After you finish applying wallpaper, it is easy to sit back and feel that it was a job well done. Then you return in a few days to find that the wallpaper has gaps between each strip, and you are baffled because it did not look like that when you finished.

What it means is that the wallpaper shrank. It is a common problem that you can avoid with proper planning.

Type Most Likely to Shrink

Wallpaper with a paper base is the one most likely to shrink. Fabric based wallcovering can shrink, but is far less prone to shrinking, and almost never as noticeably as paper. Because paper-wallpaper is usually the most cost effective, people often do not consider the pricier papers. While that is fine, you should know how to minimize the likelihood that your paper will cause issues after you finish with the application process.