Home decor ideas: how to hang cloth on your walls
Looking for something out of the ordinary for redecorating a bedroom? You've seen it all, right? Paneling, wallpaper, borders, and the same old paint choices? Well now you can have unlimited new looks for your bedroom, living room or den simply by hanging fabric. Attaching fabric to the walls is very simple, yet a little messy, but well worth it. Choose a fabric that's of medium weight and won't unravel easily. Test to see how easily the fabric will hold its edge by pulling one string from the edge, straight down. If it pulls out easily, it's not a good choice in fabric. If the string won't pull out easily or you can't even get a hold on a string, it's a good cloth selection for this project. Wash and dry the material before cutting, unless the fabric is pre-shrunk. Purchase liquid starch which is pre-mixed, or buy the kind you have to mix yourself, and follow the package instructions. Put the starch in a tub, large bowl or wallpaper trough. Lay plastic around to protect the floor from the starch. In addition, lay old sheets or towels around the baseboards, to soak up any dripping liquid. Cover furniture, lamps and such to protect them from any dripping starch.
Measure and cut the first strip that you will hang. It should be the width of the cloth, and the length of the wall, adding a couple of inches to the length, in case needed. If the material has a particular pattern, you might need to add even more in the length so that the pattern can be aligned properly. Dip the fabric into the starch, but don't squeeze the liquid out, as squeezing wrinkles the fabric. One way to get some of the dripping liquid out is to have someone hold the piece of cloth over the tub while you place your hands together with one hand on each side of the fabric. Run your hands down the fabric, go back to the top and do it again, repeating the step for the width of the fabric.
Place the fabric on the wall and smooth out with a straight edge, like a plastic putty knife. A sponge will also help you smooth any wrinkles or bubbles out of the cloth, while absorbing some of the liquid. After the first piece is on, repeat the steps to hang the next piece, and so forth. It's helpful to continue to wipe the bottoms of the previous pieces every few minutes, since this is where the liquid will naturally accumulate. Since starch doesn't generally ruin many surfaces, you can easily wipe off drips on woodwork with a wet washcloth.
To help the fabric dry quicker, place a heater or a window fan in the room. After drying, you can add border, if desired. You can cut several border pieces across the width of one piece of material, so measure the length you'll need, see how many will fit across the width of the material, and cut border pieces. Dip and hang the pieces, continually wiping liquid from freshly hung wall fabric. You can hang the border immediately after hanging the wall fabric, which is easier, but sometimes the weight of the cloth will cause you to repeatedly have to press the cloth back up, until completely dry. A sponge mop can be used to smooth the border and keeps you from having to repeatedly climb a ladder.
When you're ready to launder the wall fabric, or you just want to change the look for a new season, just pick at the fabric in a corner until it will raise up, then pull the piece from the wall. Launder, re-dip and re-hang when ready. After you've cut a few different types of cloth to fit your walls, you can change the look of the room in under a day.