Add flair to your stairs with wallpaper

Outside of casinos and cruise ships, you don’t see too many ornately decorated staircases these days. Which is too bad. We’re not advocating lining your steps with Technicolor industrial carpeting, we just think this might be a missed opportunity. Papering the risers of even the most modest staircases can make them look grand.

Materials

• Wallpaper

Tools

• Measuring tape
• Metal ruler
• X-Acto blade
• Wallpaper paste
• Brush
• Plastic float
• Sponge
• Broad knife
• Utility knife

How-to
1. Carefully measure the stair risers (the vertical surface between the stairs). If you want the pattern to line up along the length of the staircase, you will want to make your cuts as precise as possible. Take a good look at each step and take note of any bowing before making your cut.

2. Prepare and book your wallpaper, and apply as you would to the wall.

Excerpted from Wallpaper Projects: 50 Craft and Design Ideas for Your Home, From Accents to Art by Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith. Copyright 2009 by Chronicle Books. Excerpted with permission by Chronicle Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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