Cream and gold wallpaper and window trim for a beautiful and rich Pooja room (prayer room) makeover during the Fall 2021 One Room Challenge.

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During the fourth week of the Fall 2021 One Room Challenge, I added wallpaper and window trim to the Pooja Room.

If you aren’t familiar with what the One Room Challenge (ORC) is, it’s a biannual interior design event hosted by Linda at Calling it Home. There are 20 featured designers and others with a blog or an Instagram account can participate as a guest. Everyone gets 8 weeks to makeover a room of their choice and share their progress weekly.

You can see all the featured designers here and all the guest participants here.

CREAM AND GOLD WALLPAPER

In Week 2 of the challenge, I created a green and gold accent wall in the Pooja room and I think it turned out beautiful. 

With a color that rich on the wall, I knew that if the other walls in the room did not get a transformation they would look bare. 

When I was thinking about the design initially, I thought I could paint the other walls as well. But this is a Pooja room and it calls to be ornate! This is not the space to go plain Jane.

So instead of paint, I decided to add wallpaper with some sort of gold in it.

The biggest challenge with that, however, is that our walls are textured. 

After I did a bit of research, I knew that I could do wallpaper on textured walls, but it won’t have a smooth finish.

I can live with that!

THE WALLPAPER PATTERN

I searched high and low for a wallpaper that is thick enough to go on textured walls and compliments the accent color in the room.

Finally, I found one that I liked that had a bit of gold in it and ordered a sample. Here is what it looks like.

It has a beautiful linen-like feel, and the gold pattern was subtle yet made it pop, and the cherry on top, it came with not one, but 2 bonus points:

1. It was thick enough 

2. It was on sale!!!

I wasted no time ordering enough for the room.

From past experience, I know that when ordering wallpaper, it’s best to always add 10% or more to what you need. 

Usually, the pattern between panels needs to be matched and that will need some extra wallpaper.

Also, the 10% extra will help you account for any mistakes made too.

THE PREP

I was so excited when the package arrived and envisioned the beautiful cream and gold wallpaper going up quickly on the walls, but let me tell you, that excitement was quite short-lived.

I began the prep work for the installation. I cleaned the walls to remove dust and grease and made sure that the wall was clean and completely dry.

I then marked the width of the wallpaper from the corner of the wall in multiple places from top to bottom. 

That’s when I realized that the wall is not straight. It’s very important to get your first panel to go on straight because that determines how the rest of the wall will go.

So I found the marking closest to the wall and made another mark 2-3 mm inward. 

Keeping this new mark as my reference, I drew a straight line from top to bottom of the wall using a spirit level.

This is the line against which you will have to line up your first panel.

The distance from the wall to the line will be slightly less than the width of the panel, but that’s ok!

You can cut out the excess using a utility knife at the edge of the wall.

Now it’s time for the wallpaper to go on.

THE APPLICATION of CREAM AND GOLD WALLPAPER

The beautiful cream and gold wallpaper I chose is the “paste the wall” kind. It means you need to apply the wallpaper paste onto the wall like paint and then stick the wallpaper.

Here are the basic instructions for the application.

1. Apply the paste generously onto a section of the wall using a paint roller or brush
2. Cut the wallpaper to the desired length using a utility knife
3. Stick the wallpaper 
4. Using a smoothing tool, smooth down the wallpaper to ensure it sticks well and there are no air bubbles
5. Wipe excess paste using a damp sponge

Simple enough right?

I applied the paste for the first panel, and no matter how much I tried, the wallpaper would not stick!!!

That’s when the struggle began. I tried:

• Adding more paste
• Adding paste to the back of the paper even though it was the “paste the wall” kind
• Adding paste in little sections
• Standing with my back against the wall hoping that would help the wallpaper stay stuck

…and a few other things.

Nothing worked. After a lot of trial and error and my husband’s help, I managed to get the first panel up and it took us more than 2 hours!

As much as I love DIY, I did not want to spend 2 hours on every single panel and so I hired a pro.

And guess what, he got the whole room done in about 4-5 hours!

This is what he did differently. He

1. Added a primer on the walls before the paste
2. Got the right kind of paste
3. Applied the paste on the paper instead of the wall
4. Truly knew what generously meant, unlike me 😊
5. Had the right tools for the job

Most importantly, he knew what the do’s and don’ts of a textured wall are. 

Lesson learned!

THE RESULT

Anyway, the wallpaper application was done and the result is gorgeous.

The wallpaper compliments the accent wall beautifully and brings in the right amount of gold without it getting too flashy.

I found a beautiful peacock wall hanging that goes great with the gold and wood tones in the room and hung it on the wall opposite the windows.

Here is what the cream and gold wallpaper looks like! Isn’t she beautiful😊

WINDOW TRIM

Once the wallpaper was up, the windows in the room seemed unfinished. Luckily, I had anticipated that.

Adding window trim to compliment the gold wallpaper was on my list, but I’ll admit it wasn’t the highest priority. It was a “good to have” item on my list.

But after the wallpaper went up, it changed positions and became a must-have item.

I decided to keep it simple and just add four pieces of decorative trim around the window.

Here is the trim that I chose. It’s decorative, yet simple! 

THE STAIN

Normally, I would go with paint for window trim, but in this case, I decided to stain.

The reason is that the entire theme of this room is green, gold, and wood tones.

I felt that a medium-dark stain instead of paint would pop against the beautiful wallpaper in the room.

Usually, I would cut and install the trim first and then paint it. But here, instead of cutting I began with staining them.

It’s a lot easier to stain first because I don’t have to worry about spills, staining the wallpaper, or lots of cleanups.

I used this stain in the shade – Early American. Early American is a beautiful brown that is not too dark nor too light and that’s what I want for this room.

I applied the first coat of stain with a chip brush and wiped it with a clean rag after a few mins.

I repeated the same steps for a second coat and the color turned out exactly the way I wanted it to!

THE INSTALLATION

After the stain was completely dry, I took some measurements around the window and began cutting the pieces.

I wanted a 1/8-inch gap from the wall to the trim as this helps the trim pieces line up well. It also accounts for any imperfections in the wall.

I then used this miter saw to make 45-degree cuts. 

I cut the first piece, placed it against the window and once I knew that my measurement was right, I used this brad nailer to nail the trim to the wall.

I then measured the second piece, cut it to length, and nailed it. I repeated the same steps for all 4 pieces of trim.

I cut them one by one because, as I mentioned before, walls are not always straight. Cutting the pieces one by one will ensure that you get the right length on all 4 sides.

Once I added all four sides, I filled the gap with stainable wood filler and used a sponge brush to touch up the stain.

Lastly, I used caulk to seal the edges of the trim.

THE RESULT

Here is what the trim looks like!

I am so happy with the way it turned out. It has the right amount of pop to it without getting too overbearing.

I added simple cream curtains and the window portion of the Pooja room is done!

All in all, I will consider this week a success even with the wallpaper struggles because you know what, the work got done and that’s what counts!

Although I could not add the wallpaper this time, I am confident that I am better equipped for next time.

That’s it for this week. Please do join me on the exciting journey as I transform our prayer room into a beautiful and rich sanctuary!

Do let me know what you think of the wallpaper and the window trim.

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