Exclusive Wall Covering

2023 Author: Douglas Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:23

After wandering through the wallpaper bricks and specialty shops, I was disheartened. Firstly, I drew attention to one detail: wallpaper in company stores is quite expensive, and thirty meters from them lively old women sell at first glance the same, but much cheaper. Or do they have more direct contacts with suppliers, so there is less wrapping per roll? Either there are other mysterious reasons: The deep meaning of this phenomenon has remained a mystery to me. And, secondly, all around - both in stores and with old women - the same thing, in terms of colors and assortment. And so you want something extraordinary. For the guests to come and gasp: Is it really ordinary wallpaper ?! And I would answer: No, this is an exclusive option, two or three more people have the same, and even then - the diplomats of the non-aligned countries.

But it is not for nothing that they say: He who seeks will always find. I found it too. And now I can advise competently how to decorate the walls exclusively.

VELOR WALLPAPER

Velor wallpaper trade mark (France)

Psychologists believe that since childhood a person has a craving for everything soft. Remember how many of us fell asleep hugging a teddy bear? With age, carpets, carpets, upholstered furniture and finally … velor wallpaper become a soft toy. They look gorgeous, for example, in a billiard room. The twilight of the room, brightly lit tables, green cloth wonderfully harmonize with the velor walls. The fleecy surface of the wallpaper absorbs sound, muffling conversations and pounding balls.

By the way, the process of making this wallpaper is very curious. The velor pattern is applied to the paper base with glue. First, the paper roll goes into a special roll. Nylon villi, sorted by size (about 0.75 mm long), rush there. A grid rotates over the paper, creating an electromagnetic field. Here we must remember the laws of physics. The fact is that the lines of force of the electromagnetic field have a vertical direction, so the nylon fibers fall perpendicular to the surface of the paper and stick to it. Then the paper is fed into the oven. There, at a temperature of 140 ° C, the glue hardens, and the fibers are firmly attached to the base. Then the paper is cut into rolls and each roll is packed in a separate box.

This is how the process of velor wallpaper production looks like at the French company Societe Francaise de Papier Pins, founded in 1881 and located in a small town 60 km from Paris. It is there that the velor wallpaper and borders of the trade mark (Essef) are produced and sold. The price of a roll of velor wallpaper is about $ 30, a border - $ 16. The factory makes velor wallpapers in limited quantities, so they are sold by catalog.

ADVANTAGES:

Absorb sound, look good. In bright sunlight and artificial lighting, the wallpaper becomes brighter. Drawing as it were.

LIMITATIONS:

Collect dust, wipe off mechanical stress.

HOW TO GLUE:

The wallpaper is heavy, so be sure to use the so-called strong glue for heavy wallpaper. The canvases smeared with glue are applied to the wall with a brush with a long and soft silk bristle (in no case should nylon brushes be used). The wallpaper is ironed vertically, evenly, without pressing hard. You need to cut them off with a special knife with a new blade. Overlapping canvases should be avoided. Remove traces of glue with a slightly moistened sponge.

HARD VINYL

Wallpaper of a Belgian firm made of hard vinyl marble effect

There is probably no need to explain what vinyl is. We first saw this material in the form of black vinyl records. But over time, many other things began to be made from vinyl, including wallpaper: just vinyl, foam vinyl, silk-screen printing. The Belgian company Arte offers a new type of exclusive hard vinyl wallpaper. It is much denser and harder than normal wallpaper. Imitates a wide variety of materials: Venetian plaster, coarse brush painting, leather, silk, gouache, watercolor, matting, paper.

To be honest: when I came to one firm, I could not believe for a long time that the walls were covered with wallpaper, and not covered with plaster. And when I was asked to find the place where the pieces of wallpaper meet, I nodded for a long time, but I never found anything. Of course, such a high-quality pasting requires a perfectly flat wall. Wallpaper made of hard vinyl has a huge repeat (pattern repetition) - from 64 to 100 cm, unlike ordinary wallpaper, in which the pattern is repeated after about 10 - 30 cm. The width of a roll of hard vinyl wallpaper is also larger than usual - not 53, but 70 cm.

The production of such wallpaper requires large printing rollers, which is expensive. Therefore, 1 square meter of these wallpapers costs $ 5-6. This means that a room of 20 square meters (4 x 5) with a wall height of 3 m will require slightly less than 54 square meters of wallpaper [2 x (4 x 3) + 2 x (5 x 3) = 54]. We multiply the resulting area by the average price of 1 square meter of wallpaper and we get $ 297 (54 x 5.5). But it's still cheaper than plastering or painting. For comparison: the price of plaster together with work is from 40 to 200 $ per sq.m.

And a few more words about the company. It is rather a design bureau, where they develop not only collections of wallpapers and borders made of hard vinyl, but also upholstery fabrics for them, curtains, tulle and even blankets.

ADVANTAGES:

They do not fade, have high moisture resistance and strength, can be intensively washed with a brush and detergents (except for chlorine-containing ones). Perfectly smooth edges.

LIMITATIONS:

They require a perfectly aligned wall surface (if this can be considered a disadvantage), otherwise the joint will be slightly noticeable, as with conventional pasting.

HOW TO GLUE:

Glued end-to-end with glue for heavy wallpaper.

DELUSION:

Many people think that the main disadvantage of vinyl wallpaper is that it is. Of course, in comparison with paper ones, they let in air and moisture much less, but they still let through. Proving this is simple: the glue underneath dries out even when glued to a glass surface. And in general, we still breathe mainly through the walls, fresh air usually enters through windows and ventilation.

FELT WALLPAPERS

As you know, felt is a thin felt pressed from soft fibers. So, felt wallpaper is made of acrylic, polyester and microfiber fibers. Felt wallpapers breathe more intensively than paper, and on the wall they look absolutely like fabric. It seems that this is a soft pile, combed to one side. Unlike textile wallpaper, any stains on felt wallpaper can be washed off with a soft sponge (copious foam plus plenty of water).

One more nuance: felt wallpapers are sold not in rolls, but in running meters. This is done in order to reduce waste. The fact is that such wallpapers are not cheap. For example, wallpaper by the Belgian company Arte with a width of 0.7 m will cost from $ 13.2 to $ 17.6 per meter.

ADVANTAGES:

Looks like fabric on the wall. The joint between the panels is not noticeable. This wallpaper can be washed with a soft sponge.

HOW TO GLUE:

The glue is applied not to the wallpaper, but to the wall, since the wallpaper has a very porous structure. If the panel is heavily saturated with glue, it will become very heavy and difficult to work with.

METAL WALLPAPERS

Metallic wallpaper of a Belgian company

It turns out that there are some. It really is metal foil. It is attached to a non-woven base (it holds metal wallpaper on the wall better than paper). The drawing is applied to the metal with paint. The interior looks simply gorgeous with this wallpaper. They are usually bought to decorate bars or restaurants, but in private apartments, where there are many metal parts, they look good. Collections of fabrics have been developed especially for these wallpapers. Price - $ 25 per running meter (roll width - 0.685 m). According to my calculations, a room with an area of 20 square meters and a height of 3 m walls will cost about $ 1350.

ADVANTAGES:

Wallpaper does not fade over time, does not lose its shine, does not fade.

LIMITATIONS:

Like any metal, they can be scratched.

HOW TO GLUE:

Need a strong glue for heavy wallpaper. Consider this detail: when gluing metal wallpaper, you must definitely turn off the electricity, since they conduct current perfectly. After the glue is dry, the non-woven backing will insulate the metal foil. But in any case, the wiring should not touch the wallpaper.

PAPER WALLPAPERS

Richmond company. Wallpaper collection 2000 -. Paper, self-adhesive, lightfast.

If until now I have not said anything about paper wallpapers, this does not mean at all that there is nothing extraordinary among them. Surely there are many conservatives who are firmly convinced that wallpaper should only be paper and nothing else.

Then the products of the Dutch company (Eijffinger) are quite suitable for them. Any collection of these wallpapers is unique. There is not a single drawing of those that are sold in ordinary stores. For a year, designers develop from 7 to 10 catalogs, in which about 70 types of wallpaper are presented. Moreover, any collection is removed from production in a couple of years and new developments are launched. This is a huge amount of work and naturally reflects in the price of the wallpaper. One roll of 0.53 x 10m costs about $ 16.

The paper of such wallpapers is impregnated with a special composition, so they can be wiped with a damp cloth or sponge. Fabrics and tulle can be matched to the selected wallpaper.

I don't know if it is possible to classify children's paper wallpapers as elite, but I really want to talk about the products of the French company Lutece. There are no sore Mickey Mouse and Disney cartoon characters here. All the drawings are very cute and unusual: some especially for girls, others for boys. There are, for example, series for teenagers. The price for wallpaper is $ 8-10 for a standard roll (0.53 x 10 m).

ADVANTAGES: Do not fade, paper does not turn yellow, can be wiped with a damp sponge.

LIMITATIONS:

The service life of paper wallpapers is less than vinyl ones.

HOW TO GLUE:

Any glue for paper wallpaper will work.

FABRIC, OR TEXTILE WALLPAPERS

German company textile wallpaper

This wallpaper is a kind of tribute to tradition. Their ancestors appeared at a time when there was no trace of paper wallpaper, and the walls were upholstered with fabric. Today, fabric wallpaper is an element of prestige. They will immediately emphasize the wealth of the inhabitants of the house.

The selection of textile wallpapers is quite large. The German company Rasch produces two types of these wallpapers. One option is fabric is glued to a paper base, the other is parallel dyed threads glued together. Which is better? Difficult question. True, German textile wallpaper from Rush will cost from $ 10 to $ 41 per roll (roll size 0.53 x 10 m).

Textile wallpaper of corridors, children's rooms - in general, places where they can easily get dirty. But in bedrooms, offices, living rooms, fabric wallpapers feel great.

Paper-based woven wallpaper is glued as usual. True, when spreading a piece of wallpaper with glue, you must carefully ensure that the glue does not flow to the outside and does not leave stains. By the way, the company is now switching to the production of textile wallpaper on a non-woven basis. This material, unlike paper, does not expand when wet, so the wallpaper can be glued to a wall covered with glue. With this technique, the stickers are less likely to stain the wallpaper.

The materials used to make textile wallpaper are diverse: cotton, viscose, polyester, etc. Keep in mind: the more natural threads, the more expensive the wallpaper. Although, on the other hand, natural material is bad in that it fade faster and does not have such an even color as synthetic fiber. Therefore, when you buy wallpaper with a high content of natural threads, it would be good to unfold them before pasting and estimate how they will look on the wall, whether the shades of color will differ.

ADVANTAGES:

Nice, prestigious, wallpaper, absorb noise.

LIMITATIONS:

Requires super-neat pasting, can only withstand dry cleaning.

HOW TO GLUE:

Paper-based wallpaper is carefully spread with glue, allowed to lie down for 5-10 minutes, and then applied to the wall. Wallpaper on a non-woven base is applied to the wall, which has already been coated with glue. This method is faster and more convenient. But the Belgian company Bekaert Texstiles is struggling with the main drawback of fabric wallpaper - noticeable joints - in a very peculiar way. It produces the so-called seamless fabric wallpaper. A roll of such wallpaper is 2.7 m wide, which is approximately equal to the average height of rooms. Before proceeding with gluing, the platbands are removed from the doors in the room. Unwind the roll and begin to gradually glue the fabric from one corner throughout the room, including windows and doors. After the whole room has been cut out in this way, window and door openings are cut out, and platbands are put on the doors. In this way,it turns out just one seam in the corner.

However, there is one thing: perfectly smooth walls and corners are needed. Although it is possible to improve the situation if one piece of wallpaper is pasted on only one wall. The second piece goes to the other. Etc. Then all the joints are in the corners, which is also good.

Another advantage of these wallpapers is that they have a vinyl base, not a paper one. Vinyl does not allow glue to pass through, which means the fabric will not get dirty. The top of the wallpaper is treated with Teflon impregnation. Any liquid (red wine, water, etc.) is not absorbed, but rather rolls off them. In addition, the material is antistatic and does not attract dust. The price of fabric wallpaper Beckart Textile is $ 25 per sq.m.

ADVANTAGES:

They look spectacular. They are glued practically without seams. Synthetic base outward adhesive. Teflon and antistatic coatings protect the wallpaper from stains and dust.

LIMITATIONS:

It is necessary that the walls and corners are perfectly even. The wallpaper must not be washed - it will stain. Only dry cleaning is needed.

HOW TO GLUE:

Glued with glue for heavy wallpaper. So, if you dream of making your home different from others, believe me: exclusive wallpapers can cope with this task. Just take into account that:

• they are more expensive than usual, although this is a quite reasonable price for their non-standard, individual design and more complex production technology and quality;

  all types of such wallpaper require a perfectly flat wall surface;

  a specialist should glue them.

But such wallpapers are not found on every corner in any store, which means that your apartment will not look like others. And you don't have to run around looking for suitable curtains, tulle, upholstery fabrics, blankets. All this you will be offered to choose from special collections designed in addition to the wallpaper. And I think you can still strain yourself and save money for this exclusive. One has only to want.