How I Hung Grasscloth and Lived to Tell About It
August 1, 2009
I’ve been wanting pearlized grasscloth wallpaper since I fell in love with the line of York wallcoverings designed by Candice Olson. Wanting to remodel my own home office/library space in shades of gray, spa blue, cream, and chocolate, I sought out the perfect luminescent shade of grasscloth from a book of exotic wallcoverings I found at Lowes. This particular grasscloth wallpaper is by Patton Wallcoverings, from their ‘Decorator Grasscloth’ collection.
This book is filled with so many fabulous colors from celedon to gray to cream and mocha brown. My gray/blue pattern number is 488-309.
Here’s the step-by-step I followed for installing grasscloth wallpaper all by myself!
Supplies:
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Grasscloth wallpaper, enough to cover the desired walls.
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Wallpaper paste
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Smoothing tool
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Level
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Measuring tape
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Staple gun
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Sharp scissors
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Paint roller and tray
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Medium sized paintbrush
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Extreme tenacity!
Step One: I measured the height of my wall and cut my first piece of grasscloth, allowing an extra inch on the top and bottom for later trimming. With a level, I realized a certain truth – no wall is perfectly straight. I lined up the first piece of paper in the corner, and used a level to make sure it hung straight. With a staple gun, I secured the top to the wall, then trimmed my corner where the paper was uneven. The only way for me to hang this very heavy, very awkward paper by myself was by use of a staple gun. Otherwise, I would have needed a second pair of hands. I found that the texture of the grasscloth allowed me to cheat by securing my grasscloth with small staples. I later removed them without any holes or damage.
Step Two: After stapling on the top, I climbed under my paper and up my ladder, and added paste with my roller to the wall. I did NOT put the paste on the back of the paper first. I applied it directly to the wall. This way, I avoided the need for a big work surface, and kept my paste exactly where I wanted it.
Tip: Don’t skimp on paste, especially with grasscloth. The heavy paper needs a sloppy amount of paste – I was very generous in my application.
Step Three: I used my smoothing tool to get rid of bubbles, and they creep up everywhere. I had to be extremely patient in pushing them out, and often I had to pull back the paper entirely, and resmooth it. This is where #10 on my supply list comes in handy.
Step Four – Aligning seams: This was by far the trickiest part. With the second piece of grasscloth, I followed steps 1 and 2, but then had to align my second piece perfectly next to the first piece. Again, I used the staple gun, this time on the vertical, to secure the pieces together every 8 to 10 inches. Repeat step three and smooth out all bubbles with smoothing tool.
Tip: Apply extra paste underneath the seam with a paintbrush before you align your neighboring strip. Be careful not to get any paste on your grasscloth.
Step Five: Carefully trim around your electrical and light switches. Be sure to remove your switch plate covers before you wallpaper!
Tip: Do all of your trimming, both horizontal and vertical, with very sharp scissors. Do not use a razor blade – it will tear the grasscloth and give you a jagged edge.
Step Six: Trim the top and bottom of your strip of grasscloth once your paste has set.
I’ve never hung wallpaper with paste before, so this project was very time consuming and very challenging for me. It took me five hours the first day, and another five hours today. And it’s going to take me awhile to recover before I consider doing any more grasscloth anytime soon. Besides, three walls in a small office is plenty grasscloth for me!
But I am truly loving the subtle texture grasscloth wallpaper adds to a space:
One drawback: the seams are more visible than I anticipated (see below). That’s just the nature of grasscloth. But with a furnished room it’s less noticeable. Have you all ever wanted to install grasscloth in your home or office?
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Tags: grasscloth wallpaper, how to install grasscloth wallpaper, wallpaper
I just came across this post as I was looking into grass cloth wall paper. When I was looking at your photos I noticed your original wall looks like it has some texture. We just moved into a new house that has “knock out” drywall that looks a little like your picture. I have never lived in a house with this type of drywall and was curious (if this is what you have) how well the wall paper has held. I would really love to try it out but was afraid it would not hold because of the textured wall underneath.
This was a splendid intro to grasscloith wallcovering. Thanks!
Thank you for the intro and the pictures, I really want to put grasscloth in my bedroom. Candice Olsen is the best I love her designs and now I don’t feel so afraid of attempting to hang grasscloth. I’m happy to have found this page you have given me the encouragement I needed.
First let me say that I love, love, love your website! I have it saved to my favorites but other websites bring me back here as well, today it was decorpad with your photos of a DIY sea fan
Back to the subject, instead of hanging wallpaper which is so hard to do, why not use fabric instead? At the moment I am looking for a good fabric for my bedroom wall since I am so sick of painting and want a different look. I just learned about the fabric starching process and can’t wait to try it out! Burlap would be very close to the grass cloth look, I have used it on lampshades (very now fabric I have noticed) and love it. Funny how times change, 10 years ago my clients were ripping this “dated” look from their walls or painting over it and now it’s hip again!
Hello, oh how do I love your site !! (adore your twitter button) And what a great tutorial is this, I never hung wallpaper before and have always been scared to try, but your staple technique is awesome !! and might just make me try it myself.
this is my first visit, I just wandered up here, but I’ll come back very soon to read all the other great stuff I see.
Hi!
Love your blog but for some reason I’ve come across five of your postings already in where the pictures were not showing. Instead it is just a black block with a triangle and an exclamation inside. I guess I’ll have to use my imagination to imagine the before and final product! :’[
Hi Eunice, I apologize for that, I addressed it earlier this week in a blog post, it has to do with several images I moved around and actually deleted, I’ll be rebuilding these posts shortly, promise!
Kate
I didn’t know that name of grasscloth wall treatment till seeing this post. Your room looks lovely but I’m glad I definitely know this technique is not for me, those seams would drive me crazy, though I bet it’s less noticeable in person than in a photo!
Yes, I love, love, love grasscloth. The individuality of it is a real plus for me. When you say you got under the grasscloth to paste the wall, how exactly did that look? Did the grasscloth shrink after it was applied to the wall?
As a professional wallpaper installer, I have reinvented the wheel at times when involved with a project in unfamiliar territory and have been able to live with the results, but after gaining more knowledge I realized how I may have tried another way. I suggest pasting the back of the grasscloth with a clear premixed adhesive using a 9 inch paint roller, let sit after booking for 2 or 3 minutes, install. Try a sample with this technique, you may be surprised how easy it is. Letting a pasted paper sit for a bit will eliminate any problem with the air bubbles.
Good on you for tackling such a difficult paper!!