Wallpaper artist

(Baonghean) - In addition to traditional occupations, there are still many occupations that go hand in hand with the development needs of society; There are no schools that provide training, but it is purely based on actual job requirements, such as wallpapering...

Wallpaper is chosen by many people to replace wall paint and tiles, which are boring and inconvenient during construction. The appearance of this type of "building material" has really brought more vividness and multi-dimensionality to the walls, creating a highlight for the interior decoration of the house. Accordingly, the wallpapering profession is also "profitable", chosen by many young people, bringing enough income to support themselves, their families and even build a stable foundation.

Ngo Xuan Long (right) instructs new employees.

I met Ngo Xuan Long at the company headquarters (75 Dao Tan - Vinh City) when he was diligently teaching his new apprentice. Long told his story, with all the hardships of his first days in the profession. It was in 2008, after completing his military service, Long and his friends went to Hanoi to play, at an acquaintance's house, Long happened to meet a worker who was diligently applying glue and pasting a kind of colored paper on the wall. The faded wall suddenly became brighter.

Curiously, I asked and found out that the paper was called wallpaper, and the worker was doing the final steps to beautify the house. “A few days later, I was mesmerized. I come from a farming family, and had never known about the profession of using this beautiful material. So I enthusiastically learned and learned the trade, and even asked the worker to let me try pasting a sheet. He even complimented me on my skillful hands and beautiful pasting. Until now, I don’t know if I chose the profession, or the profession chose me,” Ngo Xuan Long confided.

From that first awkward day, it has been exactly 6 years now. Without any training courses, wallpaper workers like Long have to learn by themselves from the experiences of those who went before, even valuable lessons from many failures. Many times, Long had to pay out of his own pocket to compensate the homeowner for the wallpaper because the wallpaper was misaligned, warped, or not soft, the edges were not tight... Long shared that the job looks easy, but it requires dexterity, delicacy, and above all, patience. To paste large walls, workers sometimes have to stand and work for a whole month. Just a little haste or impatience can ruin the wallpaper, make the paper lose its shape and peel off the wall, and have to start over. Thus, it not only wastes time, but also loses reputation with customers, and the life of the wallpaper also decreases.

Having said that, Long quickly displayed the tools such as rollers, knives, rulers, and stencils, instructing the new apprentice and letting me witness the complicated steps of wallpapering. Accordingly, to have a beautiful finished product, the wallpaperer must master many steps: clean, dry, and flat wall surfaces; measure the paper, meticulously calculate the corners, wall gaps, obstacles, etc.; calculate the pattern in harmony with the wall; mix the glue according to certain proportions and techniques; roll the glue onto the paper and onto the wall; carry out the construction and edit the corners and edges to make them harmonious... "That's just naming the steps, but in reality, there are many problems that arise. For example, aligning the patterns. Many homeowners avoid odd numbers, so we have to calculate so that the pattern "goes" to the end of the wall and is just even. Or if there is a large space, this place needs horizontal paper, that place needs vertical paper... Not to mention mixing the glue, depending on the actual construction, there is a corresponding mixing ratio. Workers must accumulate experience from reality to make a living with this profession." - Ngo Xuan Long further explained.

With many years of experience in the profession, Ngo Xuan Long has now established his own company, mature in the role of managing more than 10 workers, undertaking many large projects in the city such as Muong Thanh Song Lam Hotel, Festival Palace, Oil and Gas Building... To keep up with the trend, Ngo Xuan Long regularly searches for unique sources of goods, improved designs and quality, the paper core is made of high-quality wood pulp that is waterproof, resistant to peeling and tearing due to weather effects, the outside of the paper is covered with a layer of classic plastic, very convenient for cleaning the surface and prolonging the life of the product. Normally, the life cycle of a pasting is about 8 to 10 years depending on the type that the customer chooses, the price also ranges from 120,000 VND to 200,000 VND/m2 for the whole package. Ngo Xuan Long shared that many people still consider the wallpaper pasting profession as a... joking profession, not lasting long and often advise their children and siblings not to follow this profession. But in reality, the profession always rewards those with heart. The average salary for a good worker today is about 5 - 7 million VND/month, not including overtime allowances, extra hours on holidays, Tet...

Starting out as a wallpaper worker, Ngo Xuan Long has been proactive in keeping up with the market and sensitive to new trends. Faced with the fact that many companies and wallpapering construction facilities are increasing and competition is high, the young boss Ngo Xuan Long always regularly updates new technologies and construction materials to diversify products, especially at the end of the year, when the demand for decorating and building new houses increases. Currently, Long is collaborating with architects and feng shui experts to expand the construction market, accepting projects in neighboring provinces such as Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, etc.

Seeing Long enthusiastically instructing the new workers, watching his rough but skillful hands gently measuring and cutting the patterned paper, one can see that no matter what job you do, you need to put your whole heart into it. Regardless of the high-class or “genuine” job, sensitive to the changes of social life, young people can still find for themselves honest and sustainable jobs to make a living, and Ngo Xuan Long is a typical example.

Phuoc Anh