How to Hang Wallpaper

Trends in home decor are just like clothing and social attitudes: they swing back and forth like a pendulum. Paint or wallpaper, paint or wallpaper? Decisions, decisions.

Wallcovering Items: Wallpaper and Borders

Other than paint, these are the two things next in line that folks use to dress up their rooms. Use one or both for a quick decor redo. Either way, the first thing you'll have to do is prepare the wall for wallpaper.

This is easy enough on new construction, but involves a few more steps with a remodel project. As long as you're comfortable with, or willing to learn, drywall taping and floating, it's not a problem.

Hanging Your Wallpaper

Got the walls ready? All you've got to do now is finish the job. That means doing the work. It's not a tough task but it does take some patience and close attention to detail.

At this point you can hire a wallpaper contractor or hang the wallpaper yourself. I recommend doing it yourself, with a helper if possible.

Depending on how comfortable you feel with the job, you can buy regular residential paper or commercial rolls. The main difference is that the commercial stuff is twice as wide. This will make the job go faster if you have a large area to do with lots of long walls.

Implementing Energy Saving Strategies

The price of crude oil is up again today and most market analysts don't expect any relief soon. This will have a ripple effect across the whole energy sector, affecting natural gas and coal, for example. Our utility bills will be one victim of this trend. You can begin to take steps now to ease the pain.

Cutting your electricity use is especially important now, with more air conditioners being turned on. The first thing to do is to get started on the annual air conditioner tune-up.

To prioritize your energy-saving projects, you need to know where you stand. You can have a professional energy audit done, or simply follow your own energy efficiency checklist. Once you know where you stand, consider necessity and your budget.

If any of your improvements involve the attic, get after it before we get any further into the summer. I know; I made the blunder of spraying radiant barrier paint in warm weather.

Seriously consider installing ceiling fans in any room in which you spend any time. They'll pay for themselves and add serious equity to your abode. ROI for you financial types out there. Payback for the rest of us Joe Schmo's.

Here's a tip: if your refrigerator is an older model, this is the time to replace it. Refrigerators are huge power gobblers, especially if you have kids that have a hard time with the phrase, "No grazing, you're not a cow!" With the tax rebates being distributed, retailers are making some very sweet deals.

Check with your electrical provider; the price per KWh is not the same all day and night. There are things you can schedule, like running the clothes dryer, on off-peak hours. Now get out there and save, save, save!