When I decided to hang wallpaper in our house I thought it was going to be difficult to do…but I was wrong. After learning a few things it was very easy and I then turned into a wallpapering machine; I wallpapered our entryway and also the ceiling of our office.
**This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you**
TYPES OF WALLPAPER
You may not know that wallpaper can come in a few different forms depending on how you want to apply it and which room you are hanging it in:
Pre-pasted– adhesive is already applied and is simply water activated. It isn’t recommended for bathrooms or rooms that have a lot of moisture in them.
Non-pasted traditional– paste is required and is usually scratch and scrub resistant. Great for high traffic areas and highly durable. This what I like to go with in the form of paste the wall.
Peel and Stick– self adhesive and is removable and repositionable. It is great for renters and leaves no residue behind when removed.
ADHESION
Now when it comes to what method you are going to use to adhere it that comes down to what works best for you. I learned very quickly that I’m a paste the wall kinda woman and let me tell you why.
If you don’t want to mess with paste– then Peel and Stick may be the way to go for you. It’s simply as it says peel the backing off and have at it.
If you are using Pre-pasted wallpaper– then you will need to activate the paste that is on the back of the paper. You will do this by soaking the wallpaper in water for about 5 minutes before applying it to the wall.
If you are using Un-pasted wallpaper– then you will either paste the wall or paste the paper. You don’t need to soak it in water to activate it.
If you are going to do the Un-pasted paste the wall method– you simply roll the paste onto the wall and hang your wallpaper….very simple. See why I like this method?
TIP: I will say this when you are applying your paste to the wall or ceiling in my case you need to make sure you are using enough for it to stick and not dry before you can get the entire strip up but not to much that it just falls off….like it did in my case a couple times. Find that sweet spot.
Hanging it on the ceiling is a little more tedious. Your arms will tell you very quickly that it doesn’t want to do this for very long.
BOOKING
When it comes to Pre-pasted wallpaper you will need to book it after you have activated it in the water also if you are using Un-pasted and you are doing paste the paper method you will also need to book it. Un-pasted paste the wall method doesn’t need to be.
What is booking you may be asking?
It is when you fold the wallpaper strip onto itself (paste to paste) to allow it to relax before applying it to the wall. It also prevents the adhesive from drying out.
Now for me I already knew that I didn’t want to book my wallpaper; that was more than what I wanted to take on especially when I knew that I was going to be wallpapering the ceiling in the office. I liked the paste the wall scenario it worked best for me.
Now that you have that figured out what now?
INSTALLING THE WALLPAPER
First things first find your main wall that everyone looks at when they come into the room. Measure the width and height and mark the midpoint of this wall this will be the first wall you do. Taking a strip of your wallpaper centering it over the midpoint; at the edge draw a plumb line about 2-4 feet long using a level. This will show you the width while also centering your print on the main wall.
Now that you know your width and height you will need to cut your first full strip. When you get to your next strip you will want to have some overhang so you will be able to line your pattern up. If you are using a nonpatterned wallpaper you will only need an inch or so overhang.
Depending on which type of adhesion you chose you will start applying, booking, and placing your strips in place. If you are doing paste the wall you will proceed to roll paste directly to the wall (making sure you are getting into the corners) and apply strip.
FINISHED APPLICATION
Once you have a strip into place you will need to smooth it with either a smoothing tool or a smoothing brush making sure you get out the air bubbles. When done smoothing you will use a blade to cut off the overhang on the top and bottom. Voila! Look at you! You hung wallpaper!
Take your next strip with adhesive placing it edge to edge with first strip making sure your pattern is lined up start to smooth it out. Use the seam roller after you have hung two pieces together and repeat at each seam after. You will continue repeating your way around the room till completed.
Now stand back and admire your work…..like I said it’s not difficult to hang wallpaper.
What we used: (Links in article)
