TO DISTEMPER A ROOM

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 212, 4 September 1920, Page 20

TO DISTEMPER A ROOM

>ow tbat wallpaper and labour cost so much mouiy. many housewives proud of their .home... look'wilh despair at their worn and Uingy walls. Why not dv it yourself? Anyone of average intelligence 'an ru-deooruto her Lome in artistic colouring ii 3 hc tries, and rooiu* done by their owners have a personality no shop bought furnishings ever give." Distemper, says an English paper, pan be applied over paper with 'better elleet than on the wall itself, as it presents a smooth surface to work over. First hrwji the walls down with a hard brush, lill up any holes or cracks with plaster of (Paris or a prepared cement, and rub the joints in the paper level with glass paper. Paste down any paper that may be loose or torn and brush, the walls over carefully with ordinary size, made as follows:—lib of double si™, 1 taiblespoonful of alum, lib of whitening, 1 cake of laundry blue, 2 quarts c/f hot water. Pour boiling -water on the whitening until it becomes a thin paste. slelt the size in a saucepan, dissolve the blue in cold water, melt the alum separately, stir the size to tlie whitening, then the blue, and last of all the alum, strain this through paperlianjrcr's canvas strctclx'd over tf pail, and leave it all night. It should jellify. Before using, thin it down with cold ■water, and with a whitewash brush j>aint this carefully over the walls. When dry, the frails can be distempered with any of the specially prepared distempers or ivater-paints on tlip market. It is easier to use these tiian to make a distemper, provided tjbe directions on the tins as to mixing are followed carefully. ' They can T>e obtained in a variety of tints in Tib and 141'b tins, lib is usually sufficient for 7 to S square yards. Be"- ! fore applying, remove all the ornaments ; and furniture possible. Heavy furniture ; should be covered and drawn into the centre of the room. When applying the distemper shut the doors and windows, to keep tlie- surface as wet a-s possible •while working. When the room is finished open the -windows. Apply the distemper with a clean white/wash brush, ■working towards the light. It is best to npply it with, short strokes in aTI directions, hiding as far as possible each setting in of the brush. The best effect 5s •obtained by lightly stippling the distemper while wet with a special stippling Imish.