seams on dark wallpaper

[Debbie]

I just had a burgundy patterned wallpaper installed in my Dining room today. As the wall is white (noone told us to paint it a different color) almost all of the seams are showing and it looks terrible! Can anyone suggest a solution?

[Bill Archibald]

Debbie,

May I assume that the seams show white?

More often than not, when this happens that white you see is actually the white edges of the paper and not the wall. (in other words, it would not have made a difference if the walls were painted burgandy). One hanger who contributes to this forum carries a magnifying glass to demonstrate to the customer that it is the edge of the paper and not the wall. This is not totally uncommon. The cause of it is the paper shrinking a wee bit when drying. You see, when paper is wet, it expands, and when it dries, it shrinks back a bit causing a miniscule gap and exposing the white edge of the paper. A burgandy paper causes these edges to stand out quite noticeably.

We all hate when this happens

Many experienced hangers will, after the paper is dry, color those seams with a variety of methods. My favorite is to take some acrylic "craft paint" and mix the correct color (making sure the color is correct once the paint is dry) and thin it to the vicosity of India ink. I will then take a very VERY fine artist brush and "wick" it into the seams, being careful either to not get any on the surface of the paper OR wipe it off the surface as I go.

It helps to run a damp sponge over the seam just prior to wicking the color in as it promotes capillary action

Other hangers will use colored chalk and rub it into the seams and (once more) wipe it off the surface.

These are the most common solutions once the paper is installed and dry. Yes, there are other preventive measures to take as the paper is being installed, but I will not bore you with those as your paper is already hung.

If it is actually the white walls showing, the same method will work, but I think the paint may need a little more "body".

You can do this yourself, but may I suggest asking your installer if he/she can fix it.

-Bill

[tomcat]

Ditto what Bill says. Also Debbie, if you have kids and they have a little pallet of Crayola water colors, that even works ok. The acrylics are the best though. And yes, you should call the installer to fix it.

[Debbie]

Thank you for your suggestions. I will test the acrylic paints and let you know! Wish me luck!