that is not seen when someone walking by looks into the room. This way, if your border's pattern does not match up exactly when you make your way around the room back to the starting point, it won't be noticeable unless you're actually in the room. Take care to hang the border as straight as possible. This can be difficult if your walls are not exactly square, but hanging shorter sections at one time can help make this easier. When cutting sections or border for hanging, try to make your cuts in an inconspicuous part of the border, between major pattern features. For example, don't cut through the middle of a flower or other motif.

As you can see, wallpaper border is an easy way to add beauty to a room without a permanent commitment to one particular style. This makes it an especially good choice if you like to change your decor often, yet it's durable enough to last for years in a room if you don't want to change it anytime soon.