Give your staircase a lift
Q: I’m taking down the art and pictures from the wall where our stairs are. We’ve loved our gallery wall, but it’s turned into a mess of broken, patched frames. Our kids keep knocking into frames as they go up and down the stairs because some photos are pretty low.
I’ve decided the photos have to go, and am keen on stripes. Do you recommend vertical or horizontal?
A: Farrow & Ball has multiple colours and styles of stripes.
While horizontal stripes would make the stair area look wider, I think the best way to hang stripes on a staircase wall is vertically. It will make your staircase seem taller, plus, it won’t compete with the spindles of your stair rails.
One thing I love about the new Chromatic Stripe papers is that you can reverse-hang the paper (in other words, switch the direction you hang alternate strips) so that you get a double-width bold stripe.
Shop for heavy-grade paper that will weather your kids’ roughhousing. There are several wallpapers on the market that have a protective coating and zero volatile organic compounds that you can spot clean with a damp cloth.
The best advice I can give you when it comes to wallpaper is to hire a recommended professional hanger. Many people have learned this the hard and expensive way.
A professional hanger will order the right amount of paper, and know how to mix the paste and bookend the paper for just the right amount of time so that it doesn’t get overly wet, or shrink once it’s on the walls. Plus, you’re aiming for a well-decorated staircase, which means wallpaper that stays up without bubbles, patches and messy ceiling cuts. Stripes away!
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