The wallpaper border is a narrow strip that has its own pattern, color and texture. With it, you can transform any interior that will become more comfortable and at the same time presentable. A room covered with plain wallpaper looks ordinary, but if you refresh it with a correctly selected edging, its appearance will be transformed and it will become interesting and peculiar.
What are borders for?
Sometimes the simplest design techniques can visually change the room, for example, to delimit or expand the space, reduce or increase the height of the ceiling, etc. The easiest way to do this is to combine materials for pasting the walls that differ from each other in pattern and color. In this case, the decorative border for wallpaper as the border between them will become simply indispensable. It can also be used in places of docking with other structures or in transitions from walls to the ceiling.
However, the separation function is not the only area of application for borders. With the help of them you can focus on the most significant details and even mask the mistakes that were made during the decoration. Most often, the border is glued around the perimeter of the room. This placement is considered classic, but modern decoration sometimes offers completely new and unexpected options.
Texture and materials
The article presents photos with a border for wallpaper, where it is clear that the edging can be smooth and embossed. Since it is a rather important element of the decor, there are quite a few options for its execution. In addition to the edges with the usual pattern, there are also gilded, holographic and even coated with a fluorescent composition, which glow in the dark. Especially elegant look lace borders. When choosing the decoration for the room, you should consider the style of the interior and its compatibility with other types of decor.
In addition to traditional paper borders for wallpaper, there are also acrylic, wood, velor, plastic, plaster, textile, as well as made of fiberglass. For fixing textured and heavy tapes, you only need to use a special adhesive that is sold in all hardware stores, since the usual one intended for wallpaper will not be able to withstand such a decent weight.
Calculation of quantity and size
Most often, the wallpaper border is available in the form of rolls, the width of which can vary greatly. For example, the narrowest of them is 1.5 cm. The widest can reach up to 1 m. The edges are most popular within 4-30 cm. The standard length of a roll is from 5 to 10 m, but sometimes there are more.
In order not to be mistaken with their number, it is necessary to measure the width and length of the room in advance, add the resulting numbers and multiply them by two. Thus, you can calculate the perimeter of the room. Then this value must be divided by the number of meters contained in the roll. If you plan to highlight the edging of the doorway, then you need to consider it. In addition, the material must immediately be purchased with a margin in case you need to pick up a picture or fix a mistake in work.
Drawing selection
It is quite possible to deal with this on your own if you know some of the nuances, which we will talk about later. Usually, either a neutral image is selected, or corresponding to the purpose of a particular room. For example, for the kitchen you can use ribbons with drawings of fruits and vegetables, kitchen utensils and tableware, with beautifully decorated dishes and extracts from recipes.
A children's room can be decorated with a wallpaper border, which depicts adapted figures of animals and birds, as well as fairy tale characters, animated characters, etc. For other rooms, a visual abstraction or a traditional floral ornament is suitable.
Sometimes the image on the wallpaper can be repeated on the border. In this case, it will differ in concentration or size. A similar combination is done as follows: a large picture on the wallpaper should correspond to the same, but smaller on the edge. In this case, the elements are dispersed over the entire surface of the canvas, while on the curb they are located more closely, and vice versa.
Color selection
In order for the wallpaper border to blend perfectly with the main finish, you need to know the following rules:
- how to use different shades of the same color;
- options for combining contrasting colors;
- how to choose various colors and shades harmoniously combined among themselves.
To date, the most creative and original are borders with panoramic photographs. But, unfortunately, such a decor will not be appropriate in all interiors.
Manufacturers of paintings and specialized stores are increasingly offering their customers ready-made sets consisting of a border and wallpaper for walls made in the same style, the selection of which, as a rule, does not present any difficulties. Typically, the manufacturer provides the buyer with a choice of several combinations at once, and the consumer, in turn, must decide which one suits him best.
How to arrange the edging
Sooner or later, everyone who makes repairs on their own living space is thinking about this. The location of the tape determines how the space visually changes. Dividing the wall into upper and lower parts, masking the joints between the wallpaper, zoning - all this is possible if the border is glued in the right place. However, it is worth noting that not every tape can be disposed of in all of the above ways.
Sometimes for decorative purposes, the edging can be glued in several lines. It is not always possible to find such a wide border for wallpaper that is necessary for decoration, so you have to arrange them in several rows or at some distance from each other.
At what height to glue
The location of the edging under the ceiling in high rooms only emphasizes their size, while in low rooms it makes them even more squat. The edging of the walls directly above the floor skirting gives the same effect. However, their big advantage is that they can perfectly mask all the irregularities of the sections and other errors made during the finishing process.
In the art of decorating, there is one very controversial rule, according to which the horizontal location of the border strictly in the middle of the wall cuts off its height. This is especially true of standard Khrushchev. In fact, the tape glued below the middle of the wall has the ability to visually “lift” it up. However, you should not blindly follow this rule, sometimes it is even useful to break it, as some experiments can lead to unexpected and very pleasant results.
Original edging
Unusual gluing of the border for wallpaper can be a successful design move that maximally individualizes the room. Once the edging was customary to be performed around the entire perimeter of the room, but now it is not necessary. Companion wallpapers, as well as the diagonal arrangement of the tape, can limit its use on only one of the walls.
Often, with the help of a border, they frame door and window openings, and even decorate furniture. If you think carefully and creatively approach this task, you can get a rather original and interesting result.
The usual gluing of the border almost never causes difficulties. Another thing is when a non-standard approach is used and some kind of pattern needs to be made from edging. For such complex work, training is likely to be required.
Sticking process
First of all, it must be said that there are two types of edging according to the method of fastening: ordinary and self-adhesive. The last of them involves the presence of a special protective film, which must be removed before it is applied to the surface. The usual way is practically no different from the simple process of wallpapering. Fastening is carried out either directly on the surface of the material, or end-to-end with it (in the event that it has an uneven corrugated structure).
Before gluing the edging, you need to make sure that the wallpaper is already dry and that there are no defects. If everything is in order, you can start marking and selecting a picture. Then cut the border into strips of the desired length. If the tape will be attached over the wallpaper, then you need a special adhesive, and if butt-joint, then the usual. In the process of fixing the strip on the wall, it must be carefully smoothed in the direction from the center to the edge.
When using a self-adhesive border for wallpaper, the existing protective film is gradually folded, and not completely removed so that the material does not stick together. This work is best done together with an assistant. The fact is that the tape can be ruined, but it is not possible to re-glue it again.