Create a stylish focal point in your living room in just a few hours with our step-by step guide to wallpapering a chimney breast
Want to up the style ante in your living room? Pick one of the many gorgeous statement wallpapers around and try your hand at wallpapering a chimney breast – it’s easier than you think.
You will need
- Dustsheet
- Plumb line (with chalk)
- Stepladder
- Retractable tape measure
- Wallpaper scissors
- Pasting table
- Ready-mixed wallpaper adhesive paste
- Pasting brush
- Paper-hanging brush
- Stanley knife
- Clean dishcloth
Measuring and hanging the wallpaper
Step 1
Measure the width of your chimney breast. Measure half the width of your wallpaper and mark a vertical line this far from the centre, using a chalked plumb line.
Step 2
Measure from the ceiling to the mantel shelf, then from the ceiling to the floor, adding an extra 10cm to each measurement to allow for trimming.
Step 3
Cut a length to go above the shelf. Place face down and brush on the paste, from the centre out. Loosely fold and leave to ‘soak’, according to paste instructions.
Step 4
Use your chalked line to position the paper in the centre, brushing down and out. With the back
of a pair of scissors, mark where you need to trim at the top and bottom, ease the wallpaper away, trim and ease back.
Step 5
Next, paper the sides of the chimney breast, starting at the edge of the front corner and taking the paper back into the recess.
Step 6
Where the chimney breast joins the wall, mark the line with the back of a pair of scissors, trim and ease back into place, as before.
Step 7
Measure the distance from the edge of the wallpaper in the centre to the front corner of the chimney breast, then add 25mm. Cut a length of paper to this width and hang, taking the extra 25mm round the corner, overlapping the side piece. Repeat for the other side.
DIY tip
If using a pattern design, check it’s the right way up – the outside end of the roll isn’t always the top.
