Feature walls are becoming an ever present fixture within master bedrooms. A feature wall is one papered wall, when the other walls in the room are (usually) painted with neutral colours.
Many people like to choose a different design ever few months to change their feature wall, because it is a cost-effective way of producing a room with an obvious and illustrative focal point.
Preparation
Using a spirit meter, ensure the walls are level to the left and right of the wall you are papering. If they are level, this will eliminate any discrepancies with measurements as you go along your wall. Measure the wall from floor to ceiling and add an extra 100mm at the end of each cut to ensure you have enough paper – with extra for waste just in case.
Make a note of which wallpaper drop number needs plug sockets negotiating.
Cutting the Paper
When measuring for a cut, make a mark on the table instead of the paper. If the table is shorter than the paper cut size, double back on the paper without creasing it. Do this by measuring the whole table one side, then back on yourself, and following the measurement with the paper.
Once you have made one cut, match up the roll with the current strip to ensure the same length is cut and pattern repetition is kept for each cut.
Check pattern instructions which should come with the product to make sure that the pattern is straight match.
Always mark the top of the cut (on reverse) so you know where the top of the paper is so it is easy to drop.
Roll up cuttings into smaller, individual rolls (from the reverse way it was rolled to cut so top marking is visible).
Paste The Wall Product
Using a roller, get the adhesive as close to the edges as possible and cover a wide area of the wall. Finish off the pasting with a brush to get into the corners at the top and side of the wall.
Hanging the paper
Start at the top. Press against the wall and leave a bit of overhang. Press the first quarter of the paper and let the rest drop to the floor. Take a brush and smooth out paper from the middle to the outside, which gets rid of any air bubbles.
Take a sharp knife and spatula to remove overhang at the top and re-brush to ensure the paper is completely stuck with the adhesive.
Negotiating Sockets
There is no need to remove socket from the wall. That just creates unnecessary, and sometimes difficult, work.
Put the paper over the socket – as it falls naturally – and find the corner of the socket. Then, cut a diagonal cross in the paper from corner to corner of the socket which lets enables you to feed paper around the socket and ultimately down to the skirting board.
Use sharp knife and spatula to cut the remaining paper off to get a nice neat cut around the socket.
Finishing Off First Drop
Cut off overhang at the bottom of the skirting board using sharp knife and spatula once the paper is firmly stick to the wall using the adhesive. Brush from the middle to edge of the paper, removing air bubbles.
Second Drop
Ensure the marked top is at the top of wall and that the pattern is matched up correctly with the already-hung paper. Matching the pattern is critical; otherwise the job will look poor. Wallpaper is still maneuverable whilst hanging because adhesive hasn’t set properly, giving you a bit of leeway for mistakes.
Wash, rinse, repeat and you will have a perfect feature wall!
