Hiding White Seams on Dark Wallpaper

This “Melville” pattern by Cole & Son is a dark pattern printed on a white backing. The non-woven substrate is thick, and the white paper was likely to show at the seams.

So, before I pasted the back of the paper, I took a piece of chalk pastel (from a craft or art supply store) and ran it along the edges of the paper, working from the back, to avoid getting chalk onto the printed surface. I started with grey, but it wasn’t covering enough. I switched to black and had more pleasing results.

Some areas of the seams showed a bit of a hair’s breadth black line – but that looked better than a white line. From a distance, you couldn’t see nada.

BTW, don’t try this with oil pastels nor with any ink-based products like markers. Oil and ink (among other substances) will bleed through wallpaper and stain the surface.

(Originally written March 2018)

Tags: chalk pastel, cole & son, ink markers, melville, non-woven, oil pastel, printed surface, seams, show at seams, stain the surface, substrate, white