I can honestly say the last wallpaper border I installed was probably around 2000 or 2001. They were everywhere and then they were gone. The same with pre-pasted vinyl wallpaper. Every other job was a Waverly or Shumacher pre-pasted vinyl. Soak it in the tub for 2 minutes and hang it before it dried. No matter how good the seams were made, it shrank about a foot when it dried and curled off the wall. I hate to admit that a lot of those installs were followed by a quick trip to the bank to cash the check before “the paper dried”. No one liked the end results, but that is what was out there.
Fast forward 20 years and Brewster is reinventing the pre-pasted vinyl world. Marketed as “Sure Strip,” this stuff works. It is non-woven now so it doesn’t expand and shrink. The adhesive is much better and the back is sprayed with a small sprayer rather than soaking. It is booked for a couple of minutes and taken to the wall.
Below is a nursery we just installed with Brewster “Clouds” and a pirate border. The seams are invisible and it dries tight to the wall. This was a fun little project and took me down memory lane. Little Damien (6.5 lbs, 10 fingers and 10 toes) decided to arrive a little early so a late night was needed before he came home from the hospital.
Here is another Sure Strip project we just installed in Anthropology’s showroom in Georgetown. Great color ways, great patterns and invisible seams. This stuff is a real treat to hang. This is a Paule Marrot Parrot in pink and teal.
And last but not least a York Wallcoverings Sure Strip installed on a 12 foot tall ceiling at the Oakland Mansion Restoration Project we just completed. I tried to talk them out of this but architect insisted. A light coat of Roman 880 on the ceiling first, an hour to dry and then hang the Sure Strip by wetting the back according to the instructions. It actually came out great. I would have never been able to install the old pre-pasted products from 2001 on a ceiling.
So now that pre-pasted vinyl is hot again, how long until sponge painting and other jailhouse faux techniques make their way back to DC?? I’m bidding a sponge project at a boutique hotel this week… Stay tuned.