New Zealand’s Wallpaper Experts Since 1960
Today we conducted an experiment to see hands on what happens when the booking/ relaxing time is skipped or cut short. This booking time is crucial in ensuring the performance of the wallpaper. During the booking time the wallpaper is absorbing the moisture from the water trough/ paste and is slowly expanding 5-7mm. When skipped this expansion of 5-7mm is happening on the wall. Once the joins are butted up the wallpaper continues to grow causing lifting seams, wrinkling and bubbling throughout the wallpaper – a nightmare! To ensure this doesn’t happen follow the manufacturers label for the recommended booking time to allow your wallpaper to absorb correctly.
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Join our team today as they do a practical training session on pre-pasted wallpaper. Pre-pasted wallpaper is made up of wood fibres, with paste powder on the backing paper. To apply this wallpaper you first need to pre cut your drops, soak in the water for approx. 15 seconds, book/relax for 8 minutes (depending on the wallpaper), and then apply to the wall. It is important to ensure the wallpaper books/relaxes for the recommended time to allow the wallpaper to expand 5mm-7mm before it touches the wall.
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Pattern matching wallpaper can seem daunting but I promise it is way easier than you think! Get familiar with your design, know where it repeats and what the pattern match is. Depending on the design some may be harder to spot than others. Even lay your rolls down before touching the wall to see where the design repeats. Start at the top of the wall, working your way down approx. 1m – 1.5m. From here the rest of the drop will fall in line. Work your way down the seam (be careful not to overwork), and you will slowly see your wall starting to take shape!
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Today’s tip is about navigating our website to find stock availability. On our website stock availability can be found under the general “Stock Check” page through typing in the pattern number and clicking “submit”. If you’re browsing through products you can also get an overview of stock availability at the top of the page under SKU. Here you can also find lead times if products are out of stock. We wanted to make our website as user friendly as possible to easily find stock and lead times.
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Cutting around a window can seem daunting but planned properly isn’t too scary! Work out first what the best way to tackle the window is – plan your work then work your plan. Following a normal square cut process feel for the corner/edge and cut away from the corner on a 45 degree angle. Start small and make bigger if needed. Smooth down all the edges to ensure everything is sitting straight and as expected. Now trim off the excess wallpaper around the scotia, skirting and window frames! P.s helps to have a really sharp knife!
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Here’s some tips for mixing granulated paste and size! ✨ Keep the water moving ✨ Pour the granules in slowly to the moving water ✨ Check the dilution requirements for the wallpaper you are installing
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The template for cutting around a squared object can be translated to windows, mirrors, door frames and more! We are demonstrating using a mirror. First you are going to find the corner point of the mirror and cut towards the corner. Start small and increase the cut as you need. Now you have eased up the tension by creating two flaps. Trim the excess pieces of wallpaper using a straight edge and sharp knife. Tip for cutting: keep your sharp knife into the wall the entire cut to avoid creating new starting points.
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Today we walk you through the steps to achieve a wallpapered beam. To keep with the flow of wallpaper featured on adjoining walls this client opted to incorporate wallpaper into the entire space. Rather than working vertically this instal meant taking the roll horizontally across the wall, wrapping around and splicing.
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Switching out your plumb bob for a self levelling laser will level up (😉) your installation game! 💪 One of the critical parts of installing wallpaper is ensuring your first drop is straight. By setting up your first drop of wallpaper well the rest of your wall will fall in line beautifully! If your first drop isn’t straight you will struggle with alignment as you work your way down the wall. Our self levelling lasers are super compact and easy to take on the move (plus multi purpose beyond wallpapering). Code: LASER - RRP: $139.99
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Paste the wall wallpaper has innovative properties which makes installation and removal so much easier! Removing wallpaper is never the most fun part of a project, but it paves the way for amazing transformations! The best way to ensure the front layer comes off in one piece is to hold the corners of the drop and walk directly backwards. From here you should be left with the backing paper. Using a weed sprayer or damp cloth dampen the paper activating the paste. Once the paste is activated the backing paper should lift off the wall easily!
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Reverse hang is a type of pattern match that can be found as an alternating arrows symbol. For reverse hang it is crucial to ensure that every second drop is alternating directions. The reason for this is due to plain wallpaper having a slightly lighter and darker edge - sometimes so slight you can’t see it with the naked eye. By reversing every second drop the light edge is matched against the light and the dark edge against the dark. With different wallpapers the degree in light/ dark shading can vary, however if the label has this symbol ALWAYS alternate lengths!
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Wall preparation is crucial to ensure a solid foundation for wallpaper and the best longevity. Adhesion issues can arise when proper wall preparation is not followed. Three key prep steps… 🔑 Seal the wall 🔑 Sand the wall (80-grit sandpaper) 🔑 Size the wall. Sealing ensures a uniform finish, especially when working with lighter coloured wallpapers. Sanding with an 80- grit sandpaper creates grooves in the wall giving your wallpaper something to grip to. Sizing is crucial in stopping over absorption of paste into the wall, acting as a membrane.
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Today’s tip is all about the direction of wallpaper on a roll! You may not know but not all wallpaper comes off the roll as you would expect. Depending on the manufacturing process you may need to unwind and rewind the roll so it comes off the top in the intended direction. If your roll does come off ”upside down” this is a super easy fix and is not a fault of the wallpaper. Remember, when you check the rolls prior to installation it can save future disappointment if an issue were to arise!
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For today’s tip we walk you through how to cut around a light switch using scissors rather than a standard craft knife or blade. Opting to use scissors can give more precision and control to cutting wallpaper. Either technique works effectively, however using scissors could be an easier way for trimming around tricky objects if you aren’t as comfortable with a blade.
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Splicing is wallpaper magic! 🪄 Splicing is a double cut through both layers of wallpaper to create a new seam. It makes tricky spots easier to navigate and helps you save on wastage. Perfect for meeting in the middle of a wall.
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Our website has a super cool feature of a Wallpaper Visualiser which allows you to upload an image of your room and get a glimpse of what your wallpaper will look like. Now you can make some magic with our visualiser! We LOVE this tool, it works wonders 😍
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A handy tip for working around a doorframe is leaving a space approximately 2cm from the top of the frame. This holds the wallpaper in place making your cut easier and more precise!
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Here we demonstrate how to trim the wallpaper along the scotia and skirting. Below are a few key takeaway points to help with your next project. 💡Create an indent in the paper where you will make the cut 💡Use a sharp craft knife - this is important! 💡Straight edge needs to be steady, use your fingers behind the handle to position properly 💡Don’t cut directly into the wall but up/down into the skirting or scotia 💡Keep your knife in the wall the entire cut, only moving your straight edge.
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Welcome to Tuesday Tips! Here we intro what this series is about - a place to share handy tips and tricks about all things wallpaper! If you have any requests for topic ideas let our team know.
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