Wall paper (of any kind) can sometimes need a face lift. Maybe it’s outdated or the baby has grown up, your teenager is now a young man or you just moved in and that wall paper has got to go. Linen wallpaper is wallpaper made of fabric. Because of that it last longer,  but it’s harder to remove. You may ask yourself, “Well, can’t I just paint over it like you do a wall?” If you don’t know the answer, then we’re going to find out right now.

Can I Paint Linen Wallpaper?
You can paint anything. Can I paint the dog? The answer is yes. Is it a good idea? The answer is no. You can paint linen wallpaper. My opinion is that wallpaper has its place in decorating your home. It wasn’t designed to be painted on. Linen is a fabric and is porous. It also has seams. All of these things are amplified when painted. I would like to also tell you that when the glue that holds the wallpaper on decides to loosen and peel, your paint job will go with it.

Preparations before Painting Linen Wallpaper
If you are still driven to paint your wallpaper, then here is how to go about it. You will need to purchase some joint compound. It is manufactured to hide the holes and seams after installing drywall. Purchase the premixed containers and you will avoid trying to get the right consistency when mixing it yourself. You will need to apply the joint compound to the entire surface of the wallpaper. Use a

Painting The Linen Wallpaper
Now you will need to seal the wallpaper with an oil base primer. The reason for using oil base paint is because water based paints will soak into the wallpaper and loosen the glue that holds it on the wall. You don’t want the wallpaper to come loose. And, water base paint won’t stick to oil base paint, so you are going to have to paint your finish coat of paint in oil base too. You now have as good of a paint job as you can have on linen wallpaper.