Mayfair Project

This project covered the wallpaper hanging in five rooms of a residence in Mayfair, W1. Three of the rooms took a full-wall mural, one was papered all the way round in a hot-air balloon print, and a bamboo print went behind the bed in a bedroom.

Most of the rooms were papered before the furniture went in, which is the best time to do it: every wall can be reached from end to end and the paper is finished before anything is moved back against it.

Room by room

The programme ran for six weeks on site and covered:

• A woodland mural with birds and blossom across one full wall
• A misty tree-line mural, hung around wall lights and sockets
• An antique world-map mural along the length of a reception room
• A hot-air balloon print carried around a whole room, over the doorway and into the corners
• A bamboo print behind the headboard in a bedroom

Why a mural is planned differently

A mural is not a repeat. Each panel is one numbered part of a single picture, so the set is laid out and checked in order before any of it is pasted. The wall is measured so the image sits level and centred, with its main elements kept clear of door frames and corners.

Once the first panel is plumb, every join after it has to meet edge to edge with the picture carrying straight across. There is no pattern to hide a join that is a millimetre out.

Preparing the walls

Wallpaper hides nothing, and a mural with a pale, open ground hides least of all. Walls were filled, sanded flat and sealed, then sized. Sizing regulates how fast the wall draws moisture from the adhesive, which is what gives the time to slide a panel into place and close its join before the paper grabs.

Around the fittings

The tree-line mural runs behind two wall lights and several sockets, and both it and the woodland mural meet radiators, skirting and a door frame. Each fitting was cut in individually so its faceplate sits over the paper with no gap showing.

How it finished

Each mural reads as one picture from skirting to cornice, level along the wall and with its joins closed. In the balloon room the print carries round the corners and over the doorway without a break.

We hang wallpaper across Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Chelsea and the wider Central and South West London area. See more about our wallpaper hanging service, or browse the full Modernus portfolio.