This poor bird got his head chopped off by the window molding. I want to help him keep it!
In the top photo, you see the bird and the point where his head got cut off. On the right side, against the window molding, I am holding a head that I cut from scrap wallpaper. I’ve trimmed it to fit the bird’s body, and to look as natural as possible by sculpting it and cutting around ruffled feathers.
In the second photo, I am holding the appliqué in place. Once it is pasted and applied, even though it is far removed from what the bird is supposed to look like, the bird looks intact.
The casual observer would never notice that this bird has been altered.
The Wallpaper Lady's Blog 
August 14, 2020 at 3:08 am |
I recently had my powder room wallpapered with Thibaut Gaudeloupe and I think the installer did a very nice job. The kill point occurs above the doorway into the room. When standing inside the room and looking at the doorway, there is a 1″ sliver of wall to the right of the doorframe before the wall then turns an interior corner. The wallpaper strip on the wall to the right of this corner wraps to the left and into this 1″ gap so there is no pattern issue alongside the right side of the door frame. The pattern issue only occurs in the 11″ space at the top of the door. Fortunately the pattern mis-match is pretty hard to notice. But the pattern includes 4 versions of small monkeys and one of the monkeys gets cut in half in the middle of its body at this kill point. I remember reading about your technique to restore “missing animal parts” :). I was hoping to try your technique of cutting out the missing part of the monkey body from some of our leftover paper and appliquéing it on top to keep the monkey intact. What paste/adhesive would I use to attach this appliqué to the existing paper? Thanks for any advice you can provide.
August 14, 2020 at 5:03 am |
Hi, Kristin. Thanks for reading my blog! Timely, too … I just finished reading the daily posts on the Wallcovering Installers Association Facebook page, and we were discussing this very thing – kill points, broken motifs, and appliqués.
Your idea should work. You can paste on the appropriate body part, a whole monkey that is large enough to cover the design on the wall, or some of the background paper to block the existing figure out.
Guadeloupe is paper (not vinyl or non-woven), so you should not have any problem getting the patch to stick. Gardner Gibson “Dynamite” # 780, 785, or 234 will work, as will Roman’s 838. Don’t use 880 or clay. Do not use border adhesive or seam repair, or VOV or “extra tack.” Try Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, or perhaps Home Depot.
The problem will come in finding a small enough quantity, so as not to be forced to buy a whole gallon, or even a 5-gallon bucket. Maybe you can talk the paperhanger out of a baby food jar sized bit of paste.
I have heard that even Elmer’s Glue spread will do in a pinch. Test on scrap paper first, and let dry overnight, to be sure it sticks, and there is no discoloration wicking through.
Spread the glue on the back (may possibly need to sprinkle with a little water), fold pasted-side-to-pasted-side, let sit a few minutes, then stick ‘er up. Use a credit card or similar to smooth it into place, taking care to not use too much pressure and not to push paste out at the edges. If any does seep out, wipe it off quickly with a damp cloth.
Let me know how it goes! Pics would be great. wallpaperlady@att.net
August 14, 2020 at 9:07 pm |
I did see that the Roman 838 is available in quart size from Amazon so better than having to buy a whole gallon. We’ve done some easy wallpaper installs ourselves in the recent past and of course have leftover Roman 880, not 838, in the basement. I will post a pic if this particular project makes it to the top of my to-do list :). Thanks for your help. I truly appreciate all of the great information you provide in your blog.