Author Archives: LeRue

Cat Scratch Fever

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One of the most valuable wallpaper installation ‘tricks’ I learned from watching a professional installer was the process of double cutting through two layers of wallpaper to make an ‘invisible’ repair on a damaged section of wallpaper. It is relatively simple to execute and the same technique works for extending coverage on a wall when you are a little short of the last strip, or in those situations where you need to repair your own trimming mistake.

Let’s imagine your cat tears your wallpaper while attacking the peacock in the design motif. If you are like most people who wallpaper, you have kept some leftover wallpaper in your closet or attic, even though you were never sure why. And occasionally when you’ve come across these hidden scraps you’ve probably thought, “Why in the world are we saving this useless junk?” Well the day your dining room wallpaper gets damaged is the day that useless junk becomes valuable.

When that day arrives, armed only with your newly valued wallpaper scraps, a wallpaper trim knife and smoother (and if your wallpaper is un-pasted, some pre-mixed wallpaper adhesive) you will be able to make your damaged wall look as good as new.

Start by cutting a section from one of your leftover scraps, making sure it contains enough of the pattern to completely cover and match the damaged area and still allow for a final trim.

Next you will need to moisten the wallpaper around the tear to loosen the adhesive and allow the damaged section to be removed. This can be accomplished by first using a knife to score the area you plan to remove and then taping a wet sponge over the wallpaper long enough to allow moisture to penetrate the paper – usually 5 minutes will do it.

At the same time, prepare the newly cut piece which will serve as your repair patch.
If it is a pre-pasted paper, simply wet the back and loosely fold it paste to paste so that the paste won’t dry out while exposed to the air. This also allows the scrap to relax and expand before being positioned on the wall. If it is un-pasted, you will need to apply paste to cover the entire back and then fold it as instructed above.

Now comes the critical part of matching the pattern. Place your wallpaper patch on top of the old wallpaper covering the damaged area, making sure the over-lapped patterns match.

Smooth it out with a wallpaper smoother and allow the paste to set for a few minutes. Your next step will be to cut through both layers of paper with the intention of cutting out the damaged area on the original layer while simultaneously cutting a replacement piece from the overlaid patch. 

But first, decide strategically where you want to make the cut. If the pattern allows it, plan your cut along the lines of a printed pattern to make the eventual trim cut less visible. Once you have decided where your cut will be, use your trim knife to make a deep cut, penetrating both layers of paper, completely encircling the damaged area.

After you have accomplished that, temporarily lift the trimmed patch including the fresh cut outline you made in the patch. Then remove the damaged paper underneath from within the duplicate cut made on the original layer of wallpaper. What you will have left is an open wall area into which the new fresh cut replacement piece fits perfectly, like the last remaining piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

Smooth the edges of the patch where it now meets the original wallpaper, and, TA-DAH, you have a perfectly fitted repair, invisible to the naked eye. And no one will ever suspect that your perfect little pet was ever naughty – unless they heard about that nasty little canary incident, but that’s another story.

Cruising From the Golf

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I was hoping to take a golf vacation this summer. Instead I went on a cruise. Up until that point in my life I had successfully managed to avoid cruises. But when my wife chose a European cruise to celebrate a milestone anniversary, I had no choice but to take it like a man – right after I completed a sufficient period of whining and sulking.

Other than my recollections of Love Boat and Titanic, I really didn’t have any first hand knowledge of cruising. But I had some definite pre-conceived ideas about what to expect: Excessive eating. Excessive drinking. Cheesy entertainment. Shuffleboard. Bingo. Speedos. Foreigners. Boy was I wrong! There wasn’t any Bingo!

But despite the gluttony and occasional sightings of men wearing inappropriate swim attire, it turned out to be a terrific vacation. Our ports of call read like a Roman Empire tour – from Rome, through Greece and into Turkey. I learned a lot about ancient civilizations. I saw the influence of Roman & Greek architecture on modern buildings. And I saw how many of our current, classic wall motifs first emerged thousands of years ago, like the acanthus leaf, scroll and Greek key.

As a bonus, I elevated my speech. Just by inserting a few foreign sounding words into a conversation I now sound wiser and more worldly:
Me, at cocktail party: ‘My wife and I just returned from Santorini. It’s one of the Cyclides Islands in the Aegean Sea. Let me show you photos of our cruise on my i-phone”
Impressed Party guest: “I have to go now.”

So instead of boring people at cocktail parties with stories about my golf game, I can talk about foreign cultures and ancient civilizations, the Acropolis in Athens, the Greco Roman theatre in Taormina, or the Greek philosopher Euripides. I am now capable of boring people in a much more sophisticated way.

And for me, the memories still linger. I will never forget the day we visited the ancient Olympiad, standing at one end of the stadium on the very spot that athletes stood thousands of years earlier. I was staring at the other end of the stadium imagining what it must have been like. And as I stood there in the realization of this incredible moment, one thought kept running through my head – “I wonder if I can reach the other end of the stadium with a pitching wedge, or would I need a nine iron?”

I’m still working on this sophistication thing, but Rome wasn’t built in a day either.

From A to Zebra

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I continue to be amazed at the amount of wallpaper designs our studio produces each year.  And often those designs have an interesting history.

When he purchased a silk tie in the early 1980’s, Ronald Redding, our VP of Design had no way of knowing it would serve as inspiration for one of his own designs thirty years later. As Ron told me:

Back when our management team wore suits to work, I had a large collection of ties. And naturally, I was drawn to the more unique designs. During one of my many trips to historic Williamsburg I purchased a zebra-print tie. The color and artistry really attracted me, but I don’t think I ever wore the tie.

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