Blue Mountain Wallcoverings


How to Hang Wallpaper

Getting Started \| Wallpapering a Room \| Matching \| Tricky Spots

Make sure the dye lots on each roll match, and that the paper is free of any imperfections.

Make sure you have prepared the walls properly (see Preparation)

Plan to install your first strip in an inconspicuous corner, such as behind the entry door to the room. The pattern will rarely match perfectly when the last piece meets the first, and starting in an inconspicuous spot will help conceal this mismatch. Generally, plan to work left to right around the room.

Measure the width of your wallpaper with a yardstick or steel tape (do not use cloth)

Deduct one-half inch from the width of your wallpaper and place a mark on the wall that distance from the corner of the wall, near the ceiling. For example, if the wallpaper is 20 ½ " wide, make a mark approximately 20" from the corner. Your wallcovering will overlap slightly around the corner. You'll cover that overlap later with your final strip.

Make a plumb line on the wall using your carpenter's level to mark several additional points on the wall. Then use a pencil to lightly draw a straight line down the wall. This will ensure that your wallpaper will hang true, vertically. Alternatively, a chalk line may be used.

For your first strip, measure the height of the wall. Measure the wall surface only; not crown moldings or baseboards. Then cut a strip of wallpaper 4" longer than that height. This will allow 2" overlaps at the top and the bottom of the strip. When measuring your first strip, identify the portion of the pattern that you want to run along the top of the wall and avoid cutting through a major design element. Cut the paper 2-3" above that spot to allow for overlap.

If you are using pre-pasted wallpaper, loosely re-roll the first strip backwards, with the paste side out.

Place the rolled strip in lukewarm water in the water tray for no longer than the time indicated in the instructions, usually about 15 seconds. Place a dull, weighted object, such as a kitchen knife, inside the roll to keep it immersed. Change the water frequently to avoid paste build-up on the surface of the paper.

Pull the strip from the water tray by the edges onto a flat surface and loosely fold half the strip back on itself, paste to paste. Then fold the other half in on itself. This is called booking the sheet. Do not crease the edges. Roll the folded, booked strip loosely to keep edges together so they will not dry out. Be patient and follow the directions exactly, as specifications can vary considerably. Permit the booked sheet to relax for five minutes or more to allow the paste to fully activate and let the paper expand and contract before you take it to the wall.

When it's ready, carry the booked strip to the wall, step up to the ceiling, and unfold the top portion of the strip. Allow the two inches you've allowed for trimming to overlap the ceiling, and align your pattern against the ceiling

Carefully align the strip to your plumb line. This ensures that your first strip hangs straight, and the following pieces will line up evenly.

Wrap the extra half-inch onto the adjoining wall.

Using a sponge, smoothing tool or brush, gently slide the wallpaper into position. Avoid pulling or pushing it too hard, because this can stretch the paper. Also avoid squeezing too much paste out of the seams. Don't overwork the sheet.

Fold out the bottom half of the strip and slide the middle of the strip into position. Check that it's still aligned with your plumb line, then smooth in a downward and out motion with your brush or smoothing tool.

Make a cut from the top of the strip into the corner next to the ceiling so the paper will lay down on both walls. Then adhere the paper with a couple of strokes of your brush or smoothing tool.

Make sure there are no air bubbles; you can lift the paper again and reposition it if necessary. At this point, the wallpaper is actually quite slick, and can be maneuvered easily.

Now trim along the ceiling with your razor knife. Use your straight edge as a guide. Lift and move your straight edge as you go, without lifting your knife from the paper to ensure an even cut. Then do the same at the baseboard, first making a relief cut in the corner to avoid tearing.

Finally, rinse the wallcovering with your wet sponge to remove any excess adhesive. Wipe along the moldings and baseboard, too. Remember to change your rinse water frequently.

Now it's time to hang the second strip. Take into account the pattern match and repeat, to make sure you cut the second strip long enough. For example, if the pattern has a drop match, the placement on the wall is not identical from piece to piece. If your paper has a drop match, where the pattern series repeats every other strip, you can cut the alternating strips from alternating rolls to conserve paper. Therefore, it's important to cut the strip longer than necessary, to match your pattern as needed.

When the strip has soaked for the correct amount of time, book it as before and carefully align it with the edge of the first strip so the patterns match. Do not overlap the strips, but make certain the edges butt against each other as closely as possible.

Press the strip firmly to the wall, smooth it and cut it as before, and rinse with warm water.

Roll the seams gently with your seam roller. Rolling too hard can cause the seams to open by squeezing out the adhesive along the edges. It's also a good idea to wait until you've installed several pieces before you roll the seams. This will permit the adhesive to tack-up slightly. Always keep the roller clean.

When you come to a window, simply drape the paper over the window, butting the seam with the previous strip. Then, to relieve stress on the paper and prevent tearing, make a relief cut at a 45-degree angle inward from the corner of the window frame toward the center of the window at the point where the paper will actually meet the corner of the window frame.

Find the edges of the window and cut away most of the extra wallpaper, and trim around the window.

It works the same way for doorframes and electrical outlets. But be careful! Turn off the electricity before papering near an outlet box. Hang wallpaper and simply smooth strip gently over the outlet or switch area. With a sharp knife, pierce the paper at the center of the fitting and make diagonal cuts toward each corner. Press the paper against the wall around the edge. Trim away surplus. You can cover the outlets and switch plates with leftover wallcoverings.

At an inside corner, don't wrap the strip around the corner. Since very few walls are perfectly straight, you will get a wrinkle in the corner, and your next wall will start out vertical. Instead, measure the distance from the edge of your last strip to the corner and add about one-half inch. Measure at the top, center, and bottom of the strip and choose the longest measurement.

Mark the new strip of wallpaper with the measurement you just made and cut the new strip lengthwise along your measurement. This will be the piece you hang next, into the corner, and you will have enough paper to wrap around the corner by about one-half inch at all points. Save the remaining piece.

Hang the first cut strip into the corner by carefully aligning the pattern against the last full strip, and allowing it to overlap the corner.

For the adjacent wall, measure the piece of wallpaper remaining from your lengthwise cut and drop a plumb line on the next wall that distance from the corner. A new plumb line should be drawn on each new wall.

If you're using vinyl wallpaper, apply a vinyl-to-vinyl adhesive to the overlap in the corner to secure the next strip. Using the plumb line as a guide, hang the remaining piece of wallpaper. It should overlap the preceding piece that wraps around the corner, with the pattern matching where you cut it. But make sure to follow the plumb line, not the corner, to ensure a vertical hang on the next wall.

At outside corners it's usually best to simply wrap the strip around the corner and continue hanging the entire strip. Before you turn the corner, make a relief cut at the top and the bottom of the paper into the corner. If you feel the wall is too uneven to continue in this fashion, use the same technique as for inside corners, but leave a full inch of overlap around the corner so the paper will adhere properly.

If you're ending your project at a corner of a wall, cut your strip of wallpaper 1/8 of an inch shorter than the length of the wall. Do this by holding your blade at a 45-degree angle, so the wallpaper stops short of the corner. This will eliminate peeling and fraying.