Hanging wallpaper
Paste-the-wall, which is what almost everything we stock is.
Check the batch numbers first. Every roll for one room should carry the same batch. If one differs, stop and contact us before opening it — colour varies between print runs, and it shows most on a seam.
What you need
- Non-woven wallpaper paste, mixed as the packet says
- A roller and brush for the wall, a smoothing brush or plastic spatula
- A sharp snap-off knife and a wide filling knife as a cutting edge
- A spirit level or plumb line, a tape measure, a pencil
- A sponge and clean water
Prepare the wall
The wall must be sound, dry, clean and even in colour. Fill holes, sand the repairs flush, and wipe off dust. New plaster and filler need sealing first, or they drink the paste unevenly and the paper lifts.
A dark wall shows through light paper at the seams — if you are going light over dark, prime it white first.
Hang the first drop straight
Do not trust the corner of the room to be vertical; it almost never is. Measure one roll width out from the corner, subtract about a centimetre, and draw a plumb line there. That line, not the corner, is what the first drop follows.
Paste the wall, not the paper
Roll paste onto the wall, slightly wider than the strip you are about to hang. Do one strip's worth at a time — pasting the whole wall means the far end has dried before you reach it.
Hang the paper dry, straight from the roll, leaving a few centimetres overlap at ceiling and skirting. Smooth from the centre outwards to push air and excess paste to the edges. Wipe any paste off the face immediately with a damp sponge — dried paste dulls the surface and shows.
Match the pattern
Butt each strip against the last, edge to edge, never overlapping. Non-woven paper does not expand when wet, so the seam you make is the seam you get.
With a straight match the pattern lines up at the same height on every strip. With an offset or half-drop match every second strip starts half a repeat lower — which is why those papers use more. The match type is listed on every product page.
Corners, sockets and edges
Never wrap a full strip around an internal corner — walls are not square and it will crease. Cut the strip so it turns the corner by about a centimetre, then start the next wall with a fresh plumb line.
Turn the power off at the consumer unit before going near sockets and switches. Paper over them, then cut a cross over the opening and trim back to the box.
Trim top and bottom with a sharp blade against a filling knife, and snap the blade often. A dull blade tears damp paper rather than cutting it.
While it dries
Keep the room at normal temperature and shut the windows. Draughts and direct heat dry the edges faster than the middle, which is what opens seams. Give it a full day before hanging anything on the wall.