After years of hanging around in unfashionable circles (geddit?),
wallpaper has undergone a renaissance that shows no signs of
abating
But for the commitment phobes among us, it's a little too
permanent, especially if you think that steam-stripping is a type of
spa treatment. What's more, before you even have the chance to
decide you hate it, there's all that wrestling to get the stuff stuck on
uneven walls in the first place (stepladders and heels, don't get me
started). It's enough to make you scream. So try making a screen
instead.
A screen offers the same opportunity to make a statement
as a wall, with the added bonus of being more flexible. It hides
ugly corners and is two-faced - which is great if you can't decide
between Cole & Son's 'Woodstock' (see left) and Neisha Crosland's
'Hollywood Grapevine'. A screen is simple to make and, when
you decide that the Anaglypta revival really was all in your head,
it's easy to change.
You will need
- 4 equal-sized panels of wood - plywood is ideal (I used MDF, but it's a little on the heavy side for this application). Buy your wood from a builder's merchant (check that they cut wood first - some don't) and get it cut to exactly to the width of your wallpaper. For height, just over 2m usually works well, though take into account what you'll be using yours for.
- 6 steel hinges and screws - get the biggest hinges that the width of your wood can take; your builder's merchant will be able to advise you on this.
- Drill and screwdriver
- Paint - this is for the edges and any panels that you don't want to cover in paper. I used blackboard paint on two panels.
- Paintbrush, roller and paint tray
- Wallpaper paste
- White colouring pencil
Paint one side of each panel and
all the edges. (1 and 2) I used
blackboard paint, so that I could
write menus café-style when
friends came over. (In practice,
my husband uses it as a
sounding board for his stomach
- I've come home to anything
from 'feed me!!' to requests for
Steak Tartare, Veal Milanese and
'An assortment of dead animals,
please'. I'm a vegetarian.)
Next, use the paint roller to
apply wallpaper paste to the
unpainted side of the panels.
Rolling on the paste, rather than brushing it on, gives a flatter,
more even distribution.Place the wallpaper gently over it - here, you'll be glad you had the wood cut to the width of your paper, as there's no fiddly matching up. Gently smooth the paper from the centre outwards with your hands or a clean, dry roller. (3) Leave to dry.
Next, mark the edge of one of
the boards, 20cm in from the top
and bottom. Hold your hinge
here and mark the holes with
a colouring pencil. You need to
mark for hinges on only one side
of the two outside panels and
on both sides of the two centre
panels. Make sure the wallpaper
is going in the correct direction. 
Drill pilot holes for the hinges -
this stops the wood from
splitting when you screw them
in. It is a good idea to line up
the panels on the ground, with
the two edges that you intend
to hinge together facing up, to
double-check the alignment
before you start drilling. Screw in the hinges, making sure that the screws go in straight. (4) Attach all the hinges on the correct corresponding sides. Easy.
More crafts by Danielle Proud
Excerpted from House Proud by Danielle Proud, priced £16.99, published by Bloomsbury.