Where to find your wallpaper

wallpapering your dolls house, much like a full sized room, completely changes the whole look and feel of the room and doesnt have to be a hard job to do.

Sourcing the wallpaper can be the hardest part, finding that special paper that you have seen in your minds eye yet not on the shelves.
There are many places to look that dont have to cost a fortune or of course you can create your own.

The first place we all look is Dolls house stores or sites like this one where you can find a fantastic aray of wallpaper designed especially for dolls houses.
The Marshfairies wallpaper has been designed by the Marshfairies and is not available anywhere else, giving a uniqueness to your decorating.
DIY stores like B&Q or decorating shops often have a few designs that could fit in quite nicely, especially if you are looking for a plain colour.
Scrapbook stores have some beautiful small print paper and often have pretty borders to match.
Gift wrapping paper is also a great source especially for a nursery or playroom.

Often I have found a fabric that I would love to use for bedding or furniture but find it difficult to find a wallpaper to match. In these cases I find it easier to photocopy the fabric (which is fine as long as it is for personal use only) most fabrics are too heavy for wallpaper but making borders from the photocopy can really tie a room together.
You can also reverse this process, if you find a wallpaper that you like and would like matching furniture and curtains you can purchase iron on transfer paper which is nice and easy to use.

You can also reduce a larger pattern on a colour copier to create custom wallpaper using an actual piece of wallpaper or fabric and stitch sections together using a scanner.

Or of course you can stamp a pattern onto cardstock with rubber stamps. Add embossing powder or flocking powder to add dimension. You can even draw or doodle on the paper with bleed-free pens.

When choosing your wallpaper consider if you will use picture rails in your room. Picture rails usually have a different paper above and below them.

Whichever way you choose your wallpaper there is a huge amount of satisfaction from seeing it finally inplace as a backdrop to the furniture and trimmings for your room.

What sort of paper will suit your room

Take the size of the room into account. A small room will look very dark and even smaller if you use dark coloured or patterned papers. Try to use light colours to make small rooms look bigger.

Vertical stripes will make a room look taller.

Horizontal stripes will make a room look wider.

Using two types of paper can create a very nice effect in a room. Using a stripe on the bottom of the room and a plain paper on the top will not make the room look smaller and will keep it from looking plain.

Remember before decorating your house you must put the electric's in. Start from the bottom of the house, put the electric's into a room and then decorate.

How to wallpaper your dolls house

It is best to wallpaper your house before construction as it is easier to cut to size and saves on trying to trim awkward edges and doorways. But if your like me your too impatient for that hehe!

Paint your ceiling before papering, you dont want paint dripping down your freshly papered walls.

Make templates of the walls, this ensures that the paper fits properly and if you keep the templates makes it easier to redecorate later.

I find it best to paste the walls and allow to dry this makes it easier when applying the the paper later. Most dolls houses are made from mdf which is extremely absorbant and the paste dries very quickly leaving little time for adjusting your paper.

Lay the template on your paper and draw round using a fine pencil, remember to make sure the wallpaper pattern is lined up on adjoining walls.

Cut the paper using a sharp craft knife or sharp scissors, scoring against a ruler ensures nice straight lines.

Try your paper against the wall to make sure of a perfect fit.

Have a clean damp cloth handy to wipe excess and sticky fingers, never wipe across the paper as this can cause smudges and even tears.

Lightly paste the wall again and paste the wallpaper evenly and not too liberally, ensuring there are no dry spots as these cause bubbles.

Place your paper on the wall smoothing any bubbles as you go, remember that wet paper stretches and it shrinks as it dries, so it is best not to pull your paper about too much.

Now you can stand back and admire a job well done!

If you find that you have bubbles when your wallpaper is dry, cut an x with a very sharp knife and inject a very small amount of paste behind it. Smooth very gently ensuring not to twist the paper, dab off excess paste rather than rubbing.

If for any reason you need to remove the wallpaper after it is dry, keep wetting it and it should come of relatively easily. Wet any bits that are left and they should just pull off without the need of scraping and damaging your walls.