Wallpapering round chimney breast problem

Little_Mama

Hi!

DH has just spent the best part of the afternoon wallpapering around our chimneybreast. Pattern wallpaper, repeats every 26.5 cm and it's a straight edge pattern repeat.

We started it plumb in the centre, the two strips on either side of the middle one went in beautifully then we hit our problem :mad: .

It's a 1930s house, the sides of the chimney breast are not 'true'. On one side it's width went top 25.2cm, middle 26.2, bottom 25.9. When matching it up to the strips already done it went in great until about a third of the way down, then in pulled away from the strip already up but once you tried to deal with that middle bit it was a problem with the bottom half. the other side was pretty much the same but only about 5mm out and you don't notice it the same as it's on the far side away from the door.

We ended up having to cut it almost in half and deal with the top & bottom separately. You can see a slight join, it's probably worse cos I know it's there but I was just wondering if there was anything else we could have done, seeing as there is still the chimney in the dining room to contend with.

Any advice or just a "you're onto a no-win and what you did is what's to be done" would be appreciated.

Best wishes
LM

mrcow

Next time use lining paper and paint it magnolia

Little_Mama

It's a thought!

In fact I think DH probably thought that for about the last 3 hours!

LM

ormus

its just a fact of life. some wallpaper patterns just do not suit a 70 yr old house. cause of the very problem you have stated. walls being out of plumb.
with another type of pattern (random?) you would hardly see it, if at all.

regency stripes are a strict no no, for my 1930s semi!

Peartree

I think Andrew B is right. Try to make sure it is dead straight in the middle of the chimney breast and, if the recesses are going to be seen, in the middle of the recesses then do the best you can in between with the seams at the back of the chimney breast. I've got a similar situation with a wonkey chimney breast and striped paper but luckily I have shelves in the recesses at either side so it covers up a multitude of sins! Try and even things up as you go around by joining in the corners.

When you have everything back in the room your eyes won't be on the paper. If you have a slightly off line bit on one of the edges of the chimney breast, you can put something in front of it that draws your eye away from the wallpaper. A big mirror or picture on the chimney breast and a large plant work wonders!

misgrace

Chimney breasts are the hardest to paper round, even if they are not out.

There is a way of going about this, and its quite difficult to explain, but I will try.:D

So, you have started in the middle of the CB, and are putting a length on either side, but it has to go round the corner of both sides, and this is where the problems happen.

When for example you are papering round the corner of the right hand side breast as your looking at, bring the paper round as normal, and of course it wont be straight on the wall.:rolleyes:
To make it easier to explain, lets say its stripes, and the red strip is on the actual external corner on the CB, and say the white stripe is the one after it going onto the wall from the external corner of the CB.
Get another length, and paste that, then place the length with white strip of the new length on top of the white stripe of the one you have just hung,and very carefully splice it all the way down.
You then remove the white stripe piece underneath, and the red strip bit of the new piece, so the new white stripe length, will butt into where the old white stripe length should be.
It doesnt have to be the white strip, it can be any part of the paper, but keep it as near to the external corner of the CB as you can, as its more easier to make it look straighter, then you would just carry on your next piece going into the internal corner of the same wall .

Keldin

Wallpaper the room but paint the chimney a colour to match the wallpaper.
I live in a 1880s house an oddly enough thats how the lounge was done when we moved in :-)

K

Little_Mama

Hello all,

Thank you for all your advice and sorry for abandoning post......I've been helping with the wallpapering!

DH woke up this morning and decided he was doing it all again and it looks great!

We started in the middle, then left the two bits on either side. We then did the sides, then did the remaining bits from the front of the chimney round the corner by overpapering. Thankfully, as the pattern is a very delicate damask flower one, you don't notice that the pattern is ever so slightly out and as the overlap faces away from you, you don't see the join.

Unfortunatley the dining room chimney breast won;t be so easy as it has shelves on one side...perhaps we'll just paint that one!

A very happy LM