Wallpaper School
Welcome to our Wallpaper School. Here you will find handy how-to guides and tips relating to all things wallpaper.
Welcome to our Wallpaper School. Here you will find handy how-to guides and tips relating to all things wallpaper.
Wallpaper is an inexpensive way for you to lighten up and transform your home. Hanging the right wallpaper can create personality within a room, and really make a statement if needed.
So, you’ve found the perfect wallpaper for the room you’re decorating, and you can’t wait to get it straight up on the wall, but the thought of “where exactly do I start?!” is starting to settle in, right? And you don’t want to ruin something you’ve spent so much time and thought into choosing. Well do not fear! We’ve created this handy wallpaper guide for you to follow to take the stress away from something that isn’t quite as daunting once you know exactly what you’re doing.
First things first, make sure you’ve got enough wallpaper to see you through the wall(s) you’re covering, and the tools to make the job that little bit easier, preventing you from getting all glued up!
You can use a lining paper if you have a wall that has imperfections on it, or if you’re using a high quality/expensive wallpaper that’s embossed, to ensure the best end result.
Just make sure that you apply the lining paper the day before, to ensure that it’s completely dry before you carry on with your decorative wallpaper layer.
Now we’re onto the fun part, covering your walls in your lovely wallpaper! There are a few techniques to applying wallpaper, and they all vary depending on whether your wallpaper requires you to paste the wall or paste the paper on hanging. The method below is a step by step guide of how to put up paste the wall paper.
Start in a corner of the room, a window or a door, and measure 52 cm from that starting point. Standard rolls of wallpaper are 53 cm wide, so this allows you to have a 1 cm overlap of wallpaper on the wall adjacent to the wall you’re papering, to ensure a clean, sharp edge once cut.
Mark the wall with a pencil at the 52 cm measurement, and draw a line to the ceiling and the skirting boards using a spirit level or plumb line. The first piece you’re hanging is very important as it must be vertically straight, but once you’ve got that right, the rest comes pretty easily!
Next, grab your paste and pasting brush and start to apply the paste into the corners and edges of the outline you’ve made. Then use your paint roller to roll/spread the paste within the width of the wallpaper length, going over a little bit to ensure there is a margin for the next length.
Once you’ve evenly spread the paste on the wall, measure the height of your wall, add on about 8 cm and cut the wallpaper to the required length on your pasting table. If your wallpaper has a pattern repeat, then for your next panel you will need to make sure you add on the pattern repeat measurement before cutting it, to ensure it lines up correctly.
For example: if your wall measures 240 cm, and the pattern repeat of your wallpaper is 46 cm, for the wallpaper lengths you cut after putting up the first one, you will be cutting 286 cm lengths of paper to make up for the access in pattern repeats.
Once your first length is in place and you’re happy it lines up perfectly, use your wallpaper brush to remove any bubbles that have formed, using vertical strokes.
Happy with your work? Then cut your paper neatly with the trimming knife at the top, the bottom and the overlapping edge, and wipe off any access paste. Then move onto the following panels using exactly the same technique, and if using a wallpaper with a pattern repeat, make sure you match the pattern as you go along.
Who said wallpapering was a tricky job hey?! A little bit of confidence, thorough preparation, some video tutorials and the right tools will get you there in the end!
If you’re still at the stage of choosing the right wallpaper for your room, then why not come into our showroom that’s open 6 days a week to gain some advice and inspiration from our dedicated and experienced showroom staff. We’re here to ensure you choose the right product for your home, that you will love for years to come!