PAPER-HANGING.
The art of putting on, or “Hanging” paper is very simple, and is easily learned; but to make a tasteful choice of paper for various situations, is not so easy, hence the following remarks, which may be of service to the workman or others on whom the selection of paper may devolve.
Walls to a room should be regarded only in the light of a frame-work to what the room contains, and should be decorated so as to bring into prominence and not eclipse the other parts of the chamber. Nothing destroys the effect of a room so much as a handsome but staring wall paper, or a wall so profusely ornamented as to strike upon the eye to the exclusion of the rest of the decorations, thus bringing forward what should be the background into the most conspicuous place. A modern drawing room is always difficult to decorate artistically, because of the taste of its builders for heavy cornices, prominent mantelpieces, and rooms too lofty for their size; and as all these misnamed “embellishments” are too costly to remove by tenants, the only plan to pursue is to destroy their effect by exercising both taste and ingenuity. First, with regard to the ceiling, the ornamental plaster boss in its center should be removed, and the ceiling tinted a color that harmonizes with the wall paper, as no harmonies can be hoped for when what produces them is surmounted with the glaring white of an ordinary ceiling. The tint used must be one that softens into the wall paper, not one that contrasts; thus, if the tone of the room is that of a soft grey blue, the ceiling should be a clear flesh pink; or should a grey gre picked out with black be the chosen color, then it should be colored a subdued lemon.
Some people cover their ceilings with a whole colored paper, and border it with a stencilled pattern representing the thin garlands so familiar upon Queen Anne decorations, but this is a more troublesome plan than the simple coloring, which answers all the purpose. The walls, if they are lofty, require a high dado. These high dados give a look of comfort and “home” that is absent from the modern high pitched room papered with one uniform pattern. The dado is divided 3 feet to 4 feet from the ceiling, and the coloring of the lower portion must always be heavier than that used on the upper or a top heavy look will be given to the room. When many pictures are to be hung up the lower part of the dado should be of a whole color, either a whole colored paper or a painted wall, as pictures are only shown off upon such a background. Where a whole tint is used for the lower part of the dado, the upper portion should be decorated with a frieze paper of a good bold pattern, but of subdued coloring and of tint that harmonizes with the lower. Thus, the color used about the frieze should be the same as that on the lower part, but of a lighter shade, intermixed with some other colors that form a harmonious link between the two shades. Contrasts must be carefully avoided, but pale pinks, blue and ambers can be blended together above a subdued grey blue ground. The two portions of the dado should be joined together with a light wooden (black or brown) railing, or with a line of paint.
The dado decoration can be altered by placing the pattern paper upon the lower part and leaving the upper plain-colored with or without a stencilled pattern upon it. This will suit a room where not many pictures are required, or that is already rather dark. Some part of the wall should always be in plain color, as the eye requires rest; and no pattern, however subdued in hue, can give the relief to the mind that a bit of plain coloring affords, and this scarcity of ornament in one part of a room is amply repaid by the effect it gives to such parts as are bright and should be bright. The true theory of effect is to use but one or two bright colors in a room, and to surround them by soft and subdued tints that throw up and do not destroy their brilliancy; a number of bright colors placed together destroy each other, and leave no impression upon the mind but glare and vulgarity. Having settled upon your paper and ceiling, have the woodwork and cornice of the room painted either a shade lighter or darker than the walls, and shroud up the mantelpiece with curtains, etc., of satin sheeting embroidered with crewels, and instead of the usual looking glass over the fire-place, have a mirror surrounded with brackets holding china; or have a black wooden mantelpiece made with squares of looking glass set in. The back-ground of your room being thus completed in a manner really to be a back-ground, your furniture will look twice as well as if it were stared out of countenance by the walls, and one need hardly add that all your friends will delight in a room that throws up and brings out their dresses and faces, instead of killing them by its glaring tints.
Operations.—To prepare the walls, make a size of glue and water, then give the walls a coat of a very weak solution of the same. To make a paste, take two pounds of fine flour, put in a pail; add cold water, and stir it up together in a thick paste. Take a piece of alum about the size of a small chestnut, pound it fine and throw it into the paste; mix well. Then provide about six quarts of boiling water and mix while hot with the paste until the whole is brought to a proper consistency. This makes an excellent paste, and fit for use when cold.
Cleaning Paper-Hangings.—A very good method to clean paper-hangings is that used oftentimes in cleaning the margins of prints. Cut into eight pieces a quartern loaf two days old, and after having swept all the dust from the paper-hangings, commence from the ceiling downward, and somewhat lightly rub the paper with a downward stroke with one of the pieces of bread. Continue this round the room, and then commence lower down in the same way till the whole of the surface of the paper has been gone over. The bread will from time to time get dirty, and it should be cut off as often as required. Care should be exercised not to rub the paper with a cross or horizontal stroke, only with the perpendicular movement of the hand or the paper may peel off the walls from the joints. With careful manipulation, paper will look almost as good as new.
Varnishing Paper-hangings.—When papers are hung in places where there is much passing, they are subject to greater wear than in an ordinary room, and varnishing is resorted to, to make them more durable, as it prevents soiling; they may also be cleaned with a damp cloth, and are not in wear so likely to be damaged by rubbing off the wall. Halls, lobbies, staircases, and offices are sometimes varnished for durability, but as a rule the appearance is not improved. The paper must be sized twice, the first being dry before the next is applied, when the varnish is laid evenly on. It is necessary to size the paper twice, as the first time may not effectually cover it, when the varnish would stain the paper as badly as if oil had been applied. The size necessary for sizing the paper before varnishing should be clean and transparent. Parchment cuttings boiled down in water and strained will make excellent size for this purpose. Before it is cold it should be either strained through calico, or poured off, leaving the bits at the bottom. A patent size is sold for this purpose, but parchment size is the most reliable. Use clean brushes for size and varnish.
A Paste that will Keep Well.—A correspondent writes to a journal this formula for a non-poisonous paste that will keep well in hot weather: Wheat flour, 1 ounce; powdered alum, ¹⁄₂ drachm; water, sufficient, or 8 ounces; oil of clove, or wintergreen, 3 or 4 drops. Rub the flour and the alum with the water to the consistency of milk; place this over a moderate fire, and stir constantly, until the paste drops from the wooden paddle in jelly-like flakes, and has the appearance of glycerite of starch. While the mass is still hot, add the essential oil, and pour the paste into an earthenware pot or open jar. In the course of about an hour a crust forms on the top; pour gently on this an inch of water, more or less. When some paste is wanted, decant the water, take out the quantity needed, and put some water again on the remainder, repeating the operation each time. Paste may be kept in this way for months, and will never be troubled with flies.