Wallpaper brings glamour to a room by changing the colour, pattern and texture of the walls. New designer wallpapers combine vibrant colour with neutrals for an up to date look that's easy to live with. You can paper all the walls in a room, or create a stunning impact with one dynamic feature wall. Measure the surface of the wall that you plan to wallpaper, first measure the width of the wall and then its height. Add an additional 10cm (4in) at the ends of each measurement to allow for trimming. Based on this measurement, cut the wallpaper that you'll use to hang on the wall making sure you divide the wallpaper into manageable sections. For staircases, remember to include the length required to allow for the skirting board.
Steps to follow;
Cutting and pasting-
- To cut the wallpaper, place it face down on a table which is horizontal to you so one end is aligned with the right-hand end of the table if you're right-handed (vice-versa if you're left-handed)
- Align one edge of the wallpaper to the edge of the table. First paste the centre of the length then paste the edge of the wallpaper nearest to you.
- Align the other edge of the wallpaper to the far edge of the table, lift the far edge of the wallpaper, fold it over, and paste the lengths side to side. Slide the wallpaper along the table to bring the under pasted part of the length on to the table surface.
- Fold the bottom edge up and leave the length to soak for the amount of time stated on the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't do this for every length you paste, the paper will stretch and warp as the paste is absorb which will lead to difficulty matching the pattern.
Hanging the wallpaper-
- Now that the wallpaper is ready to hang, you will first need to hang the first length of wallpaper on each wall to a vertical line. Pin a plumb bob and line against the wall at ceiling level, just less than the width of the first sheet of wallpaper measured from a corner of the room.
- Let it hang against the skirting board, then make a series of pencil marks on the wall behind the string and join then up with a ruler. Climb up the ladder with the roll of wallpaper you are going to apply first, unroll it and press it lightly against the wall. Slide up an extra 50mm (2in) of wallpaper onto the ceiling surface. Slide it across the wall so that one edge lines up with the plumbed line. Unroll the rest of the wallpaper so the entire edge is aligned.
- Press the wallpaper firmly with the wallpaper hanging brush, press it against the wall to exclude air bubbles. Start at the top and brush out towards the edges, brush down the length and out to the edges until you reach the skirting board level. Small air bubbles will disappear as the wallpaper dries.
- At the edge of the ceiling, use the blade of your wallpaper hanging scissors to crease the paper into the angle, trim neatly along the creased line with the wallpaper hanging scissors. hang wall paper