Is grasscloth right for you or the room you are considering putting it in? In my opinion, it is not good for just any room in the house. I wouldn't consider it an ideal application for the kitchen and breakfast area or a bath where it could get wet. If you are very cautious, will never allow it to get splattered with water or anything else and you don't have small children, it might be fine.

First there is no match to grass cloth. I don't care how many instructions you see written about how to match grass cloth, turning every other sheet or every third sheet upside down, there is no match to grass cloth. If that is going to bother you, then grasscloth is probably not right for you. The person writing the instructions how to match grasscloth has probably never installed it before. Secondly it doesn't hold up very well in heavy traffic areas where people and clothing are constantly brushing up against it. You must remember, grass cloth is a natural product, not manufactured. It has grown one season in the earth's soil to become what it is. Consequently no two pieces are exactly the same. Even if they are dyed, they do not dry out to be exactly the same shade. There is a variation of darker and lighter straws placed side by side. You, the installer, have no control how sheet number two matches up to sheet number one or any others.

Once you understand the nature of it and the natural beauty the texture and various colors bring to many rooms like an office, study, wet-bar or a game room above a chair rail, you are prepared to live with and enjoy grasscloth. If you stain the material while installing or afterwards, it is almost impossible to clean. It, does not come with a protective coating like other wallcoverings. It also gives you a textural depth that other smooth wallcoverings does not give. It is an excellent product for many places but, in my opinion, not for every place.

Grasscloth comes in thirty six inch widths or thirty six inch rolls and is probably not ideal for small chopped up rooms. You must remember, each strip is essentially a separate panel. You should use a good pre mixed clear vinyl adhesive avoiding clay base commercial adhesive. Ideally you will need a clean flat work surface of at least thirty six inches to lay you sheets out on for pasting. Roll the adhesive out on the back of the sheet paying close attention to keeping it smooth and even. When you get near either of the edges, you will want to have gotten a lot of the adhesive off your roller and roll towards the edge of the paper. This prevents the roller from lifting the paper off you work surface and getting paste on the finished side.

Once you have the sheet "glued up", you will want to book about two thirds of bottom portion of the sheet by carefully folding strip glue to glue leaving only about one third exposed to work with initially. Once you have applied and smoothed the one third out on the wall, you can unfold the "booked" portion and apply it to the wall. This is just a good method of preventing the entire strip from being stuck to the wall at one time making it more difficult to work with. There is an alternative method of applying the adhesive. You can apply it directly to the wall making sure you cover a thirty six inch area as that is the width of the paper. If you use this method, you will want to apply a very small amount of dampness to the back of the paper with a sponge. Take a large installers sponge, wet it thoroughly, then squeeze almost all the water out, then rub it on the back of the sheet. You can then use paper clips to revers book the paper, fold it straw to straw, then un clip it as you need to smooth it out.

In all honesty, grasscloth is not easily installed and not easily kept clean at the same time so my sincere advise is, CONSIDER GETTING A PROFESSIONAL INSTALLER. You will be happier with the finished product. That is not intended to be a silly or flippant suggestion. Put the pressure for a perfect job on someone who gets paid to do that.