Wallpapering with OS Maps

[stu1102]

Hi Panel

We are thinking about covering one of our walls with OS Maps (1-25 or maybe 1-50) would this  be possible, what paste to use etc

thanks for any thoughts, guidance

[Canardly]

Wordsworth(s) successfully decorated rooms with newspapers of the day which are still extant. From memory they have been laquered.

[rafletcher]

I think your biggest problem will be getting them flat enough in the first place, but assuming that's not an issue then normal wallpaper paste will do the job perfectly well.

[Diver300]

Many years ago my parents did that. They bought rolled, not folded, versions of the maps for that. They also laquered over them, or something similar.

[philip]

Several companies claim to print OS maps on wallpaper, e.g. https://www.lovemapson.com/collections/custom-made-map-wallpaper

[stu1102]

thanks all great tips and links 

[andrew_s]

If you use real OS maps, be aware that they will fade over time.

There are several versions of the county at 1:50,000 on the walls at work in various places, and the older ones are quite badly faded.

[sojournermike]

Also, probably best to not buy the weatherproof plastic encapsulated ones;)

[andytheflyer]

My gentleman's hairdresser (he's much too trendy-trad to be called a 'barber'!) has one of his rooms papered with OS maps, and the UK sheet of the original Wm Smith geological map from 1815. He's not a geologist (but I am).  You could try some of the geological maps, they are available flat from the British Geological Survey bookshop at around £15 each (get the 'solid' versions, not the 'solid and drift' or 'drift').  Even if you don't want to look at the rocks, they are in colour, and some are visually stunning. And a great talking point on a wall.

[Wizzywilc]

I'm messaging here as this forum provided the best information when I was thinking about doing this. So in case it helps anyone else, here is my recent experience of wallpapering with OS maps.

Before I started I did a test using an old Explorer map and ordinary wallpaper paste. I decided not to paper the entire wall from skirting to ceiling and from corner to corner, as I thought this would be too complicated and expensive.  Six Explorer custom-made flat sheets cover most of the wall in my study. It looks fine, with the surrounding border painted in the same emulsion as the rest of the room.

One of the hardest things was ordering the maps to cover the area I wanted, centred on my home town, and minimising wastage. Unfortunately it's not possible to order maps by grid square. As I was papering with 3 sheets above 3 sheets, I ordered the upper centre sheet first. Once I had this it was easier to set the edges of the adjoining maps to fit closely.

After trimming, I hung the top centre map first, positioning it to a top horizontal line pencilled lightly on the wall. I used ordinary wallpaper paste, allowing the paper to soak for 2 minutes before hanging. It does stretch quite a lot: about 2 cm across the width of an 80x80cm sheet. I am not an experienced wallpaperer, and there were quite a lot of wrinkles. As the paper dried it contracts and I was able to smooth out most of the wrinkles and air bubbles, with the help of a soft cloth and a needle. The detail on the maps means that the few remaining wrinkles don't really show. I butt-joined the maps and used a roller over all the edges.

I've varnished the maps with Rustins water based floor varnish. This was just something I had left over from another DIY job, and the test map had showed that it worked really well. I could even used a highlighter pen on the maps, and then wipe it off (though I probably won't try this on the finished wall!)

The whole project including ordering, trimming, hanging and varnishing has taken about 6 hours and cost just over £100.  The area covered is a 240 cm by 160 cm.


 

[rogerzilla]

You can always hang pictures over Swindon, Slough and Hull.

[cycleman]

Slough is not as bad as Croydon which needs a bigger picture   

[Polar Bear]

OS wallpaper

[Bledlow]

The first map on that company's website has my street on it. 

[Cudzoziemiec]

They're not from Redcliffe! But it probably sounds better than Whitehall Imaging.