Losing your Marbles: Make your own Marbled Wallpaper with Natascha Maksimovic
Natascha Maksimovic is a QEST Scholar and marbling artist based in Margate. Inspired by the Japanese art form of Suminagashi marbling, Maksimovic pushes the technique into new territory, creating bold, expansive artworks and wallpapers that fuse heritage with modernity.
“To me, Suminagashi marbling is memory in motion; I capture fleeting moments of the past, using them as a foundation to push my craft forward, exploring uncharted techniques and creating expansive, evolving landscapes that reflect my artistic journey,” she says.
Maksimovic transitioned from the film industry to develop her own practice, bringing a love of imagery, craftsmanship, and storytelling into her work. Her distinctive marbling style has led to award-winning designs, including Best Wallpaper at the Homes & Gardens Awards 2024. She was also awarded the prestigious QEST scholarship grant to develop sustainable botanical inks. Her book, Paper Marbling: Learn in a Weekend, published in 2024, includes easy-to-follow projects showing how marbled paper can elevate crafts and interiors alike.
Especially for Selvedge readers, Natascha Maksimovic's shares an edited 'how-to' extract from her book Paper Marbling: Learn in a Weekend.
How to Make your Own Marbled Wallpaper
Creating your own wallpaper may seem daunting, but I would like to introduce you to an achievable and enjoyable way of making beautiful bespoke designs. Wallpapers originated in the 16th century and were first used to decorate the insides of cupboards and smaller rooms. They were printed in monochrome on small sheets of paper, and it wasn’t until much later that these single sheets were joined together to form the long rolls that we know today. It is this traditional tiling technique that allows you to handle manageable paper sizes that will fit into a paddling pool for printing.
This project will be most suitable for decorating cupboards, small rooms, and single walls. When assembling the sheets of marbled tiles, I like to place them on the floor to create the final composition.
There is no right or wrong way to arrange them; it’s an instinctive process to create harmony between colour and pattern. You can apply matte decorator’s varnish to protect your wallpaper and make it more durable once installed, especially in high-traffic areas. It will also prevent the colours from fading, especially in areas with direct sunlight. The marbling ink used for this wallpaper is oil-based.
What You Will Need:
• Lining paper, pre-cut into lengths a little longer than your finished tile size (see box below)
• Marbling inks
• Paddling pool
• String line and pegs for drying
• Marbled lining-paper pieces
• Cutting mat
• Long metal ruler
• Craft knife
• Pencil
• Adhesive putty
• Plumb line
• Stepladder
• Wallpaper adhesive
• Wide brush
• Wallpaper smoothing tool
• Kitchen paper
Tile Size
Lining paper is available in rolls of different widths and lengths. The printed tiles that you hang will be trimmed squares that are determined by the width of your lining-paper roll. For example, the width of the lining paper used on the following pages was 54cm, so the tiles were trimmed to 54 x 54cm squares. Calculate roughly how many tiles you will need to cover the area you would like to cover. Allow for some extras, as you may want to swap some in and out to create the finished composition.
Printing the Wallpaper
1. Set-up
Place the paddling pool in an area where you have enough space to work. Fill it about 5cm deep with tepid water. Have the pre-cut lining-paper pieces and your chosen inks nearby. Start to apply the inks to the water.
2. Create patterns
Move the inks around to create the effect you want.
3. Print the paper
Carefully lean over the pool and place the lining paper onto the water. Tap the paper to release any air bubbles.
4. Dry
Peel away the paper to reveal your print and hang it up to dry. Keep using the same water and repeat Steps 2 and 3. To keep the colour and pattern consistent throughout your finished wall, I make two to three prints per print run, then re-ink the water. Flatten under a heavy object once they are damp.
Hanging the Wallpaper
1. Trim into squares
When the prints are dry, take the measurement from the width of the lining paper roll and use it to measure and trim square tiles of marbled paper.
2. Arrange the tiles
Make a composition on the floor of how you want the tiles to be ordered on the wall. Play around and create an overall pattern that you like. Take a snapshot for reference and number the back of each tile, also noting which is the top edge.
3. Position the first piece
Roughly fix the first square to the wall with adhesive putty in the place where you need to place your first tile. Make a small pencil mark on the wall at the right edge of the tile. Allow about 5cm overlap at the top to trim later.
4. Draw a guideline
Using a plumb line as a vertical guide and a long ruler, draw a light pencil line on the wall where you made the mark in Step 3. You now have a guideline to align the first tile to.
5. Paste the wall
Apply wallpaper adhesive to the wall using a wide brush in the area of the first tile. Spread
it thinly and evenly.
6. Place first tile
Line up the right edge of the first tile with the pencil guideline, remembering to leave the overlap at the top edge.
7. Smooth it out
Smooth over it with the wallpaper smoothing tool to get rid of any air bubbles.
8. Line up next piece
Working vertically, paste the wall underneath the first tile and then place it with edges butting up to the piece above and in alignment with the pencil guideline.
9. Place more tiles
Continue working down the wall in this way. Leave an overlap of about 5cm at the bottom edge for trimming later.
10. Neaten the edges
Clean up the joins between the tiles with the wallpaper smoothing tool and wipe off any excess glue that seeps out with some kitchen paper. Apply pressure to the joins to prevent them lifting.
11. Cover the space
Repeat the process until the whole area is covered. To start a new row of tiles, work from the top down each time, aligning the left edge with the previous row.
12. Trim excess paper at the bottom
To finish, trim the excess paper from the top and bottom edges with a long ruler and a craft knife.
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Further Information:
This is an edited extract from Paper Marbling: Learn in a Weekend, Natascha Maksimovic, Skittledog, 2024, £13.
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Image Credits: All photo's courtesy of Natascha Maksimovic and credited to Charles Emerson.