Line a room with background and you’ve got instant decoration. From blah to bold in a matter of hours, paper can push boundaries outside what paint can do. It enlivens walls with stripes or patterns or both–your choice.
But as often as homeowners attempt to hang themselves, they seldom get it right, cursing their peeling seams and mismatched patterns–it is enough to drive you up a wallsocket. Input John Gregoras, a pro paper hanger from Somers, New York, with almost two years’ experience. We asked Gregoras to demonstrate some of his best wallpapering tips and tricks for pasting, hanging, aligning, and trimming. And, boydid we learn a great deal – everything from the way he intends the layout to how he lines up the previous seam. With this type of insider know-how, papering only got a whole lot simpler.
Greatest Wallpaper Techniques Overview
Design is your secret when you’re learning how to hang wallpaper. Paying attention to the order in which the newspaper goes up guarantees that your pattern will remain well-matched and look straight. John Gregoras recommends working in one direction around the room to keep the pattern consistent.
But no matter how good your strategy, the pattern between the first and last strip will seldom match up. Because of this, Gregoras always begins his job behind a doorway, papering out from the corner till he reaches the distance above the door– at the least conspicuous spot in the room.
Frequently, the final strip of paper onto a wall is not a full sheet. Another wallpapering tip Gregoras uses is to constantly paper the corners together with split sheets.
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Apply Wallpaper Paste
Paint the entire room with a wall mounted primer/sizer.
Unroll the background. As you do, check for flaws and drag the paper from the edge of your worktable to remove the curl.
Cut at precisely the exact same region on the replicate so patterns on adjoining sheets will line up.
Lay a cut sheet on the desk, face down. Using a paint roller, apply a thin film of clear premixed background paste on the back of the newspaper.
Tip: Do not allow paste to have on the table or it will mar the next sheet (wipe it off with a barely damp sponge if it will ). Slide the paper all the way to the border of the table to apply paste to the ends and edges.
Novel the Paper
Fold the pasted back of this paper on it, top and bottom ends assembly in the center. Guarantee the side edges line up perfectly. Smooth the paper onto itself as far as you can without creasing the springs.
Place the paper aside to permit the glue to soak in and also the paper to unwind. Be sure to follow the exact booking time advocated on the wallpaper’s label, which differs based on its material (more for vinyl-coated wallcoverings, roomgood.ru less for uncoated papers).
Start in a corner near your door. In case the door is nowhere near the corner, then draw a reference line parallel to the door near the corner.
Overlap roughly 2 inches at the ceiling and 1/8 inch in the corner. Lightly press it in place.
Examine the measurement between the newspaper and the door casing or reference line. Adjust the paper to help keep it parallel to the door but nevertheless overlapping at ⅛ inch at the corner.
Tuck and Trim the Paper
Then, working from the top down, sweep the smoother within the entire sheet. (Don’t press so hard that you push out glue.)
Trim the excess paper in the ceilingPush a 6-inch taping knife into the joint between the ceiling and wall. Using a razor, cut above the knife to trim off the surplus. Work slowly. Alternate between cutting and moving the knife. Do not slide the razor and knife together. Continue papering to some point over the door.
Continue Papering
On the adjoining wall, draw a plumb line (if there is no door or window).
Hang a strip in the corner. Overlap the present piece on the adjoining wall by 1/8 inch. Measure to the plumb line and adjust the paper to keep the space equivalent. Smooth the newspaper. Trim at the ceiling and then cut on the corner.
Hang another strip of newspaper. Unfold the top of the novel and place it on the wall. Match the routine as closely as you can, leaving only a hair’s width between the sheets.
Tip: Push out air bubbles by sweeping the paper smoother from the center out to the edges. Wipe off glue on the surface with a sponge.
Close the Seams
Lightly press the surface of the paper to the wall. Then gently roll the seam with a seam roller to sew the borders.
Unfold the bottom of the sheet and then complete matching and closing the seam. Then tightly roll the entire seam, working a full 3 inches in from the edge. This shields the seam, keeping it from opening as you smooth the paper.
Smooth the entire sheet. Continue papering the space, overlapping and trimming corners as shown in Step 5.
Suggestion: If the reserved end of this strip starts to dry out before you hang it, wipe the wall with a damp sponge. This may remoisten the paste when you hang the paper.
Cut in About Moldings
At windows and doors, let the paper float the molding by at least an inch.
Together with the razor, make a relief cut in the newspaper. Carefully run the razor from the molding corner out to the edge of the paper. Utilize the molding as a guide.
Smooth down the whole sheet.
Hide little cutting mistakes on darker papers by bleach the wall or the white edge of the paper using a marker that matches the newspaper. Some pros even color all the paper’s edges so seams are not as evident should the newspaper shrink as it dries.
Cover Alter
Paper the cover plates of electric fixtures to make them disappear. Cut a piece of wallpaper larger than the plate. Cut out of the part of the pattern that matches the paper onto the wall around the switch.
Hold them both on the wall and adjust the paper to match the pattern on the wall.
Hold the paper and turn the plate . Cut off the corners 1/8 inch off from the plate. Wrap the paper above the plate and tape it on.
Cut out the switch or receptacle holes with a razor. Make Xs at the screw holes. Screw back the plates to the wall.