Wallpapering like a pro can be tricky. But here are seven ways that you can hang wallpaper like an expert.
- It's not always easy to find a place to rest pasted paper before attaching it to the wall. But, a broom handle balanced between two chairs makes a great hanging rail.
- To avoid air bubbles, always apply wallpaper paste with a wallpaper brush. Also make sure that you work from the centre to the sides of each strip, and from top to bottom. Ensure you cover the paper well, but don't overdo it.
- Adjacent strips must be butted up, edge-to-edge, and a roller run over the seam from top to bottom to ensure the paper adheres well. Sometimes there isn't enough paste on the edges of the paper. Keep a pot of paste and a small, flat brush handy in case you need to do any last second touch ups.
- Remember to leave a small patch with no paste in each of the upper corners. Those patches will help you keep your hands clean for as long as possible while you're hanging up the strip.
- Leave a 10 centimetre (4 inch) overhang at the top and bottom of each strip. Mark a crease at the cornice and at the skirting with the rounded tip of a pair of scissors. Now pull back the paper slightly, cut at the crease line with scissors, reglue and reattach. Overhangs can be cut with a utility knife, but cutting with scissors reduces the chance of a tear.
- To hang paper neatly around a window or doorframe, first hang a length of wallpaper so it overlaps the frame then make diagonal cuts at all the corners. Next, fold back the flaps of paper as far as the edges of the frame, then trim along the crease lines.
- Papering around a power outlet or a light switch is easier than you think. First, hang the paper straight over the top of the object, then make two diagonal cuts from corner to corner with a utility knife. Fold back the triangular flaps so that they're marked with a crease, and then cut along the crease lines with scissors. Any overhanging paper that's still there can then be tucked under the coverplate for a neat finish.
Remember these seven ways that you can hang wallpaper like an expert to help you get clear and clean wall coverage with your wallpaper.
