How to fade a colorful wallpaper?

[Barclay]

I bought some inexpensive toile craft paper but it looks too "new" or maybe (too colorful is a better word) for what I want to do to the house.  I briefly thought about tea-staining the paper, but I'm not 100% sure that is the look I want.  Has anyone used a watered down chalk paint (??) to tone down the bright color of their wallpaper?  I'm not sure fading it is possible.  Thought I'd ask before I experiment.  Thankyou!

[KathieB]

Welcome to the forum, Barclay! Where are you in Georgia? I'm NW of Atlanta.

Do you have enough of the paper to be able to experiment on some snippets of it? I'd try your watered down paint. I'd also try rubbing gently with a very fine sandpaper. Maybe wipe with a soft cloth dampened with nail polish remover.  You might also try scanning the paper and adjusting the color level when you print it. 

 

[Thimble Hall]

Leave it in the sunlight

[Dalesq]

I’ve painted a white wash over wallpaper to tone it down. Like KathieB said, experiment on some scraps.

[Barclay]

18 hours ago, KathieB said:

Welcome to the forum, Barclay! Where are you in Georgia? I'm NW of Atlanta.

Do you have enough of the paper to be able to experiment on some snippets of it? I'd try your watered down paint. I'd also try rubbing gently with a very fine sandpaper. Maybe wipe with a soft cloth dampened with nail polish remover.  You might also try scanning the paper and adjusting the color level when you print it. 

 

Thanks so much Kathie!  As two of you said - I'll go ahead and experiment. Maybe I was looking for permission to do that - LOL!  The paper is inexpensive stuff from Hobby Lobby. But, it's been 25 years since I've dabbled in miniatures, so I'm a bit nervous to do (pretty much) anything on my own!  Thankyou!

[KathieB]

2 minutes ago, Barclay said:

I'm a bit nervous to do (pretty much) anything on my own! 

The beauty of working in miniature is that there is almost NOTHING that you can damage beyond repair. Somebody here will have fallen down the same rabbit hole and have a fix for the issue.  So pile in and let the chips fall where they may.

[fov]

If you don't want to mess with the paper itself, try getting a sheet of vellum paper (available in the scrapbook papers) and putting that over the wallpaper. That would mute the colors. If it doesn't work then at least you haven't messed up the wallpaper so you can try other things. If you decide you like it, you can affix the vellum paper to the wallpaper with spray adhesive.

[havanaholly]

If you decide to try sanding it lightly, the black wet-to-dry sandpaper you can find in marine supply stores is the finest grit.

[LeeB]

I once spoiled a piece of wallpaper by spraying it too heavily with matte sealer. It gave the colors a very faded or muted appearance. You could try that.