You don’t need to hire a professional to transform a room with wallpaper. Do It Yourself Wallpapering is more approachable than it looks, as long as you choose the right materials, measure carefully, and don’t rush the sticky parts. Half the battle is simply knowing how to keep air bubbles away and lines straight. Give yourself a weekend, and you can tackle a modest-size feature wall with confidence.
Gather your supplies first
Before you open a single packet, lay out everything you’ll need. It saves trips to the store and keeps the momentum going.
- Wallpaper (ask for the same dye lot; you’ll need about 10% extra for pattern matching)
- Wallpaper paste (use the kind recommended for your paper type)
- Plumb line and pencil or chalk line
- Large smooth sponge, smoothing tool, or wallpaper brush
- Utility knife with a fresh blade
- Straightedge or wide taping knife
- Bucket, warm water, and a clean cloth
- Stepladder and drop cloths
📌 Note: For your first wallpaper project, pick a paste-the-wall paper, not paste-the-paper. It’s far easier to handle, since the heavy wet strips don’t need folding into a booking tray.
Prepare the wall
Wallpaper hides nothing. Cracks, rough texture, and old glue will all show through, so make the surface as smooth as the paper itself. Fill any holes with lightweight spackle, sand them flat, and wipe the wall with a damp cloth to remove dust.
Glossy paint should be lightly sanded to help the paste grab. If the wall is dark, you can skip priming—but a pale liner paper underneath prevents dark patches from showing through thin wallpaper.
Mark a straight vertical line
Walls are rarely square, so trust a plumb line, not the corner. Measure out a strip’s width minus about 1⁄2 inch from your starting edge, hang the plumb line, and lightly draw a vertical guideline from ceiling to floor.
This first line is your anchor. Even a slight tilt will throw every later strip off, so take an extra minute to double-check it with a level.
Cut the strips
Measure from ceiling to the top of your baseboard, then add 2 to 3 extra inches at each end. Lay the paper face up on a clean surface, match the pattern if there is one, and cut with scissors or a sharp utility knife.
Number each strip lightly on the back, along with an arrow pointing downward. You’ll be grateful when it’s time to apply the paste.
Apply paste and hang
Keep your ladders steady and mix smaller batches of paste than you think you’ll need—it thickens faster than expected. Apply a smooth, even coat to the wall, brush it into a warm, damp cloth for a smooth finish immediately.
Position the first strip along your pencil line, leaving a little excess at the floor and ceiling. Gently smooth it outward from the center with a wallpaper brush, working air bubbles toward the edges until they disappear.
Trim and match the next strip
Press the excess gently into the ceiling and baseboard corners, then run the back of your knife along the fold to score the paper. Pull it away slightly, cut along the crease with a fresh blade, and press the edge back down.
For the second strip, hold it up loosely and match the pattern at the seam before pressing the paper onto the wall. Keep a 1⁄16-inch gap between strips if the seams feel too tight, and never pull or stretch the paper—it will shrink as it dries.
Handle tricky spots with patience
Around outlets, first turn off the power, then hang the strip over the fixture. Feel for the outlet corners through the paper, cut small diagonal slits, trim away the waste, and smooth the paper flat. Set screws back in right away so you won’t forget which holes are which.
If a seam starts to lift while you work, dip your finger in water and lightly rub the adhesive beneath it. For stubborn edges, a paper-seam roller does the trick—just don’t press hard enough to dent the paper.
Clean up as you go
Wallpaper paste stains quickly, so wipe freshly hung strips with a damp sponge before the paste hardens. Rinse the sponge often and ring it out thoroughly. When you finish, remove the drop cloths while the room is still tidy, and drop leftover strips inside their original packaging for a perfect dye-lot match if you need repairs.
Start small, follow the paper’s own instructions, and accept that small imperfections are part of a hand-hung wall. Let the paste dry for at least 24 hours before moving furniture back, then live with it for a week. In most cases, you’ll be surprised how polished a patient first try can look.
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