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BusinessDay 08 Apr 2018

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42<br />

C002D5556<br />

Sunday <strong>08</strong> <strong>Apr</strong>il <strong>2018</strong><br />

Life&Living<br />

Get design creative with wallpapers<br />

JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON<br />

Wall papers have<br />

had a resurgence<br />

of late and unlike<br />

the boring plain<br />

wallpapers used<br />

in the olden days, they have come<br />

back with a variety of beautiful designs,<br />

textures and colours, so you<br />

definitely don’t have to start cracking<br />

your brain on how to brighten up<br />

your rooms, offices or shops with different<br />

colours of paint because with<br />

wallpapers you surely don’t need to<br />

be too crafty, just stick them up on<br />

the wall with wall paper glue and<br />

strip them off easily when you get<br />

tired of the colour or design.<br />

Here’s why wall papers are a better<br />

option to painting<br />

1. You don’t need any expert<br />

skills to put them up on your wall.<br />

Patterned wallpapers are designed<br />

so that the pattern repeats, and thus<br />

pieces cut from the same roll can<br />

be hung next to each other so as to<br />

continue the pattern without it being<br />

easy to see where the join between<br />

two pieces occurs.<br />

2. It can be used to help cover<br />

up uneven surfaces and holes on<br />

your walls<br />

3. Adds creativity to a room as it<br />

comes in various designs, patterns<br />

and colours<br />

4. It’s quite easy to clean and<br />

maintain<br />

Wallpaper maintenance<br />

Wallpapers come in all sorts of<br />

textures and types, and each has<br />

a quality of its own. Because of its<br />

easy-to-use features, some people<br />

just simply paste the wallpapers on<br />

the wall and forget about it, which<br />

shouldn’t be so. It is very important<br />

to maintain them after installing<br />

them. Maintaining wallpapers is a<br />

task in itself where you need to keep<br />

in mind the quality of it. For those<br />

that are expensive and waterproof,<br />

cleaning them with water is a walk in<br />

the park but what about those that<br />

require cleaning but aren’t water-<br />

proof? While you think of all these<br />

questions and queries, here are a<br />

few maintenance tips that could sort<br />

your problems.<br />

Use the vacuum cleaner – Whether<br />

it is waterproof wallpaper or a regular<br />

paper pasting, a vacuum cleaner<br />

can come to your aid. You could attach<br />

a soft brush at the end of it and<br />

lightly brush against the wallpaper<br />

especially those areas near the ceiling<br />

which isn’t visible well. Ensure<br />

that you do not stick the attachment<br />

too close to the wallpaper or brush<br />

it harshly. Three are chances of the<br />

wall getting a scratch and permanently<br />

damaging it.<br />

Test before applying water or<br />

cleaning liquids – Even if they claim<br />

to be waterproof, it is always safe to<br />

test a small corner of the wall with<br />

water or cleaning fluid to check.<br />

You could use soapy water or cleaning<br />

liquid to dab on the area. If you<br />

notice the colour running or getting<br />

absorbed, it isn’t fit for a wash. You<br />

would rather have to use dry cleaning<br />

methods of using a dusting cloth<br />

once in a while to avoid the dust<br />

settling on it for long.<br />

Keep waterproof walls in the kitchen<br />

and bathrooms – While you<br />

install these paper designs on your<br />

walls, you should consider using waterproof<br />

ones in the kitchen and the<br />

bathrooms if not in the other rooms.<br />

These are the places that get dirty<br />

easily especially the kitchen due to<br />

the release of grease or steam from<br />

the food that you cook. Frequently<br />

cleaning these walls can keep the<br />

walls looking beautiful without getting<br />

affected by the oil stains.<br />

African print fabrics are here to stay<br />

JUMOKE AKIYODE -LAWANSON<br />

Gone are the days when<br />

wearing indigenous<br />

clothes were tagged as<br />

being razz (local). Nowadays,<br />

the in thing with fashionistas<br />

and fashion designers is the incorporation<br />

of African print fabrics in their<br />

outfits and designs.<br />

These prints are eluding major<br />

high street stores, runways and<br />

fashion magazines both at home<br />

and abroad. It seems they are here<br />

to stay.<br />

The colorful, tribal patterned<br />

fabrics, produced in Africa is commonly<br />

called ‘Ankara’ in Nigeria,<br />

‘Dutch wax’ in Ghana, ‘Kanga prints’<br />

in Tanzania and in other East African<br />

countries, it is called Ikat, Batik, Mud<br />

cloth and so on.<br />

The most interesting thing is, or<br />

should I say the most fascinating<br />

thing is that the use of Ankara is not<br />

limited to clothing as it was in past<br />

times. Designers have started us-<br />

ing the rich African fabric for other<br />

fashion items like purses, slippers,<br />

Temilade, CEO, Kwamuhle Fabrics<br />

bags, hats, shoes, jewelry and other<br />

fashion accessories. Pinterest is<br />

buzzing with thousands of images of<br />

African print designs and this shows<br />

how much interest is invested in our<br />

traditional Ankara fabric.<br />

Something that has become<br />

more popular recently is the stoning<br />

and beading of Ankara fabrics. The<br />

trend became so popular last year<br />

and is still very much in vogue up till<br />

now. Almost every Ankara top, skirt<br />

or dress you see worn by ladies today<br />

is bedazzled with shinny stones<br />

or sequins that laminate in low light.<br />

Swarovski crystals are used embellish<br />

some Ankara fabrics and can be<br />

sold for as much as N100, 000 or<br />

more. The intricate beading of the<br />

patterns on the fabric makes Ankara<br />

much more expensive than the normal<br />

N1,000 Ankara you were used to<br />

finding in the market a few years ago.<br />

Apart from stoning and beading,<br />

some ankaras’ are now embellished<br />

with cut out lace fabrics. Although<br />

ankaras are quite beautiful as they<br />

are, with loads of different patterns<br />

and vibrant colours, many more<br />

women seem to be interested in adding<br />

something different (a different<br />

kind of fabric) to make their styles<br />

unique. We have seen the addition<br />

of chiffon fabrics, organza, silk fabric,<br />

French and cord lace into Ankara.<br />

Now, you can buy Ankara fabrics<br />

that already have lace patterns embedded<br />

in them, just as you can buy<br />

already stoned Ankara fabrics.<br />

Ankara fabrics have kept businesses<br />

like Kene Rapu; indigenous<br />

footwear company that uses locally<br />

sourced materials including Ankara<br />

to make bespoke, handcrafted slippers<br />

and sandals.

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