Glazing Wallpaper: The Decorative Aging Effect Vs Fading Effect

You had great intentions when you wallpapered the room. Sadly, the aftermath of your wallpapering project didn't meet your expectations. The wallpaper is too bright, bold, and overwhelming for the room. Or, you just moved into a house and you like the wallpaper, but it's a little "too much" for your tastes. Here's a look at two techniques-aging and fading that can tone down crazy wallpaper.

Glazing Wallpaper: Decorative Aging Technique:
Aging wallpaper gives your room a vintage look by using a brown glaze. This decorative wallpaper technique gives your walls a muted, antique effect, and adds character to your room. The aging technique uses a brown-tinted wallpaper glaze that you simply rub on the wallpaper.

There are a few downsides to this technique. Over time, wallpaper ages naturally. Because you're essentially making your wallpaper look older than it really is, you might find yourself replacing your wallpaper within a few years because it looks too aged. The aging technique must be done evenly on the entire wallpaper surface; otherwise it gives an uneven, cigarette smoke damage look to your house. You might not have a chain smoker living in your house, but if this technique is done incorrectly, it'll look like you do!

Glazing Wallpaper: Decorative Fading Technique:
Fading is another way to tone down bright wallpaper colors. This is a great choice if you found a wallpaper pattern you love, except the colors are a little too vibrant for your tastes. Unlike the aging effect, this technique does not give a brown, antique look. Instead, it simply lightens the wallpaper colors, like it was exposed to too much sunlight. You also won't need to stress over what shade of wallpaper glaze to use-white is fine!

For novices, this technique is a little easier than the aging technique, as it does not lend itself to looking like cigarette smoke stains. However, using decorative fading on wallpaper must be done carefully and evenly, or it could look like someone splashed a tub of bleach on your walls.

No matter what decorative wallpaper glazing technique you use, don't rub too hard or you'll strip the wallpaper's colors. Both of these decorative wallpaper glazing techniques can be adjusted to fit whatever look you're going for-use more brown glaze to make the wallpaper look older, use more white glaze to make the wallpaper lighter, and so on. Whatever technique you chose, always test first in a small, discreet area before doing the entire room to make sure you like the effect.