How do I put up wallpaper? A first-timer's guide
Step-by-step instructions that assume nothing, so you can do it right the first time.
Hanging wallpaper looks harder than it is. If you can measure, cut straight and hold a spirit level, you can put up wallpaper. Here's the full process from empty wall to finished room.
What you'll need
Wallpaper, paste, a paste brush or roller, a pasting table, a sharp trimming knife, a straight edge, a spirit level, a plumb line or pencil, a smoothing brush or plastic smoother, a bucket, a sponge and a stepladder.
How to put up wallpaper, step by step
1. Prep the wall
Clean, smooth, dry. Fill any holes, sand flush, and apply a wallpaper size or primer. See our guide to wallpapering over paint if you're going over an existing painted surface.
2. Measure and cut
Measure the wall height and add ten centimetres top and bottom for trimming. Cut your first length, then use it as a template if the pattern doesn't need matching. If it does, offset each length by the pattern repeat.
3. Find your starting point
Never start at a corner, walls aren't as straight as they look. Draw a vertical plumb line about a paper-width in from the corner and hang your first strip against it.
4. Paste up
For traditional paper, paste the paper, fold it back on itself (paste to paste) and let it soak for the time on the packet, usually a few minutes. For paste-the-wall products, paste the wall directly and hang dry.
5. Hang the first length
Line it up against your plumb line, leaving a small overlap at the ceiling. Smooth from the middle outwards with a smoothing brush, working out any air bubbles.
6. Trim top and bottom
Run your smoother into the ceiling and skirting corners to mark a crease, then trim along it with a sharp knife against a straight edge.
7. Butt the next length
Wallpaper joins should butt, not overlap. Match the pattern before you press it down. Wipe any paste off the seam with a damp sponge straight away.
Corners, sockets and awkward bits
At internal corners, cut the paper to leave a couple of centimetres wrapping onto the next wall, then hang the next length overlapping that. Sockets, switch off the power, unscrew the face plate, paper over the hole, then trim.
Common first-timer mistakes
Not soaking pasted paper long enough (edges lift as it dries), stretching the paper as you hang it (seams open up), and rushing the smoothing (bubbles). Slow down at each step and it'll go up straight.
Paste-the-wall or paste-the-paper?
Modern wallpapers split into two camps. Traditional paste-the-paper products need pasting on the back, folding for soak time, then hanging.
Paste-the-wall papers, usually non-woven, go up dry, you paste the wall and press the paper onto it. Paste-the-wall is much easier for first-timers: no pasting table needed, no soak time to get wrong, and easier to reposition.
Check the product page or roll label before you buy, it makes a real difference to the day.
Windows, doors and other interruptions
Around windows and doors, hang the paper straight across as if the opening weren't there, then trim to shape once it's in place.
Cut just inside the frame with a sharp knife against a metal straight edge, then use a broad blade to press the paper into the corner and trim the excess.
Don't try to precut around obstacles before hanging, you'll never get the pattern to line up.
Fixing bubbles after hanging
Small bubbles usually flatten out as the paste dries. If a bubble is still there after 24 hours, it needs help. Slit it with a sharp knife, use a small brush or syringe to work a little fresh paste behind it, then press it flat with a smoothing tool.
Wipe any excess paste from the surface straight away. Keep any offcuts and one spare roll for future repairs, wallpaper batches change and a match ordered later may not be identical.
Choosing what to hang?
Order free samples so you can practise pasting on something you'll actually use.
Browse the Anaglypta range, a great first-time paper because the texture is very forgiving of small alignment errors.
Call the team if you're not sure what paste your paper needs, some are paste-the-wall, some paste-the-paper, we can talk you through it.