Painted Wallpaper

by | Jun 3, 2021 | Uncategorized

A designer called me with a dilemma. He had a long-term customer with a bathroom that had been wallpapered 30 years prior; it was suffering from extensive mildew damage and was badly in need of a re-do. The problem was, having lived with it for so long, they were unable to decide on a new paper and couldn’t imagine having anything different.

Before – 30 year old wallpaper and border
Mildewed paper
The vanity sink also had the same border design and they didn’t want to start ripping out cabinetry and getting involved with plumbing.

Vintage sink

I suggested we replicate the wallpaper, border and all, with a painted version that wouldn’t be susceptible to mildew. The customer was delighted with the idea, though everybody had their doubts as to how I was going to reproducing the border.

Luckily, the helpful folks at the Stencil Library were able to assist me. I sent them a section of the border and I must admit I had my doubts but they produced a seven-part overlay stencil that made my job a breeze.

To give you some idea of how close we nailed it, here is a section of the original border
Before – original paper border
and here is a section of the painted border
After – faux, painted border
The old border had some questionable placement, so when I painted it back in I positioned it correctly. Here’s a before and after of the border showing how accurate the stencil was—the righthand image is all paint!
Before – old border, questionable placement
After – faux, painted border, correct placement
The stripe had faded over the years, but the customer had a preserved piece of the wallpaper and I was able to match the original color and detail. She was delighted with the end result and said that it looked better than it did 30 years prior!

A designer called me with a dilemma. He had a long-term customer with a bathroom that had been wallpapered 30 years prior; it was suffering from extensive mildew damage and was badly in need of a re-do. The problem was, having lived with it for so long, they were unable to decide on a new paper and couldn’t imagine having anything different.

Before – 30 year old wallpaper and border
Mildewed paper
The vanity sink also had the same border design and they didn’t want to start ripping out cabinetry and getting involved with plumbing.
Vintage sink

I suggested we replicate the wallpaper, border and all, with a painted version that wouldn’t be susceptible to mildew. The customer was delighted with the idea, though everybody had their doubts as to how I was going to reproducing the border.

Luckily, the helpful folks at the Stencil Library were able to assist me. I sent them a section of the border and I must admit I had my doubts but they produced a seven-part overlay stencil that made my job a breeze.

To give you some idea of how close we nailed it, here is a section of the original border
Before – original paper border

and here is a section of the painted border

After – faux, painted border
The old border had some questionable placement, so when I painted it back in I positioned it correctly. Here’s a before and after of the border showing how accurate the stencil was—the righthand image is all paint!
Before – old border, questionable placement
After – faux, painted border, correct placement
The stripe had faded over the years, but the customer had a preserved piece of the wallpaper and I was able to match the original color and detail. She was delighted with the end result and said that it looked better than it did 30 years prior!