How to Hang Wallpaper: A Step-by-Step Guide

Everything you need to hang traditional, heavy-grade and peel and stick wallpaper, from preparing the wall to the final trim

Hanging wallpaper is a straightforward job done slowly. You prepare the wall, mark a true vertical line, paste the wall, hang each length against the last with the edges butted together, smooth the air out, trim top and bottom, and leave it to dry. Everything after that is detail, and the detail is what this guide is for.

Every Claret & Key design is printed on non-woven paper, which is the easiest kind to hang. It does not need soaking, it does not stretch on the wall, and it comes away in whole strips when you eventually want a change. Depending on which of our three wallpaper types you have chosen, you will either paste the wall or peel a backing away. Both methods are covered below.

Which Claret & Key wallpaper are you hanging?

The steps are almost identical across the three, but the differences matter enough to check before you open a roll.

Traditional wallpaper (150gsm)

Our standard paper. Super-matte finish, smooth texture, non-woven, hung paste-the-wall with a butt-join. This is the one most people choose for bedrooms, living rooms and dining rooms.

Heavy-grade wallpaper (300gsm)

Twice the weight, a matte finish and a fine sand texture, on a vinyl-coated non-woven backing. It is hung exactly like the traditional paper but it is stiffer, so it takes more paste and a firmer hand. Choose it for hallways, kitchens, bathrooms and anywhere that takes knocks.

Removable peel and stick wallpaper (180gsm)

Adhesive-backed non-woven paper. No paste, no water, no pasting table. You peel the backing away and press it to the wall. It needs a smooth, firmly bonded, fully painted wall to work properly, and there is a section on it further down this page.

All three come as a roll 48cm wide and 10.05m long, and all three are butt-joined. The edges meet, they never overlap.

What you'll need to hang wallpaper

• Tape measure and pencil
• Spirit level, long straight edge or laser level (for marking a true vertical)
• Wallpaper scissors, or a snap-off knife with plenty of spare blades
• A broad filling knife or straight edge to cut against
• Paste brush or a short-pile roller, and a bucket, for paste-the-wall only
• Ready-mixed paste-the-wall adhesive, for paste-the-wall only
• Smoothing brush or a plastic smoother
• Seam roller
• Clean, dry white cloths
• Step ladder and dust sheets
• A table or clean floor to cut lengths on

We supply wallpaper only, so the adhesive and tools come from your local decorating merchant. For paste-the-wall and heavy-grade papers, ask for a ready-mixed paste-the-wall adhesive. It is the only type you need, and nothing else on the shelf will do the job better.

How much wallpaper do you need?

Wallpaper is sold and hung in rolls, so the question is always how many rolls, not how many metres. Measure the width of each wall you are papering, divide by 0.48m to get the number of drops, then work out how many full drops you can cut from a 10.05m roll once you have allowed for the pattern repeat and about 6cm of trimming waste on each length.

Two things worth knowing before you order. Every Claret & Key design is a straight match, so the pattern lines up straight across at the same height on each length, with no dropping every other strip. And the pattern repeat varies by design; you will find it in the specification on the product page.

Order the whole job in one go, including a spare roll. Because we print to order, an entire order is printed in a single run, so the colour is consistent from the first roll to the last. There is a roll estimator on every product page if you would rather not do the arithmetic yourself. Treat any figure as a guide and measure your own walls before ordering.

Step 1: Prepare the wall

Nearly every wallpapering problem starts here. The wall needs to be solid, clean, dry, flat and free of dust.

1. Take the room back: furniture out or into the middle, dust sheets down, pictures and shelves off the wall.
2. Fill any cracks and holes, let the filler dry, then sand flush.
3. Sand back any flaking paint, and lightly key a silk or soft-sheen finish so the paste has something to grip.
4. Wash the wall down, then let it dry completely.
5. Wipe off every trace of dust. Paste will not stick to dust.

Two rules that catch people out. Newly painted walls need thirty days to cure before you paper over them, because the paint may feel dry long before it has finished hardening. And a dark or strongly coloured wall should be painted out to a neutral base first, or it can shadow through a pale design.

If you are papering over existing wallpaper, only do it where the old paper is flat, smooth, non-vinyl and firmly stuck down. If it is textured, embossed, coated, dark, or lifting anywhere, take it off. Paste moisture will reactivate the old adhesive and lift both layers together.

Step 2: Find your starting point

Do not start in a corner and do not start against a door frame. No corner in a house is truly vertical, and if you use one as your guide the pattern will run away from you across the room.

There is one more thing to accept before you begin a whole room. Your walls almost certainly do not divide neatly into 48cm widths, so when you have worked all the way round, the last length will not pattern match the first. That is true of every wallpaper in every house. What you can decide is where that seam falls, so pick somewhere inconspicuous to start and finish, behind the door or in the corner you look at least. This guide follows a single wall, which is where most people begin.

Start against a line you have drawn yourself:

• Papering one feature wall: find the centre of the wall and work outwards, so the design sits symmetrically and the cut lengths land in the corners.
• Papering a chimney breast: centre your first length on the middle of the breast.
• Papering a whole room: start in the most inconspicuous part of the room and work around in one direction, so the join that does not match finishes exactly where it began.

Measure 48cm out from your chosen starting point, then use a spirit level or laser to draw a light pencil line from ceiling to skirting. That line, not the wall, is what your first length lines up with.

Step 3: Measure and cut your first length

1. Measure the wall height from ceiling to skirting.
2. Add roughly 6cm, about 3cm at the top and 3cm at the bottom, for trimming.
3. Unroll the paper printed side up, measure your length, and cut it square.
4. Cut your second length by lining the pattern up against the first before you cut, so the match is right and the waste is where you expect it.

Cut two or three lengths at a time rather than the whole wall at once. Ceilings are rarely level, and you will want the freedom to adjust as you go. Number the back of each length in pencil in the order you cut them.

Step 4: Paste the wall

This step applies to traditional and heavy-grade papers only. If you are hanging our removable paper, skip to the peel and stick section below.

Paste the wall, not the paper. Cover an area slightly wider than one length, about 60cm, from ceiling to skirting, using a brush around the edges and a roller in the middle. Take the paste right into the corner, up to the ceiling line and down over the skirting. A dry patch at the edge is what makes a seam lift a week later.

Heavy-grade paper is thicker and less forgiving, so be generous with the adhesive and work in slightly narrower sections so the wall stays wet while you hang.

Step 5: Hang the first length

1. Carry the length to the wall dry. There is no soaking and no folding, because non-woven paper goes up straight from the roll.
2. Line the right-hand edge up against your pencil line, leaving your 3cm overlap at the ceiling.
3. Press the top into place first, then let the rest fall down the wall.
4. Check the edge is still on the line before you smooth anything down. While the paste is wet you can slide the paper a centimetre or two to correct it.

Step 6: Smooth, then trim

Work from the middle of the length outwards and downwards with a smoothing brush or plastic smoother, pushing air and excess paste towards the edges. Do not scrub at it. Steady, overlapping strokes.

Then trim:

1. Crease the paper into the ceiling line and the skirting with the back of your smoother.
2. Hold a broad knife along the crease and cut against it with a sharp blade.
3. Snap the blade on regularly. A dull blade drags and tears damp paper, and it is the single most common cause of a ragged edge.

If paste gets onto the face of the paper, take it off straight away with a clean, slightly damp white cloth and a light touch. Never scrub, and never use a coloured cloth or a soaking wet sponge. This is paper and ink, and it should be treated as such.

Step 7: Hang the next length and match the pattern

Paste the next section of wall, then bring the length up beside the one already hung. Line the pattern up at eye level first, then slide the paper across until the two edges meet exactly.

The edges butt together. They do not overlap. An overlap leaves a visible ridge that catches the light for as long as the paper is on the wall, and on our papers it is never necessary. The join is designed to sit edge to edge.

Once the seam is closed, run a seam roller gently down it. Gently is the operative word on heavy-grade paper, where too much pressure flattens the sand texture and leaves a shiny line.

Step 8: Corners, sockets and windows

These are the parts that make people nervous, and each has a proper method.

Never wrap a full width around a corner. Measure from your last length to the corner at three heights and work from the widest. Cut the length so it turns an internal corner by about 1cm, or an external corner by about 2cm, then start the next wall against a fresh plumb line.

For sockets and switches, turn the power off at the consumer unit, loosen the faceplate, cut a cross in the paper over the opening, trim the flaps back to about 5mm and tuck them behind the plate before retightening. Leave the power off until the paste around the fitting has dried.

For windows and doors, hang the length over the opening, then make relief cuts into the corners of the reveal or architrave before trimming. Treat each face of a bay window as a separate wall with its own plumb line.

Step 9: Let it dry properly

Close the windows and leave the heating as it is. Wallpaper should dry slowly and evenly. A draught or a blast of heat dries the surface before the paste behind it has gripped, and that is what opens seams.

Give it twenty-four to forty-eight hours before you put furniture back against the wall or hang anything on it. Small bubbles are normal while the paper is damp and almost always disappear as it dries and shrinks back onto the wall. Judge nothing until two full days have passed.

How to hang peel and stick wallpaper

Our removable paper follows the same order, prepare, mark a line, hang, butt the seams, trim, with three differences.

The wall has to be right. Peel and stick needs a smooth, firmly bonded, painted wall that is completely clean and dry, with the paint fully cured for thirty days. It will not hold on textured or embossed surfaces, bare plaster or plasterboard, or fresh paint. We do not recommend it for bathrooms.

You peel as you go. Cut your length, mark your vertical line, then peel back the top 15 to 20cm of the backing only. Line the top edge up, press it down, then work down the wall in sections, peeling a little backing away, smoothing from the centre outwards with a felt-edged smoother, then peeling a little more. Trying to remove the whole backing at once is how the paper ends up stuck to itself.

Take your time on the join. As with the pasted papers, the edges butt together rather than overlap. Line the pattern up before you press the seam down.

How the paper behaves when it eventually comes down depends a great deal on what is underneath it, the age and quality of the paint, and how well it was bonded to the wall. Removable paper is designed to come off in one piece, but it is not a guarantee about someone else's paintwork.

Five mistakes that cause most problems

1. Papering onto a dusty wall. The wall can look clean and still be covered in sanding dust. Wipe it down.
2. Starting from a corner. Corners are never plumb. Always mark and work to your own vertical line.
3. Dry patches of paste at the edges. If the paste does not reach the edge of the length, the edge will lift. Paste wider than you need.
4. Overlapping the seams. The join is a butt-join. An overlap is a permanent ridge.
5. Drying it too fast. Heating on full or windows wide open will open your seams. Let it dry in its own time.

Do you paste the wall or the paper?

The wall. Our traditional and heavy-grade papers are non-woven paste-the-wall designs, so the adhesive goes on the wall and the paper is hung dry. Our removable paper needs no paste at all.

Does the paper need soaking first?

No. Soaking and folding, sometimes called booking, belongs to older paper-backed wallpapers and to most American papers. Non-woven paper does not expand when it is wet, so it goes straight onto the pasted wall.

Should wallpaper overlap at the seams?

No. All three of our papers are butt-joined: the two edges meet exactly, with no overlap and no gap.

Can a beginner hang wallpaper?

For a single feature wall, yes. Paste-the-wall paper is genuinely manageable on a first attempt, and it is far more forgiving than the paper most people remember struggling with. A whole room with several corners is a longer day. A stairwell, with ladders and lengths over three metres, is a job for two people or a decorator.

Where do you start when wallpapering a room?

Against a vertical line you have drawn yourself, in the most inconspicuous part of the room, or on the centre line of a feature wall or chimney breast so the design sits symmetrically.

How long does it take to wallpaper a room?

Allow a full day for an average room once preparation is included, and half a day for a single feature wall. Preparation usually takes longer than hanging.

How long does wallpaper take to dry?

Twenty-four to forty-eight hours in normal room conditions. Keep the heating steady and the windows closed while it dries.

Can you hang wallpaper over existing wallpaper?

Only if the old paper is flat, smooth, non-vinyl and completely firmly stuck. Anything textured, coated, dark or lifting should come off first, or the moisture in the paste will lift both layers.

Before you order

Order an A3 sample in the colourway you are considering and live with it for a few days. Tape it to the wall you intend to paper and look at it in morning light and under lamplight before you commit. Every design can be recoloured to suit your room, which is the part worth taking time over.