Painting, decorating and home improvement tips blog
How to wallpaper an arch or round window
Posted by Adrian
October 15th, 2012
Wallpapering around an arch or round window
Wallpapering can be tricky for many people but they are willing to have a go, but wallpapering around an arch or a round window often confuses people and puts them off tackling the job and can be too much for the casual DIYer. Knowing how to tackle it is the key and then the job isn’t so hard after all.
If you search our blog for wallpapering you will find several tips on wallpapering techniques from how to wallpaper around a door and window reveal, to how to wallpaper a fire breast wall.
Wallpapering an archway
Archways are often used as a way of joining two room together and to add interest to a room, they can be single door width or double or span an entire rooms width, whichever you have the principle of wallpapering the archway is the same.
If you know how to wallpaper a straight wall your halfway there. You would start to wallpaper as you normally would, from a corner. Once you come to the arch you hang the sheet on the face of the arch and then cut the paper that isn’t on the wall toward the corner edge of the arch, do this in small strips of around 1-2 centimetres and stick these to the underside of the arch.
Continue wallpapering the face of the arch and cutting strips and sticking to the underside of the arch until you have completed the arch, now you need to trim the pieces that go under the arch so that they are all an even length, this is done as the strips of paper under the arch will show through the infill paper when it dries so make them as neat as you can.
Assuming you are papering both sides of the arch you would do the same both sides. Now both sides are papered and the strips are cut to an even length you need to fill in under the arch. Measure the width of the arch and cut your length of paper to that width, you fill in length will start at the top of the arch going to the floor if it’s a pattern paper or if it’s a plain paper you could paper the arch itself in one length. Apply vinyl to vinyl adhesive around the edge of the inner arch to ensure the infill section of paper doesn’t start to come away.
If you are only papering one side of the arch you would do as described above but without papering the other side and the infill piece can be cut slightly wider than the arch and trimmed on the non papered side.
Wallpapering around a round window
If you have a round window the principle in the same as wallpapering an archway except you have to go all around the window cutting the paper and then trim the pieces in the reveal, again you can paper the infill using one or two lengths.
Tags: Arch, Archway, Round Window, Wallpaper, Wallpapering, Window
Posted in Decorating Tips | 8 Comments »
Thank you your instructions confirmed what I was going to do! The tricky bit is going to be reaching some of the archway as it is at the top of the stairs. What you do for your kids!
@Sue E – Ditto, was questioning the same thing wondering if my idea of how it should be done was right or not.
However, I’m papering an arched window bay, the paper I’m using is patterned although just white and will be painted after. The arch also does not have a definate break line between the straight wall and the curve of the arch. The two are kind of merged into each other. So, where would I stop papering.
Of course the option is there to just paper under the arch as well with the patterned paper but then would it look odd with the underside painted the same colour as the walls. Remember this is just an arched window bay so may not look so weird painted like that compared to an arch between two rooms.
Any thoughts?
@Matt
It is really personal preference if the under arch is papered or not. If there isn’t a defining edge and it merges into one if you papered it you would have to just stop short of the ‘edge’ and make your own line with the paper. If that makes sense? Often the underside of an arch or opening is painted the same colour as the ceiling.At the end of the day it depends on what you think will look the best, or what you wouldn’t mind looking at for the next few years 🙂
hi.got to paper lounge dine room were double doors have been removed with a large pattern paper.how to get around both sides and keep pattern going. thanks nige
Hi Any ideas as to where i might be able to buy corner profile strip to place around an arched window. I plan to paint inside the arch and wallpaper the facing wall and need a clean profile edge finish. Regards Steve
@Steve
Sorry steve I don’t. Only arched profiles I have seem is a preformed archway.
Hi.can u help.im decorating an arch next to my chimney breast.i understand how to wallpaper with 1 cm cuts around top of arch.im papering with black patterned paper around the arch with the cuts folding underneath but then I’m decorating the inside of the arch white so the cuts of the dark paper will show underneath the white paper.do u know a way I can do this before I start and make a bodge job.thanks.
@Donna
You could put lining paper under the arch before papering with the white paper.