The Little Greene Blog

Wallpaper in a room or on a feature wall can add an interesting level of detail to the overall look of your room, but it can be a daunting task if you’ve not wallpapered before.

The following questions answer some of the basic issues that crop up during wallpapering and painting. Feel free to add your questions or thoughts in the comments.

Q) What is the best method to remove wallpaper?
A) There are a lot of different ways to successfully remove wallpaper from a wall, but some of them can be very tedious. Heat can often be the best free solution to remove wallpaper. Covering an area of the wallpaper with very hot water and leaving it to soak in for couples of minutes, then scraping it off becomes much easier. For quicker results, you may find that a wallpaper steamer helps dampen the wallpaper a lot easier, but this obviously comes at an extra cost.

Q) Can you paint directly over wallpaper?
A) In a word, yes. It is generally best to strip the wall if you are planning on painting it, but you are able to paint directly onto it with most wallpaper. You need to make sure you have an even surface, so this means pasting down any loose bits of wallpaper, and filling any holes that may be in the wall. If the wallpaper is shiny you may want to test a small area first to see how the paint reacts to the surface and use a primer if necessary.

Q) How do you prepare a wall for wallpapering?
A) This answer is best broken down into the following steps:

1. Make it smooth – Fill any holes or bumps in the wall to ensure you have a smooth wallpapering surface. If your wall is in really bad shape, you may need to have it plastered before applying any wallpaper.
2. Lining paper – Although not a necessity, lining paper will help cover a multitude of imperfections in a wall – a common issue in older properties. Lining paper should be cross-hung (applied horizontally) if you’re going to hang a wallpaper on it (this will prevent the glue from the top wallpaper lifting the joints of the lining paper), or hung vertically (with completely flush joints) if you’re going to paint it.
3. Apply the wallpaper!

Oriental themes and designs have long been popular in terms of home decoration with East-Asian elements influencing many aspects of our culture.  Oriental design can be both subtle and vibrant depending on the sort of interior look or atmosphere you wish to create.  Asian and Oriental interiors are designed to bring peace, balance and serenity to a living space.  Our Oriental wallpapers are heavily influenced by Japanese Kimono design and range from dramatic blooms to delicate landscapes.  Botanical and geometric motifs are complimented with fan designs in keeping with the collection’s origins.  Combining associated paint colours with Oriental wallpaper will also enhance the look.

For a subtle look, choose a neutral colour scheme and earthy tones, for a simplistic and calming effect.  Try ‘Camellia’ wallpaper in Grise, combined with complementary paints colours such as ‘Stone-Mid Cool‘ and ‘Normandy Grey‘.

Alternatively, for a slightly bolder look, try shades of grey, brown and green with splashes of brighter colour that are reminiscent of Japanese florals such as orchids and peonies.  In this instance, use  ‘Peony’ wallpaper in ‘Boxington’ on selected walls, offset with paint such as ‘Stone Paint Cool‘ and ‘Stone Dark Warm‘.

For a dramatic Oriental inspired room use bright, vibrant colours and bold wallpaper to accentuate the look.  ‘Pink Blossom’ wallpaper really makes a statement and when combined with ‘Baked Cherry‘ and ‘Jet Black‘ paints will really create the wow factor.  Alternatively, for a brighter coloured look try ‘Shojo’ in ‘Sunlight’ and offset this with vibrant paint colours such as ‘Heat‘ and ‘Sunlight‘.

Oriental wallpaper can be used on featured walls, in alcoves or throughout the room.  With 32 colourways in 7 designs, our selection will help you to create your own oriental theme and look, whether you are aiming for big impact or subtle suggestions of east meets west.

The bedroom is one of the most important areas of your house. It should be a peaceful area where you can relax, and get ready for sleep.

It can be tricky picking your paint colours for this room, so we’ve used some example bedroom settings and listed the paint colours you would need to re-create the look.

Ikea have some great bedroom furniture, and this example will appeal to both men and women with a mix of masculine strong colours, pale accessories and soft dusky lilac.

Ikea Bedroom Furniture : black glossy wardrobe

The paint colours you would need to recreate this look are Juniper Ash, Chemise and Hollyhock. They have accessorised this room with white bed linen and a strong yellow/green accent colour.

Juniper Ash

Chemise

Hollyhock

Feather & Black have a couple of nice room setups for 2009. This room uses a neutral green/grey for the main colour, accessorised with a soft brown, and the floor has been varnished in a striking dark wood brown.

Recreate this look by using either Dark Lead Colour or Lead Colour, French Grey and Portland Stone.

You can get the bed from Feather & Blacks.

Lead Colour

Dark Lead

Portland Stone

French Grey

This bedroom, also from Feather & Blacks. You can recreate this look by using Bone Chine Blue or for a slightly stronger effect, James, and Slaked Lime for the woodwork.

This has been accessorised with strong black items, and the bed can be bought here.

Bone Chine

James

Slaked Lime

Channel 4 have put together details of the popular paint colours in 2009; the key idea they had was that this year we will see understated room schemes inspired by nature. So at Little Greene, we’ve put together a selection of our neutral shades, and wallpapers with elements of the natural world.

“Inspired by nature needn’t mean no colour in a living room – choose between anything from deep dark browns to rich ochres, mustard yellows, pale greens and blues.”

We have many traditional wallpapers which have influences from nature for example China Rose in Sage, Camellia in Calico from the oriental wallpapers range, and Broadwick Street in Apple, which is influenced by botanical diagrams.

China Rose

Pale Ivory

Stone and Charcoal

In our paint range, we have some very soft neutral shades:

Lead White

French Stone

Jersey Cream

Along with some striking naturally inspired paint colours:

Lead Colour

Aquamarine

Ashes of Roses

Light Gold

Echo

Dark Bronze Green

Visit the choosing paint colours page, or the home wallpaper section of the site to view the full range.

Keen eyes might have spotted our ‘Broadwick St‘ wallpaper on Watchdog last night (not being investigated we should add). It’s a really fresh paper, great for creating a classic botanical feel.  Use the Colours ‘Boxington‘ and ‘Slaked Lime‘ with it for a completely harmonius look.

Broadwick Street