Beginner Friendly Peel and Stick Wallpaper Tutorial

Materials:

• Wallpaper

• Pencil

• Level or laser level

• Measuring tape

• scissors

• straight edge razor blade

• Smoothing tool

• Step stool or ladder

• Cloth for cleaning

Step 1: Prep the Wall

• Clean the wall and let it dry completely

• Remove outlet covers, towel bars, etc

Step 2: Measure and mark

• Measure your wall, and cut your first strip of wallpaper about 2-4 inches longer than it needs to be

• Decide where you will start- if you are wallpapering an entire room, start on a corner. If you are only doing one wall, I recommend starting in the middle of the wall.

• Next measure how wide your wallpaper is. Use your level to make a straight vertical line as a guide to where your first panel needs to go (either the length of the wallpaper out from the corner wall or in the middle of the wall) This keeps your first panel perfectly straight- the most important part! Do not depend on your walls being straight/level- they are not 😂

Step 4: Peel and Stick

• Peel off a few inches of the backing at the top of your wallpaper and line up the top of the strip with your line. Press against the wall and smooth with your smoothing tool.

• Once you have the top on securely, I like to peel the rest off all at once. I find this helps the backing come off evenly, but you can try it more slowly if you prefer.

• Continue to line your wallpaper up with your vertical line,  using your smoothing tool as you go to push out bubbles and wrinkles. Smooth from the center out to the edges.

• If it isn’t lined up correctly, that’s okay! Peel and stick is forgiving. Just peel off the part you need and try again.

Step 6: Cut the Edges

• Use the razor to trim the extra wallpaper  off at the top and bottom.

Step 7: Repeat

• Now that your first piece is on, just line up your next strip, matching the pattern as needed, and repeat!

TIPS:

• Applying to interior corners: You can wrap the paper around the corner but you need to then cut it along the corner so air doesn’t bubble underneath over time. Make sure to use a straight edge, like your level, to ensure the cut was VERY straight. Then you can match up the corresponding piece that you just cut. If it is not straight, it will be a real pain to try to match up.

• Really make sure that you go slow so all the backing of the wallpaper comes off in one piece when you pull it- if it doesn’t it’s a real pain to try to go back and pick off. Don’t peel more than 1-2 inches off until you have the top secured to the wall.

• If you have a toilet- take the time to unhook the toilet so you can get behind it more easily. It is not worth it to try to work around everything - I know this from experience 😂

• The wallpaper looks better VERY slightly overlapped then slightly further apart than it should be, so to avoid seeing a line get your paper edges a little closer than you think they should be until you see how it looks once it’s hung.

• Make sure your razor is nice and sharp for a clean cut

• Match your pattern up BEFORE you do any cutting!