ROOM BEAUTIFUL

NZ Truth, Issue 1216, 21 March 1929, Page 10

ROOM BEAUTIFUL

Is Wall-paper Wise 'or ■ Otherwise ?'..-'

AMATEUR EFFORTS ■■How very muck if> conveyed ."by the words "between four walls." The Avails of your home show peace and beauty,, or ugliness and discontent. • This is an age of decorative psychology, so consider your wall-papers.

v BUT the way of the amateur paper- • hanger is beset by pitfalls. , The first thing to be considered U the light and location of the rooms you wish to paper. Never paper s dark room with dark paper, or a roon' with a glaHng aspect In white. Small rooms are better with plain or small patterned papers. A iiuiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

larger room can stand bigger patterns, or panellings, if you prefer it. . . Papers of all grades and' patterns can be bought. Canvas, chintz, tapestry, rough plasters, m shades of grey, autumn, buff — oh, ever so many differing shades. Cut-out friezes look very well, especially round low walls. Cheap papers arc IS inches wide, . but .m general (the width is ,22 inches. On Australian papers the roll is 8 yards, English rolls 12 yards and American 16 yards.

A wall with a bad surface must havi a lining paper if it Is to look reall: 8 B mCej. Anyway, before beginning opera i tions, have the wall thoroughly cleat and smooth. Cut your paper into the righ lengths, cutting both "selvedges" frori it. This makes it lie flatter oh thi ii wall than if you only cut one off. Now comes the important Consideration of paste. ♦ Honie-made paste; have to have borax or bluestone added to keep the insect world from indulging m an, orgy of delight at the owners expense. Plaster- walls must be painted with size before papering. Size kills the action of the piaster, which would otherwise stain the paper. When everything is reQ.dy anci just so, spread the- paper face downwards on the table, and paint lightly with paste^ applied with a broad whitewash type of brush. Now place against the wall, being very careful to have it perfectly straight, and edge exactly matching edge. Press against, the wail and smooth with a soft and perfectly clean rag. . Lastly, apply the border, cut m lengths and pasted on just' the same way. Often very beautiful, but ambitious and likely to be doomed , to failure, are the walls lined with silks or tapestries. This is really, the professional's job.

to oe tacicea. 10 a light frame the exact size oi the panelling and this affixed to the wall, as there must b« air space between it and the wall. . T'he edges • are finished with a kind of braid. The whole thing is very expensive and quite likely to have _ stuffy effect. Washable wallpapers are quite a gooc plan. Grease ma.rks car often be removed by rubbing with the crumb part ol stale bread. . It is almosi certain t h a • everyone ovei the age o: twenty h a i some one o; more horrlbl fun recollection o: a childhood*

illness spent m a room with patterne( wallpaper. Patterns ' that assumed strangi shapes m the half lights, or had unevei numbers of this or that bit of patten to plague a feverish child. Flower with bulldog faces, or bunches of ber rles with the same number on . eacl bunch — but you simply had to coun each Separately just m case there wa "some horrible mistake!" Let your own fancy halve- its swaj but have a due regard m choosini lines and patterns for the day on whic: the liver may feel a little upset, am the, lines and patterns turn to waving twisting irritations.