Wallpaper Getting Wet? Try This

While writing a portfolio post, I realized that I had discovered a solution that faces many homeowners – wallpaper getting wet.  I have had wallpaper in my bathroom and my kitchen, both places prone to splashes and steam.

I remodeled a dressing area and added grass paper around the back of the sink.  I thought it would be trivial to waterproof, but the problem is with the gloss.  I couldn’t find anything with a sheen that wasn’t either too glossy or too matte.

Here is my solution.

This is usually used by artists to protect their finished paintings.  It is considered to be a varnish, although a water based one.  It was invisible on my grass paper and the sheen was perfect.  You can get different gloss levels, just be sure to do plenty of testing on scrap pieces.