Installation Instructions
How to Hang our Reproductions
Prep your walls: The important first step!
Wallpaper will accentuate any bumps or dents in your wall, so make sure your walls are smoothed and cleaned before installing the wallpaper. Great installations begin with careful preparations: sand down any rough spots, fill and smooth any holes, clean your wall with a microfiber cloth and a 1:1 solution of water and vinegar. Allow to dry.
Apply a primer: Your wallpaper will adhere best to a primed wall!
Apply a fresh coat of primer over the surface and allow 48 hours to dry completely.
While you wait: Not just watching paint dry!
Gather your tools:
|| wallpaper adhesive like Roman’s Pro-880 Ultra Clear Strippable adhesive
|| paint roller tray
|| small ⅜” nap roller
|| wallpaper smoothing brush or soft squeegee
|| seam roller
|| soft sponge
|| long work table
|| laser level or plum bob & chalk line
|| utility knife with fresh blades
|| ladder
Now is a good time to unroll your wallpaper and let it rest on a long table. Laying the paper out for a day or two will relax the roll a bit and make it more cooperative.
This is also an excellent time to plan your installation. Decide where you want to start hanging your paper. Best practice is usually to select a corner and then proceed around the room, but there may be other factors in your space that persuade you to start in a different location. It can be helpful to draw out your wall on paper and divide it into wallpaper strips to better visualize the installation. The strips you hang should be 3-6 inches longer than the height of your wall so that you can adjust them up or down a bit for the best placement of the pattern in your space.
Set a vertical plumb line: Don’t trust your corner!
Use a level to draw a straight line from floor to ceiling that sets the vertical alignment of all your paper. Laser levels are really handy here! Do not trust that your corner is truly straight. It’s best to measure a distance ½ inch less than the width of your paper (for example, 17.5” for an 18 inch wide paper) and set your plumb line that distance away from the corner. Press the excess half inch into the corner as you hang it. Your final strip may overlap the corner a little, but this way there will be no odd gaps.
Paste your wallpaper: You’re going to want a long work table for this!
Pour the adhesive into a paint roller tray and use a small ⅜” nap roller to apply. If your wallpaper was ordered in pre-cut strips, lay the first one upside down on a long table. If you’re working from a roll, cut one strip of paper 6 inches longer than your wall height.
- Designate one end of your table as “ceiling end” and one as “floor end”. You will orient each following strip the same way.
- Lay your wallpaper strip print side down on a clean long table with the “ceiling end” and “floor end” properly placed.
- If your wallpaper strip is longer than your table, align the “floor end” to the edge of the table nearest you and allow the “ceiling end” to drape over the opposite edge of the table.
- Roll the adhesive paste onto the back of the paper on the table, from “floor end” to as far as the table allows. Cover the paper edge to edge; apply evenly but not too thickly.
- Gently fold up the “floor end” onto itself so that the pasted portion is folded in half with adhesive sides touching. Do not hard crease the fold, but allow the paper to rest on itself. This is called “booking”.
- Pull the paper along the table so that the folded “floor end” is now hanging slightly off and the rest of the unpasted paper near the “ceiling end” is on the table.
- Repeat the pasting and folding process.
- Once fully pasted, you may allow it to book for up to 20 min while you paste another sheet.
Hang the paper: it’s happening!
- Use the vertical line you drew from the floor to the ceiling as the guideline for your first panel; hang the wallpaper exactly against the drawn line. Each following strip of paper will depend on the accuracy of the first panel.
- Open the “ceiling end” of your folded panel and apply it to the wall with a wallpaper brush or squeegee. Make sure to leave a few inches of excess paper at the top for the most accurate trimming at the end.
- Press the wallpaper to the wall and gently brush from the inside to the outside edges to eliminate all air bubbles.
- Unfold the bottom section of paper by reaching behind the hanging panel. Repeat the hanging and smoothing process.
- Each following panel of wallpaper will butt up right next to the edge of the panel hung before it; they will not overlap. The pattern matches straight across, so placing the paper on the wall should be the same each time.
- Repeat until finished!
RECOMMENDATION FOR CORNERS: When you reach a corner, you can bisect the width of the wallpaper piece and hang it in two separate mini panels. Before hanging the corner piece, measure the distance from the last hung wallpaper strip to the corner. Trim your corner piece so that its width is now only ½ inch greater than that distance. Hang this first mini panel and gently press the paper into the corner. Mark a new vertical line with a level to the right of the corner (measure the remaining panel’s width and place the line ½ inch less than that distance from the corner). Hang the right side of the panel along the plumb line while pressing the left edge toward the corner. There may be some slight corner overlap, but this method should reduce gapping.
Finishing touches: complete the look!
- Using a sharp utility knife with a new blade, trim along the ceiling/floor edges and window trim for the most precise fit.
- Smooth and seal the edges by running a roller tool gently along the seams between panels.
- Use a damp sponge to remove excess paste from the front of the paper
- Allow the wallpaper to dry completely before placing furniture or hanging art, which can take several hours
Celebrate your success!
We love to see how our wallpaper looks in a room and to celebrate your successful installation with you! Feel free to send pictures to info@vintagewallpaperarchive.com, and we may even show off your paper on our Hannah's Treasures social media.