How to Hang Wallpaper
One of the questions that we receive most frequently is “How do I hang wallpaper?” Here are a few tips that should make your decorating plans come to life!
Before doing anything, check if your paper is paste-the-wall, or traditional wallpaper. If it is a traditional paper you will need a wallpaper table and to paste each drop and let the paste soak in for a few minutes before hanging it on the wall. The instructions below are for paste-the-wall wallpaper.
We do recommend preparing your walls before hanging paper, walls should always be clean and dry without peeling paint or surfaces. New plaster should be completely dry.
Measure the height of your wall and cut one drop of wallpaper that is slightly longer than the wall leaving a couple of extra centimetres at the top and bottom for trimming.
I always cut a few drops in advance by laying the paper on the floor to make sure the pattern lines up as I find this easier than cutting lengths of wallpaper whilst pattern matching at the same time on the wall, but this isn’t essential, you can hang directly from the roll with most papers.
Start by marking where to hang your first drop of paper, don’t use the edge of the wall as a guide, walls are rarely straight and this could start your pattern heading off at an angle, which will become very obvious once the wall is finished. I use an old fashioned plumb line (a weight on the end of a piece of string) and put a few chalk marks on the wall to mark a perfectly straight vertical line so that I know where to place the first drop of wallpaper.
Paste-the-wall paper is very easy to install, you simply brush a thin even layer of adhesive on to the wall with a large paste brush slightly wider than the width of the roll, so that the edges will be firmly stuck down, then place the paper on top and adjust it to make sure that it is straight. Once it is, use a large wallpaper brush to smooth out any bumps, brushing from the centre to the outer edges to get rid of any air bubbles.
Once your wallpaper panel is firmly on the wall you will need to trim the excess paper, first score a line and then run a sharp knife along the join of the ceiling and skirting boards and cut around any plug sockets or light switches. If your blade is at all blunt the wallpaper may tear.
When the first panel of paper is in place, apply more adhesive to the wall for the next drop, line the pattern up, making sure to butt the edges of the paper together and don’t overlap.
Other things to consider:
Check that you are using the correct adhesive for your paper as they do vary. For Abigail Edwards wallpapers we recommend using a premium quality tub adhesive, solvent free, fungicide protected and light grade. Heavy duty pastes can damage the paper.
Avoid squeezing out excess paste along the joins but if it does get on the paper, wipe very gently with a damp cloth before it dries, as the paste can mark the surface of the paper.
You can also see wallpaper hanging instructions in the FAQ on the website AND they are on the reverse of the label that is included with your wallpaper.
There are also a few wallpaper hanging tips from Abigail in the October issue of Elle Decoration