Wallpaper on a tabletop (!)

[Mike Walsh]

This question might be a little " off the wall" (pun intended). I'm building a console table for my daughter, who wants to apply a slightly textured faux grasscloth wallpaper to the surface of the top. She's looking for something to offset the wood (maple) and thought this would be a good choice. The substrate for the top is 3/4" MDF wrapped with 1/2" of maple - I'm trying to decide how best to adhere the wallpaper to the substrate.

I've done some samples with the substrate primed with spray shellac, then using either 3M spray adhesive or wallpaper paste to stick the paper down. In both cases I applied adhesive to paper and substrate - results seem ok in terms of adhesion, but I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts/experience/suggestions wrt long-term durability? Or other adhesion options? The table top should not get heavy use as it will sit in an alcove between her kitchen and living room.

Thanks,
Mike

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Wallpaper paste is intended to be reversable which could be a good thing for a surface that may need to be replaced.

[Mike Wilkins]

If this is a permanent install of the wallpaper, I would experiment with some contact cement on a test panel.