Whether you’re a wallpapering pro or you’re just beginning, here are top 10 tips to help you get the best out of any wallpapering experience.
- Make sure you have enough wallpaper to cover the area you are wishing to decorate. When purchasing wallpaper make sure that all the batch numbers are the same. Different batch numbers can mean your wallpaper could be different colours and they won’t always match.
- Apply a stripe of white paint along the top of the wall before papering, this way it won’t be as noticeable if the wallpaper fails to align at the top.
- Check you have the necessary tools before starting. These will include a paste table, scissors, wallpaper smoother or brush, a paste brush, seam roller, a bucket of water, sponge and wallpaper paste. Some of these items can be found at Decorating Warehouse.
- Your first strip of wallpaper should be four inches longer than the height of your wall; this is allowing you to have an extra two inches either end for movement, but also for you to decide if the pattern is where you want it to be. After this, allow two inches on each strip to ensure the pattern matches.
- Once you have measured and cut the first strip – and you’re happy it is the correct size – lay it flat and measure the next strip. You can use a pencil to mark the paper, so you know what order the strips are to be used.
- When adding paste to the wallpaper, allow the paper to relax and don’t fold it into to many sections. Leave a slight gap at the top of the paper this will make it easier when placing the paper on the wall before leaving it to dry in place.
- Turn off the power in the room before papering around light switches. Paper over them as though they are not there, diagonally slit from the opposite corners. Cut away from the triangular flaps and replace the light switch cover.
- Check your newly hung wallpaper for any bubbles and the seam matches. If you appear to have bubbles in the paper, don’t worry, use a dry cloth and gently push the bubbles toward the seam, this will release the trapped air. Once the paper is smooth and you are happy, use your sponge to wipe any excess paste off the wallpaper, make sure you clean the sponge on a regular basis.
- Using the back of the scissor's blade, mark the angles on the wall covering. Then, pull the paper away from the wall and trim it along the marked line with the scissors. Make sure you keep a straight line!
- If you are happy with how the wallpaper looks and you have checked for any bubbles or unconnected seams, leave the wallpaper to dry for 24 to 48 hours, this gives the adhesive time to settle.
And your wallpapering is complete! Not as stressful as you think, make sure you keep any leftover paste just in case you need to re-apply to any corners you missed!
